Job  Board

Position Title:  Development Communications Manager

Supervisor: Communications Director

Department: Executive   

FLSA Status: Exempt, Salaried

Classification: Regular, Full-time

Location: Portland, Oregon

Salary: $65,000–$80,056

Position Summary:

The development communications manager leads annual giving and donor stewardship efforts for the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA). This highly collaborative position is responsible for driving initiatives to increase contributions from individuals, corporations, and memberships to broaden the organization’s support base, and plays a crucial role in cultivating long-term donor relationships through innovative stewardship strategies which reach beyond solicitation. This role is key to developing and executing a comprehensive donor relations program that supports NICWA’s mission and goals.

Primary Responsibilities:

1. Partners with the communications director to develop a donor relations program focused on appreciation, recognition, and engagement with NICWA supporters
2. Strengthens relationships with corporate program officers by enhancing stewardship processes and tailored communications
3. Leads strategic outreach campaigns targeting diverse supporter groups via email, online events, and paid media
4. Increases individual and corporate giving through workplace programs, matching gifts, and other initiatives while strengthening the pipeline for major and planned gifts
5. Ensures consistent messaging and branding across all development efforts to promote NICWA’s mission nationally

Essential Functions:

1. Develops and executes multi-year plans to increase annual giving and donor engagement, aligning efforts with organizational and departmental goals
2. Plans and manages fundraising initiatives, including appeals, social media, and crowdfunding campaigns; maintains charitable giving platforms like Candid and Charity Navigator
3. Collaborates with the executive director and board fundraising committee to achieve annual fundraising goals and engage board members in outreach efforts
4. Designs and manages systems for donor acknowledgment, stewardship, and recognition, leveraging Raiser’s Edge to optimize workflows
5. Plans, implements, and monitors organizational member acquisition and retention efforts and communications in collaboration with program teams
6. Leads non-conference fundraising events and contributes to conference activities, including sweepstakes coordination and paddle-raise planning
7. Assists in identifying and preparing materials for corporate grant opportunities
8. Maintains a strong understanding of NICWA’s mission and programs to effectively communicate with donors and stakeholders

Additional Responsibilities:

1. Performs other duties and assignments as directed
2. Participates in NICWA activities and teams as required
3. Contributes to organization-wide initiatives and special projects as needed
4. Participates in the Constituent Engagement Team, Executive Team, and Annual Conference Team

Supervision:

1. This position works under the direct supervision of the communications director
2. This position has no supervisory responsibilities

Core Competencies:

1. Models ethics, integrity, and accountability
2. Exercises sound judgement
3. Adheres to accuracy and quality standards
4. Contributes to NICWA’s learning community
5. Manages workload effectively
6. Manages adversity
7. Develops strategic perspectives
8. Displays professional effectiveness
9. Promotes NICWA’s mission, vision, philosophy, and goals
10. Builds organizational knowledge
11. Maintains constituent focus and builds constituent knowledge
12. Champions change
13. Builds relationships
14. Communicates effectively and powerfully
15. Fosters collaboration and teamwork
16. Inspires and motivates others to high performance
17. Abides by NICWA policies and procedures

Qualifications:                                                                   

1. Bachelor’s degree in communications, nonprofit management, public administration, marketing, public relations, business, or related field
2. Three to five years of relevant work experience in fundraising or the equivalent is highly preferred
3. Annual fund, prospect research, solicitation of gifts, donor stewardship, communications, and event experience preferred
4. Strong knowledge of Native culture and social service systems with demonstrated working experience with tribal organizations, tribal service systems, and Tribal government structures preferred
5. Proven ability to close gifts of $1,000 or more; must demonstrate comfort in making in-person funding requests/asks
6. Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new software applications and maintain up to date knowledge of trends and best practices in nonprofit and charitable sectors
7. Knowledge of a donor database system; Raiser’s Edge NXT is preferred
8. Knowledge of an email marketing system
9. Ability to organize workload and prioritize projects for position, team, and organization
10. Ability to build relationships with diverse groups; ability to understanding donor intent in giving and honoring those intentions
11. Demonstrated knowledge, experience, and ability to actively cooperate in a team environment, both in leadership and peer relations, and motivate others to do the same
12. Excellent interpersonal communication (including listening, writing, speaking), customer service, and time management skills are essential
13. Proficiency operating a variety of office equipment and computer hardware/software applications, specifically Microsoft Office products, is required
14. Possesses strong proofreading and grammatical skills with attention to detail
15. Ability to analyze and problem solve

Travel Requirements:
This role requires the ability to travel up to 5% of the year. 

Work Environment:
This role operates in a hybrid work setting, with specified in-office and remote workdays. Inoffice collaboration at NICWA’s Portland office location is required on Tuesdays and 
Wednesdays. Remote work requirements include the ability to work in a virtually 
professional, quiet, and distraction-free environment while maintaining availability and 
responsiveness during work hours. Reliability and readiness of technology is also required.
Regular use of standard office equipment, including computers, phones, photocopiers, and 
filing cabinets is required.

Physical Demands:

Frequently involves prolonged periods of sitting or standing. May require occasional bending, stooping, and lifting of up to 15 pounds. Physical requirements are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Disclaimer:

This job description provides a general overview of the responsibilities associated with the role. Duties, responsibilities, and activities are not intended to be construed as exhaustive and may change with or without notice. NICWA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, disability, veteran, or any protected status.

To Apply:

Complete application materials include a cover letter, resume, and NICWA’s employment application, found at https://www.nicwa.org/employment. Please submit completed applications materials to Operations Coordinator Andrea Zaragoza at andrea@nicwa.org by September 2, 2025.