Donor Communications Manager

Summary

The Donor Communications Manager is an essential part of the California Science Center Foundation’s fund development team who advances development-specific communication strategies across audiences. Working in collaboration with donor and membership program leads, they will contribute to and implement a development communications plan and calendar for engaging and stewarding supporters through a variety of channels. They will project manage and create content for donation appeals, e-newsletters, printed and digital collateral, web pages and social media platforms related to the Science Center’s giving initiatives. 

The ideal candidate has three or more years of fundraising, communications or marketing experience and has worked in a nonprofit setting. A persuasive storyteller, they can create communications that articulate the Science Center’s mission, vision, values and impact to donors and prospective donors of all levels. Excellent time and project management skills and the ability to collaborate cross-departmentally are also required. The Donor Communications Manager will be part of a transformational period of growth as the California Science Center nears completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center expansion, featuring space shuttle Endeavour.

Minimum Qualifications

• 3 years experience in fundraising, communications or marketing; experience with nonprofit and mission-driven storytelling desired.
• Excellent writing, communication and editing skills.
• Demonstrated ability to create clear, concise and engaging communications. Ability to adapt the tone, style and voice of copy to fit a range of channels and audiences.
• A design mindset with experience creating or incorporating visual content including images and short video.
• Ability to lead or contribute to intradepartmental and cross-departmental collaborations.
• Strong planning and organizational skills; able to set reasonable deadlines and motivate others to achieve deliverables.
• Excellent follow-through and ability to balance multiple projects and priorities to meet personal deadlines.
• Capable of working efficiently and quickly to respond to unanticipated requests when required; flexibility to accommodate changing priorities and shifting deadlines.
• Proficiency or ability to become quickly proficient in Microsoft Office suite and OneDrive applications, Zoom or other videoconferencing platforms.
• Expectation to work a minimum of four days in the office per week, with the flexibility to work additional days on-site as needed to advance projects and priorities.
• Ability to work a 40-hour week required; willingness to work a flexible schedule that may include evenings and weekends on occasion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graphic design skills and/or knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, Capcut or similar programs.
• Experience with WordFly and/or other email marketing platforms.
• Experience with Drupal and/or similar web content management systems.
• Experience with Dropbox, ResourceSpace and/or similar digital asset management systems.

Major Job Responsibilities

• Contribute to and implement a development communications plan to support the engagement and stewardship of donors and members and build upon existing strategies and channels.
• Manage a development communications calendar to set production deadlines and coordinate the timing of mailings and emails throughout the year.
• Project manage and create/adapt content for a wide range of communications including digital and printed fundraising collateral, e-newsletters, invitations, web pages, appeals and social media platforms.
• Develop key messages, boilerplate language and templates that can be used across the department.
• Develop and maintain a ‘story bank’ of donor profiles and constituent impact stories for various applications.
• Represent the department at interdepartmental website and social media team meetings.
• Act as a lead editor for the department and ensure consistent messaging and brand identity across materials.
• Contribute to writing scripts and talking points for development events.
• Stay informed of Science Center news and updates by engaging staff from throughout the organization and experiencing exhibits and programs.
• Special projects, assignments and other duties as assigned.