Position: Grants and Communications Manager (GCM)

Location: Washington, DC
Reports to: Director of Development and Communications (DoDC)

City Kids Wilderness Project (CKWP/City Kids) is seeking a detail oriented, organized, and strategic Grants and Communications Manager to join our dedicated staff in Washington, DC. The GCM will support all corporate and foundation grant writing aspects of fundraising for CKWP’s organizational budget of $2 million and will be responsible for key communications functions throughout the year. The GCM will report to the Director of Development and Communication and works closely with the Donor Relations Manager, Program and Administrative Teams to ensure that the organization is communicating its vision, mission and needs appropriately with grant applications and external marketing and social media materials.

ABOUT CITY KIDS WILDERNESS PROJECT

City Kids is a nonprofit organization founded (1996) on the belief that providing enriching life experiences for DC youth can enhance their lives, the lives of their families, and the greater community. We strive to provide extraordinary wilderness and community-based experiences that inspire youth to dream, see beyond their current circumstances, and ultimately succeed in building a healthy, happy, and productive life.  Our goals include that our youth graduate from high school or earn their GED, that they enroll in a postsecondary education program or obtain a job, and that they are involved and connected members of their community. Programs take place throughout the year in and around Washington, D.C. and during the summer at our ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Youth enroll as sixth graders and continue their engagement with City Kids through middle school, high school and beyond.

POSITION OVERVIEW

This position will be responsible for developing content for foundation and corporate grant applications and online, social media and print marketing materials. This role is both strategic and tactical, requiring the ability to think big while minding all the details. The Grants and Communications Manager must be a savvy project manager who is comfortable juggling multiple projects for different people on different timelines.

This role will report to and work closely with the Director of Development and Communications to identify institutional funders, develop proposals, and lead the development of organization-wide communications materials. We are looking for candidates who are motivated and collaborative and want to be a positive part of our participants’ lives.

QUALITIES OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES

The ideal candidate is eager to grow resources and support for CKWP to achieve the goals of the organization’s DC weekend outdoor adventure programming, job training and college preparation programming and Jackson, WY based summer camp, career exploration and job training programming for our older youth. This individual is able to communicate effectively and professionally across all platforms and accomplish their work with diplomatic finesse. This person should be efficient at handling multiple priorities at one time, work efficiently and be a team player.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Grants Management (70%)

• Lead the creation of content that will populate grant applications for a robust institutional giving pipeline big enough to hit growing annual revenue goals.
• Work closely with the Director of Development and Communications, Donor Relations Manager and Program and Administrative Teams to gather the information necessary to craft compelling narrative and making the case materials to submit public, foundation, corporate grant proposals with a high likelihood of success.
• Participate in prospect cultivation conversations with the Director of Development and Communications and Donor Relations Manager to ensure understanding of relationship context and key content for proposal submission.
• Comfortable being the point of contact for existing and prospective institutional funders when necessary.
• Research and design moves management plans for specific institutional funders as necessary
• Build and maintain relationships with points-of-contact (POC) at foundations, public sector entities and corporations as assigned and appropriate.
• Collaborate with Program and Administration Teams to ensure grant compliance and accurate grant reporting and proposal content.
• Lead all reporting follow up and requirements for secured institutional giving.
• Responsible for keeping the development and program teams abreast of reports, next steps and deliverables to ensure that the organization is meeting grant requirements.

Communications (20%) 

• Serve as the lead in the development of organizational marketing materials.
• Work with the DoDC and the DRM to develop content for external print and online marketing materials.
• Update and manage development/fundraising component of website.
• Lead the development and distribution of ongoing stakeholder communication, includingmonthly e-newsletters.
• Lead City Kids’ social media efforts.

• Work closely with the Donor Relations Manager to gather content for all online appeals and campaigns and serve as the lead to get all of these materials distributed electronically.
• Work closely with the DoDC and DRM on communication projects including Annual Report development, Annual Appeal, and generation of other collateral such as Infographics, calendars, etc.
• Develop high quality marketing and communications collateral.
• Serve as the lead photographer and photo archivist for the organization.

Development Operations (10%)

• Develop & ensure effective use of CRM (Salesforce) and online giving platforms to track moves-management and donor data.
• Collaborate with Program and Administration Teams to ensure grant compliance and accurate grant reporting and proposal content.
• Ensure gift records, donor information, grant information, and other fundraising components are up-to-date and updated on an ongoing basis.

• Ensure lists, campaigns, and records are correct, usable, and maintained.
• Provide donor and gift listings and other reports, both ongoing and on request, to Senior Management & the Board of Directors.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES (REQUIRED)

• Flexible, entrepreneurial spirit with demonstrated ability at writing successful fundraising grants.
• Experience developing marketing materials and sharing content through print, online and social media channels.
• Ability to translate programmatic work into content that is understood by funders and other external audiences.
• Masterful project management skills with a determination to exceed expectations.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively at all levels internally and externally.
• Able to simultaneously manage a high level of detail across multiple projects.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required.
• 3-5 years of grant writing and communications experience.
• Experience writing communications and grant content.

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS AND ATTRIBUTES

• Demonstrated capacity to work independently without close oversight, while also operating as a team player in a flexible, creative, and evolving environment.
• Passion for with organizations serving youth and love of the outdoors.
• A personal commitment to and deep understanding of City Kids’ mission and demonstrated skills in cultural competence and a commitment to social justice.
• Communications and marketing experience a plus, particularity digital marketing and social media.
• Energetic, outgoing, flexible, and able to thrive in a collaborative, evolving environment.
• Analytical skills with strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel preferred.
• Availability to work some evenings and weekends, with minimal travel in support of CKWP programs and events.

SALARY AND BENEFITS

Salary is competitive for the role with similarly sized nonprofits in the city. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision plan with 100% employer contribution, 10 paid holidays, 20 days paid time off, and on-going professional development opportunities.

TO APPLY 

Candidates should send the following to [email protected] with “City Kids Grants and Communications Manager” in the subject line: 

1. Resume; 
2. Cover letter with salary range expectations and available start date; and  
3. A writing sample solely authored by the candidate that is relevant to fundraising work, such as a follow-up email post donor meeting, or a campaign report constructed to give strategic counsel.

Only applicants who follow this process will be vetted. No direct calls please. Target start date is January 2020. 

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work to be performed by the individual assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required.  Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties as necessary. Minimal heavy lifting and no strenuous activity required; reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. City Kids Wilderness Project is an equal opportunity employer.