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