Position Description

Senior Manager, Donor Relations

NIA TERO

Nia Tero is a global bridging organization that brings Indigenous Peoples and allies together to advance what we call Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship[1]. Our partnerships with Indigenous Peoples’ are explicitly structured to honor self-determination, respect time-honed knowledge and ways of being and build trust while upholding the sacred value of reciprocity. To achieve this, we work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples to safeguard their ancestral thriving territories and ways of being, collaborating on essential global efforts towards a vibrant and habitable future Earth. 

1. Our vision is that Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship is enabled everywhere possible on Earth as part of a just and vibrant future.
2. Our mission is to directly support Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship and elevate the role and influence of Indigenous Peoples as essential to ensuring planetary health and habitability.

Our team is international and based across South America, the Pacific Islands, Asia, and North America, with a large contingent at our Seattle headquarters. We speak many languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and a wide range of Indigenous Peoples’ languages.

Nia Tero is entering the first year of our new five-year strategy and is seeking candidates who thrive in a fast-paced environment, adapts quickly to change, and seeks to strengthen the impact of a mission-driven organization

SUMMARY

The Senior Manager, Donor Relations, will play a key role in developing compelling strategies and content that effectively convey Nia Tero’s unique value and the impact of our partnerships with Indigenous Peoples globally. Areas of work include development of solicitations, project management, and stewardship oversight. Collaborating with the Associate Director, Development, this role will help manage and strengthen relationships with funders and stakeholders to ensure sustainable funding streams. This role requires a strategic communicator and storyteller with a proven track record in creating compelling donor content, growing nonprofit fundraising, and constructing persuasive narratives, and will serve as a key liaison with Nia Tero’s Communications team, to align cross-team efforts. Working closely with leadership and other teams, the Senior Manager, Donor Relations, will contribute to increasing philanthropic support to address the threats to Indigenous guardianship.

The successful applicant would also benefit from deep ties to and understanding of Indigenous cultures, a passion for our mission, and outstanding collaboration and teamwork skills.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Grant Writing and Proposal Development

Write and manage persuasive and values-aligned grant proposals, concept notes, and letters of intent for high-net-worth individuals, foundations, and corporate donors, targeting contributions ranging from $100,000 to over $1,000,000.

Collaborate closely with program staff, finance, and external agents when needed (such as contractors, graphic designers, and photographers) to ensure alignment with donor interests and Nia Tero’s mission and produce high-quality timely submissions.

Donor Stewardship

1. Develop and manage a stewardship portfolio of individual and institutional donors. Meet donor requirements through tailored stewardship strategies, key performance indicator monitoring, and grant deliverables.
2. Use quantitative and qualitative research methods to plan strategic donor communications such as cases for support, fact sheets, overviews, and web-based donor content.
3. Write concise and values-aligned impact reports, donor updates, and stewardship assets that effectively communicate project results and deepen donor engagement.

Project Management

1. Lead project management of donor relations materials, collaborating with cross-functional teams and partners across time zones and tight deadlines.
2. Develop and maintain a calendar of donor communications assets, including proposals, reports, and stewardship assets.
3. Ensure accurate tracking of submissions, communications, and financial information in the fundraising database in partnership with the Development Coordinator. Key tasks include documenting and updating standard operating procedures as needed.
4. Collaborate with the Development and Communications teams to implement best practices in donor engagement and ensure all materials are consistent with Nia Tero’s messaging and branding standards.

PEOPLE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

This position does not have current supervisory responsibilities but may in the future. This position will have access to Nia Tero’s fundraising database and sensitive financial information, so discretion is required. 

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

Education and experience

1. Bachelor's or associate degree, or equivalent work experience. *
2. Strong work tenure, including five or more years of experience, coursework, or other relevant training in resource development and writing composition
3. Excellent writing and proofreading skills
4. Strong project management skills, including experiences leading or coordinating multiple projects, organizing time, building project teams, managing diverse activities, and meeting deadlines
5. Experience writing successful and jargon-free funding proposals and applications
6. Experience writing or editing outcome-focused or technical materials
7. Experience analyzing, interpreting, and communicating financial data
8. Experience using Asana or other similar project management software
9. Experience using customer relations management (CRM) database software such as Salesforce or Blackbaud products
10. Proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and Adobe products

*A combination of education, training, and experience which has provided theoretical and practical knowledge will be evaluated for equivalency.

Skills and abilities (including languages and software)

1. Ability to design and construct fundraising materials, including proposals, impact reports, donor profiles, presentations, briefing memos, and other donor-related communications materials
2. Ability to write to a donor’s interests and, working with other team members, act appropriately to match those interests with Nia Tero’s work
3. Demonstrated experience as an active listener, using diplomacy and tact to build strong relationships and motivate team members
4. Ability to adapt or modify processes in response to changing circumstances
5. Ability to use content strategy and user experience principles to create engaging print and web-based donor content
6. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including communications with stakeholders whose first language is not English
7. Highly resourceful team player who supports colleagues in achieving their best work and is also extremely effective independently
8. Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion
9. Prioritizes competing needs, handles matters’ expeditiously and proactively, and follows through on projects to successful completion while managing work across multiple ...