Nonprofit Remote Digest - Issue #611

Partners for Justice improves the lives of low-income people by empowering and supporting them to maintain homes, livelihoods, family bonds, property, and access to the social safety net.

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Partners for Justice — www.partnersforjustice.org Let's break the cycle of poverty and criminalization.

Development Manager

Partners for Justice is seeking an experienced fundraiser to help us mobilize the resources needed to continue growing our impact.

Partners for Justice is deeply committed to equity and inclusion in hiring and building our team. We are also an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage people with who share identities or lived experience with our public defender clients to apply for this role.

In the United States, over 5 million people go to jail every year and nearly 40% are people living in extreme poverty. Once a low-income person is arrested and even before a verdict is reached, they are more likely to experience penalties outside the legal system – such as job loss, eviction, or property seizure – which make it even more difficult to escape from poverty and avoid re-arrest. The criminal legal system is most oppressive to communities of color who experience over-policing and prosecution.

Partners for Justice (PFJ) works to break this cycle by helping people get out of jail and fighting the extra-judicial penalties of arrest that disproportionately impact the poor and people of color. Our teams of Client Advocates are embedded within Public Defender offices, where they can reach the people most vulnerable to the criminal legal system. They also influence culture and practices within their office, encouraging holistic, client-centered approaches. Since our launch in 2018, PFJ has grown rapidly and we now work with nine Public Defender agencies across the country.

Seeking a Development Manager

PFJ is seeking an experienced fundraiser to help us mobilize the resources to support our rapid growth. You would be responsible for all aspects of our institutional fundraising, cultivating and submitting proposals to a wide array of funders. This could range from local community foundations to federal government agencies. You will have oversight of all pre and post award responsibilities, coordinating with other members of our team to ensure grant requirements are met.

This position will report to PFJ's Co-Executive Director, Emily Galvin Almanza. In addition to institutional fundraising, you will support our Co-Executive Director with major gifts cultivation, fundraising communications, and events. As our first Development Manager, you will be a crucial member of the PFJ team and help us take our work to the next level! This position may also be titled Development Director, depending on the successful candidate’s experience.

PFJ supports efforts to dismantle the criminal legal system, and we are also realistic about our role in the larger movement toward abolition. We offer direct services to secure better outcomes for people being harmed by the system today. Given this, we need team members who are aligned with the long-term vision but also our current work of reducing the harm of the criminal legal system by offering holistic, client-centered representation for low-income people.

Responsibilities

The job responsibilities of the Development Manager include, but are not limited to:

1. Identify and research new grant opportunities; maintain a prospect list that includes timing, eligibility, proposal requirements, and priority level

2. Write high-quality, concise, and compelling proposals and project manage all aspects of preparation, submission, and reporting

3. Work collaboratively with our Public Defender partners and other community-based organizations to coordinate joint proposal submissions

4. Create and manage a comprehensive calendar of past, current, and upcoming proposals

5. Design and implement a system to ensure grant reporting is timely and complete

6. Project manage donor cultivation and stewardship events, including donor communications

7. Manage our donor communications calendar and work with the Co-Executive Director to draft compelling and visually appealing missives

8. We’re a growing organization, and responsibilities will evolve with the role and as opportunities emerge; we welcome the Development Manager’s input in collaboratively shaping their role

Location: Fully remote, with the expectation of occasional travel (i.e., 2-5 times annually). We strive to create an inclusive work environment and can make accommodations for team members with less ability to travel.

Desired qualifications

Fundraising qualifications:

• Commitment to PFJ’s mission and vision

• At least 5 years’ experience successfully soliciting local, regional, and national foundations and a proven track record of securing new foundation grants

• Clear and persuasive writer, with the ability to engage complex and challenging material with the appropriate nuance

• Strong knowledge of procedures and expectations for private grant proposal submissions, funder selection criteria, and post-award funder expectations

• Familiarity with common grant-finding services and programs

• Experience and comfort with tracking requirements of both foundation and government grants (state and federal level)

• While institutional fundraising experience is a must, it’s a bonus if you also have experience cultivating individual donors to sustain multi-year support and developing creative new ways to engage them

Other qualifications:

• Outstanding organizational and project management skills, including the ability to coordinate overlapping projects and deadlines, and an excellent attention to detail

• Strong computer and database skills, ideally including Airtable and Google Suite

• Cultural humility and the ability to build relationships across lines of difference

• Comfort working on a fully remote team

• Experience in and excitement about working in and fundraising for an organization that is rapidly growing, but still in the start-up phase

We realize that some great candidates may not have every single thing on this list – and that’s OK! If this job posting piques your interest, we encourage you to apply.

Salary

$65,000 - $80,000

Commensurate with skills and experience, in line with salaries in the candidate's local area

Benefits

PFJ offers a generous benefits package, including employer-paid medical and optional vision coverage, as well as a 401k program. We encourage our team to rest and take care of themselves, which we support with unlimited vacation and sick leave, and 13 office holidays. We deliberately try to build a culture that is collaborative, reflective, and values-driven.

How to Apply

Please send a resume and two references to hiring@partnersforjustice.org. In lieu of a cover letter, please include a statement explaining your interest in this role and why you would be successful in it. Finalists for this position will be asked to provide a portfolio of their written work.

In order to ensure we receive your application, include the phrase “Development Manager” in your subject line. Unfortunately, due to the volume of inquiries, we will not be able to respond to every applicant.