Nonprofit Remote Digest - Issue #373

Nonprofit Remote

May 7, 2020

Digital Content Creator and Experimenter for Social Change

Position: Digital Content Creator and Experimenter for Social Change (Full Time, Remote)

Organization: ProgressPop

Reports to: David Ellmann, Founder and Director

Direct Reports: N/A

Location: Full-time, 100% remote position (from home or co-working space) with occasional travel once every 2-3 months

About ProgressPop

ProgressPop is a new digital media nonprofit dedicated to building people power for progressive change. We launched in 2019 and learned that we can create fun, engaging content across a variety of content verticals ranging from animals, to astrology, to pop culture, to celebrities that people love. That was exciting, but our key learning was that we could successfully inspire subscribers who we attracted with apolitical content to take highly impactful civic actions that advance progressive policies. So imagine if Buzzfeed, or The Dodo, or PopSugar had an explicit progressive social justice mission built into their DNA. That’s what we’re building.

We ran our 2019 tests and developed a highly scalable growth engine with some seed funding, and because of our success in 2019, we’ve raised a large follow up investment. That investment will allow us to scale our growth engine so we can grow to 2 million subscribers across Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Podcasts by the end of 2020.

Building people power is why we exist, but to give our subscribers the power to strike fear into politicians, we need to be built to last for decades. For that reason, everything we’re building in 2020 has to drive impact, but also has to set us on a path to financial self sustainability. We don’t want to be reliant on large foundations to pay our bills, or be beholden to other outside interests who could try to mold our mission to fit their goals. We want to test multiple revenue streams so we can be sustainable, and so we can put the needs and wants of our subscribers at the forefront.

ProgressPop was born out of the Accelerate Change incubator, which has helped launch other rapidly scaling digital media properties like PushBlack, ParentsTogether, Pulso, and Revolution English. To create a rapidly scalable, highly impactful, financially self-sustaining media organization, we are driven by the Functional Organizing model and by Lean Startup methodologies. Here’s some more information on those strategies:

Functional Organizing: Our model is based on the idea that membership organizations can experience explosive, financially sustainable growth when they provide a robust set of benefits and services that provide outstanding value to the people they seek to organize. Learn more about our model for scalable citizen organizing in the article, “The Secret of Scale” from the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Lean Startup methodologies: Our approach is centered on identifying challenges and unmet needs in people’s lives. We use Lean Startup methodologies to rigorously test ideas for services and benefits that could help address those pain points and provide real value in people’s everyday lives. Read more about our approach to experimentation in the article, “The Promise of Lean Experimentation” also from the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

About the Position

ProgressPop is seeking a data-driven social media creator to lead content creation and experimentation across all of our social platforms. As Digital Content Creator and Experimenter, you’ll use Lean Startup methodology to test and implement content strategies to help our ventures create scalable, transformative growth. The role would be an ideal fit for a seasoned writer or social manager with a passion for uncovering the most impactful social media content through a formalized process of testing, experimentation and data analysis.

Here’s what you could expect to do as Digital Content Creator and Experimenter:

Developing the editorial direction and brand voice of ProgressPop. We’ve thrown a lot of content against the wall and looked for what stuck, but we need to deeply understand the patterns of what’s working and what’s not in terms of content verticals and voice
Building out media franchises that can scale. We’re creating media products that we can scale across multiple platforms and that generate both revenue and impact. You’d help lead our content strategy around these goals
Lead the creation of highly sharable and engaging content that’s tailored to all of our social media platforms. We are especially focused on Facebook Messenger, Facebook Ads, Instagram, and Podcasts over the coming months, but you should expect to grow with us and be able to create content and manage content creators on other platforms as well. You should also have experience brainstorming, researching, writing, and editing digital content, along with A/B testing headlines, images, and other components of social media content (e.g. Facebook ad manager, CoSchedule, analysis of native metrics, etc.)
Manage content creators and edit their content: You’ll oversee staff members who are creating content and edit it to make sure that it meets our editorial standards. You’ll proofread, fact check, and ensure consistent voice for all content, you’ll provide coaching and feedback to writers, and you’ll develop content schedules and communicate priorities and deadlines to writers
Data driven decision making. You’d be able to dive into the data, and work with team members to understand what worked, what didn’t, and where to go next
Basic design work. You should know your way around Canva well enough to be able to produce engaging graphics that captivate across multiple social platforms

We’ll also look for the Digital Content Creator and Experimenter to:

Take an entrepreneurial approach to your work and learning new skills. Rarely will you get explicit step by step instructions on how to do your work. In our fast-paced, unstructured environment, we love it when you see a problem and try to figure it out.
Seek out opportunities to deepen your skills on current/emerging platforms and with lean startup methodology. We take an individualized approach to growth where staff advocate for development opportunities that align with their interests and the team’s priorities.
Embrace change. We exist in a rapidly changing digital media landscape, so we’re used to having the rug pulled out from us by platforms that change their rules. When things change, other organizations freak out. We design new tests and adapt.
Be led by constituents. We know that listening to subscribers through constituent discovery sessions is more important than coming up with ideas in a silo, so we’re dedicated to being led by our constituents.
TBD: Take on additional responsibilities and pitch in to help meet the evolving needs of our growing team. Given our lean experimentation approach and our work with partners at various stages of growth, flexibility and comfort with change are key components of our work.

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for someone with (required):

Commitment to social justice. ProgressPop is a mission-driven organization focused on progressive social change and social justice, with a focus on building a multiracial movement driven by people who are too often ignored by those in power. You have a demonstrated commitment to social justice work and you’d like to be part of a team of people who do, too.
3+ years experience with key responsibilities. We’re looking for someone who has at least 3 years of experience creating content and managing content creators across multiple platforms
Thrives in a startup environment. You love the entrepreneurial, fast paced structure of a startup, and embrace with the combination of promise and uncertainty that comes with joining a startup at the beginning.
Not a jerk. If you’re a jerk, please don’t apply.

ProgressPop is incubated by Accelerate Action; Accelerate Action is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQIA+ people must be centered in the work we do. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

Benefits

$45,000 – $55,000 salary range, depending on experience
Flexibility for work and life: Unlike a lot of places, we actually believe that people should only work 40 hours each week, except for occasional sprints that require more time in a week. We also trust everyone to make a schedule that works for them, as long as you’re able to join on all the necessary meetings. Want to work more one day and less the next? Fine by us. Work better in the middle of the night than during the afternoon? Go for it. Need to shift your hours to be able to homeschool your kid? All good.
Health care after 3 months, with individual premiums fully covered and cost-share for dependents
Need-based educational loan assistance after 3 months
10 paid vacation days, 6 paid holidays, and 3 paid floating holidays each year
5 fully paid sick days and 10 half-paid sick days each year
401(k) plan after one year, with 100% employer match on the first 3% and 50% employer match on the next 2%

How to Apply

To apply, please upload your resume and tell us more about your experience using this application form: https://bit.ly/3cRhB6Z.

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