Deputy Director of Development Strategy and Senior Writer
Center for Community Change

About CCC + CCCAction:

The Center for Community Change (CCC) builds the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to lead powerful and dynamic movements for social change. With our community-based partner groups, we bridge the grassroots and the national, supporting outsider strategies to disrupt the status quo while also building pathways to influence the insider conversation.

Our vision of a better world centers the leadership of impacted people of color to move our work on immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity, including a focus on jobs and housing, early childhood care and education, income supports, and immigration reform.

This position also supports the Center for Community Change Action (CCCA), an affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy organization. While motivated by the same core values – equity, inclusion, and justice – CCC and CCCA operate independently of one another and each organization has its own board of directors.

Position Description:

The Deputy Director for Development Strategy and Senior Writer is someone who thinks by writing. S/he is a strategist. Someone who sees the full picture, connects disparate pieces of a complex problem, and frames the most effective argument. The person for this role is a strong leader, a connector and coach and builder of teams.

Through his/her leadership within the Institutional Advancement Team, the Deputy Director applies these strengths to raise foundation grant revenue to support CCC/A’s mission. S/he advances CCC/A’s revenue and sustainability goals and supports the organization’s efforts to diversify funding streams beyond the current cohort of foundation and institutional funders, which represents the majority of CCC’s $20 million annual budget.

S/he produces a large amount of complex written materials under deadline; manages a responsive and deeply engaged approach to funder cultivation; develops the strategy to maintain and grow the foundation portfolio; manages information and relationships; and directs the senior development strategists’ work, which includes grant writing, deadline and deliverables tracking, and portfolio management.

A successful Deputy Director is open to change and excited to shape this newly created role. S/he is able to learn quickly, work collaboratively, pivot nimbly, and drive projects independently. S/he is comfortable with a shared leadership structure and committed to working in diverse and cross-functional teams. S/he is determined, resourceful, effective, and a persistent problem-solver who is able to work with grace under pressure, exercise good judgement, and meet deadlines.

S/he sees fundraising as their contribution to the movement for social justice and is committed to using their work to advance the struggle for immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity.

The Deputy Director reports to the Director of Brand Strategy and Chief Writer, who co-leads the Institutional Advancement Team with the Director of Institutional Advancement. S/he will work closely with the Deputy Director of Institutional Advancement to play a leadership role in team culture and development, and s/he will supervise CCC/A’s two Senior Development Strategists.

Principal Responsibilities:

Writing

  • Act as lead writer for critical institutional funders; craft nuanced proposals tailored to specific audiences and write the most challenging and complex donor materials, including many that describe a new body of work for the first time.
  • Learn and communicate CCC/A’s organizational voice, integrating the CCC/A brand strategy within all writing for funder audiences and assisting other IA Team members to do the same.
  • Provide writing support and consultation to the Senior Development Strategists and other CCC/A staff, including rewriting, revising, critiquing, editing, and/or proofreading materials intended for an outside audience.

Grant Portfolio Management and Growth

  • Work in close partnership with the Director for Brand Strategy and Director for Institutional Advancement to develop integrated fundraising strategies that target diverse revenue sources, including determining new avenues for potential funding, to raise CCC’s $20 million annual budget.
  • Consult with program and finance colleagues to capture the strategy, outcomes, and deliverables of new program areas; plan revenue pipelines; and position program areas with new funders.
  • Oversee the grant portfolio and direct the work of the Senior Development Strategists to develop funding proposals, track and report on grant deliverables, engage program and finance staff, and drive prospect cultivation using the Moves Management tool within the fundraising database.
  • Support CCC/A’s senior leaders in identifying, cultivating, and stewarding funder relationships as part of an organizational culture of fundraising.

Organizational Leadership

  • Work with the team’s Co-Directors and Deputy Director of IA to lead and support the IA team through a period of growth and change.
  • Provide coaching and leadership development opportunities so that less senior members of the team continue to grow and take ownership of their bodies of work.
  • Cultivate an ethic of best practices, high quality, and continual improvement.
  • Perform additional duties and responsibilities, as required
Qualifications
  • Minimum of 10 years’ experience in nonprofit fundraising, including experience running a high-volume, high-touch grant portfolio and foundation fundraising strategy. A master’s degree or comparable experience preferred.
  • A love of writing and a way with words, including experience crafting nuanced proposals for specific audiences, partnering with program colleagues to frame new bodies of work, and editing written content for quality and audience.
  • Knowledge of and dexterity within the social justice landscape, including the major funders, national movement organizations, and community-based partner groups.
  • Capacity to thrive in a culture of close collaboration and commitment to excellence.
  • Experience and passion for leading a team, including a commitment to the growth and leadership development of team members; management experience in a rapidly changing environment and collaborative team/reporting structures.
  • Proficiency in Word, Outlook, Excel, and other MS Office applications; experience with Raiser’s Edge and/or Salesforce.
  • Passion for social justice and a commitment to work in solidarity with the people most directly impacted by injustice; understanding of CCC’s partner organizations
  • Knowledge of political and electoral fundraising and/or 501(c)(4) fundraising approaches.

This position reports to: Director of Brand Strategy and Chief Writer

The Center for Community Change recognizes a staff bargaining unit affiliated with IFPTE Local 70, a union for non-profit workers. This position is not included in the CCC bargaining unit and therefore not covered under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Salary and Benefits: $85,000 – $90,000 annual salary. CCC also offers an excellent benefits package, which includes 4 weeks of annual paid vacation; additional paid holiday leave between December 24 and January 1; 8% employer contribution to retirement account after six months of employment (and 3% employer contribution for the first 6 months); and a choice of generous health insurance plans.

This position is located in Washington, DC.

Closing Date of Position: Open Until Filled

How to apply: Please click here to submit a cover letter sharing your personal interest as well as salary expectations, a resume, and a writing sample. Applications without all required documents will not be considered.

The Center for Community Change is an Equal Opportunity Employer


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