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Development Manager

Website MLK50Memphis MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is an award-winning nonprofit digital news site based in Memphis, Tennessee. Our mission is to report on the intersection of poverty, power and policy and to bear witness to movement-making and lived experiences. We examine the systems that make it hard for workers to make ends meet and interrogate those who profit from the status quo. Our goal is to help Memphians — especially workers — have enough resources to thrive and demand that public and private policy support their success. We strive for our newsroom culture to reflect the values we prize: community, accountability, courage and justice.

MLK50 is in an exciting stage of growth. We launched almost seven years ago with just $3,000 donated by the founder’s friends and family. Today, we have 12 national and regional funders and a nearly $2 million budget. 

Our business team is reimagining what it means to fundraise for journalism that fights for economic justice. The development manager will be expected to support the planning and implementation of MLK50’s revenue strategies, with an emphasis on grants and individual donors, to match the organization’s values and ensure our long-term sustainability. We are looking for someone who is organized and excited about the essential work that will help us reach our ambitious revenue goals to support our fierce editorial independence. 

The development manager will work closely with our development director and chief strategy officer, who will lead their onboarding and support in all revenue projects. They will be expected to work closely with an array of stakeholders, including MLK50’s advisory board, donors, foundation partners and contractors. 

This is a full-time, exempt position that will report to the development director. 

Salary starts at $70,000 and can increase based on experience. 

Essential Duties: 

Donor Support
-Support with year-round individual and major giving efforts in addition to quarterly fundraising campaigns by coordinating and producing donor communications, including: fundraising appeals; acknowledgement letters; handwritten thank yous; holiday cards; invitations, reminders and follow-ups. 
-Assist with the implementation of a new donor platform/CRM, including organizing and migrating past donor data and recurring donors.
-Manage the day-to-day maintenance of the donor platform, including: maintaining our regular donation page, creating dynamic and campaign-specific pages,  responding to donor inquiries, updating donor records and troubleshooting payment errors.
-Conduct preliminary research to build a pipeline of major donors (including individuals, corporations and public agencies) and foundation prospects.
-Compiling donor data for required year-end reporting.
-Assist with coordination of fundraising events, including: creating appeals, identifying target audiences, sending invites, preparing guest lists and coordinating with vendors and sponsors.

Grant Support
-Lead grant writer who manages applications and reports, including: LOIs, concept notes, narratives, financials and other information. 
-Manage grants calendar to ensure deadlines and compliance with grant agreements are met, and necessary input from relevant MLK50 staff is acquired.  
-Assist with tracking grant deliverables and collecting data for grant reports.

Additional Financial Tracking and Data Management
-Track campaign goals/progress.
-Track new, recurring and canceled donations and steward them along the relationship continuum accordingly.
-Learn, implement and oversee best practices for donor and prospect data management.
-Handle and track pledges, invoices, sponsorship contributions and offline donation deposits. 
-Support development director with monthly, quarterly revenue reconciling and reports. 

Other duties as assigned. 

The Ideal Candidate is: 
-Experienced: You have at least four years of experience in nonprofit fundraising with an emphasis on writing compelling copy for a range of audiences, reports and campaigns.
-Knowledgeable: About donor engagement and research, fundraising platforms, donor CRMs, grants calendars, Mailchimp and other relevant fundraising technologies.
-Flexible: Nimble and able to pivot when priorities shift. Bring a can-do attitude to work.
-Collaborative: You know how to collect input, buy-in on projects you own while also contributing to the work of your teammates. 
-Mission-focused: Interested in joining a business team that is rethinking revenue, with an eye toward community-centric fundraising principles.
-Organized: All staff are expected to prioritize and balance multiple projects simultaneously.
-Curious: An eagerness to learn about MLK50 coverage areas and stay current on related Memphis and national news topics in order to shape our donor campaigns, grant applications, etc. 
-Committed: You keep abreast of social, racial and economic justice movements locally and nationally; you demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the cultural competency that matches MLK50’s mission.
-Courageous: You’re willing to disrupt charity narratives around nonprofit fundraising with a solidarity framework that interrupt the status quo.
 
Benefits 
-$3,000 hiring bonus 
-At least 30 paid days off per year, including: At least two weeks’ paid vacation, 10 paid holidays per year: Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Two “dark” weeks, one in the spring and the other the week leading up to Labor Day.
-$1,000 annual professional development stipend
-Company credit card
-100% employer-paid health insurance for the employee, 75% for dependents
-Company-supplied computer
-Life insurance, long and short-term disability insurance
-$50 monthly tech stipend 
-4% employer 401K match 
-Annual cost of living raise

Location and Work Travel
Candidate is based in the Memphis metro area or is willing to relocate. Remote candidates will not be considered. The development manager may travel to represent MLK50 at conferences or other funder convenings. 

Physical Requirements/Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear.

The employee is frequently required to use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls.

The employee is often required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. We are a hybrid newsroom.

To Apply
We are eager to learn more about you and how you fit this role. In lieu of a cover letter, we are asking candidates to submit work samples and respond to the following questions in this Google form. Questions, work sample examples are also listed below:

-Based on the job description and your experience, what 2 to 3 skills do you possess that make you a successful development manager? (3-5 sentences)
-As a development manager, how do you think you can contribute to the change that MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is trying to implement? (3-5 sentences)
-Submit 3-5 writing samples of original work. This can include: LOIs, grant applications/reports, correspondence with donors or fundraising campaign language. The work should have minimal editing and you should be the sole author.

If you have any questions, please contact jobs@mlk50.com and put “Development Manager” in  the subject line. Please apply for this position through the google form. Candidates who email materials will not be considered. This job is open until the position is filled.

To apply for this job please visit docs.google.com.

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