Communications and Advancement Manager

Milwaukee’s students are brilliant without bounds and possess talent without limits. At City Forward Collective (CFC), we work to secure Milwaukee’s future by ensuring every Milwaukee student and family has access to thriving, high-quality schools.

ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

CFC is seeking a Communications & Advancement Manager to provide skilled execution and operational support across two of the organization’s core functions: communications and advancement. Reporting directly to the Director of Communications and Advancement, this role is the operational engine behind CFC’s external presence and resource development work — ensuring that systems are running, content is moving, and development operations are accurate and responsive.

This is a role for someone who is highly organized, detail-oriented, and skilled at managing multiple projects simultaneously — from coordinating internal workflows and supporting team meetings to keeping cross-functional workstreams on track and on deadline. The Manager will bring strong project management instincts and the ability to facilitate productive conversations with internal team members, external partners, and funders. They will be excited about the full range of CFC's work: from crafting compelling digital content to maintaining the donor database to supporting the logistics of fundraising events. The Manager will work closely with Director of Communications and Advancement and will have meaningful contact with the broader CFC team, external partners, and funders.

ABOUT CITY FORWARD COLLECTIVE

CFC advances its mission through four core strategic pillars:

•    We INFORM our community through insightful and incisive policy and data analysis.

•    We ENGAGE through regularly convening Collaboratives of our core stakeholders: parents, families, and caregivers; educators, including school executives, classroom teachers, and principals; and civic & community leaders, including governing board members of charter and private schools, as well as elected officials and policymakers.

•    We ADVOCATE for policies and support people that champion excellent schools for all, in partnership with our affiliate, CFC Action Fund.

•    We CATALYZE the growth of excellent schools for all Milwaukee students, through direct support for recruitment and expansion of high-quality schools, and by convening and catalyzing the support organizations schools need to address citywide challenges like talent, funding, and facilities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES       

Communications Execution & Content

•    Maintain and update CFC’s primary digital platforms, including the CFC and CFC Action Fund websites, social media accounts, and newsletter distribution systems.

•    Draft, design, and publish social media content across CFC’s platforms in alignment with the VP’s communications strategy and CFC brand standards.

•    Support production of core organizational collateral — including presentations, one-pagers, brochures, and newsletter content — using Canva, Microsoft Office, and other tools.

•    Monitor social media platforms and relevant media coverage; flag notable coverage, trends, or issues to the VP in a timely manner.

•    Manage the organization’s digital asset library, maintaining organized and accessible files for logos, graphics, photos, and branded templates.

•    Support preparation and production of the organization’s annual report and regular donor and stakeholder communications.

•    Support the weekly News Brief workflow in coordination with the grants writer, including leveraging AI drafting tools to produce timely, on-brand content; assist with select writeups of national relevance

•    Provide content development support for the Parent Engagement Coordinator's community-facing work

Development Operations & Donor Support

•    Maintain accurate and up-to-date records in Salesforce and other development platforms, including donor contact information, gift records, grant activity, and stewardship history.

•    Process and record all incoming gifts and grants in a timely and accurate manner; prepare acknowledgment letters and other donor correspondence.

•    Support grant application preparation, including compiling attachments, formatting documents, and managing portal submissions.

•    Run regular development reports from Salesforce and other systems; prepare dashboards and summaries for the VP and Executive Director.

•    Draft donor-facing communications, including both mass emails to donor lists and personalized emails to individual donors

•    Maintain organized and complete grant files, including proposal documents, award letters, reporting requirements, and correspondence.

•    Manage CFC's Annual Appeal, a high-volume, deadline-driven fundraising campaign, which includes but is not limited to: planning, executing, and tracking the fundraising appeal against defined goals in coordination with other development support staff.

•    Coordinate and facilitate Advancement team meetings, maintaining the meeting calendar, tracking agendas and follow-up items, etc.

Events & Logistics

•    Support planning and execution of CFC’s donor-facing and fundraising events, including logistics coordination, vendor management, materials preparation, and on-site support.

•    Support preparation and logistics for other communications-related events and engagements as needed, including external presentations and media opportunities.

Stakeholder & Partner Support

•    Assist in maintaining CFC’s communications contacts at partner organizations, keeping records current and supporting coordination of joint communications efforts.

•    Respond to inbound communications inquiries and route them appropriately; support the VP in managing high-volume correspondence during busy periods.

•    Provide administrative support to the VP as needed, including scheduling, meeting preparation, and project tracking.

YOU MAY BE RIGHT FOR THIS POSITION IF…

•    You’re strongly aligned with City Forward Collective’s mission, values, and guiding principles, and bring urgency and passion to the work of ensuring every Milwaukee child has access to a thriving, high-quality school.

•    You’re highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong project management instincts and the ability to track multiple workstreams simultaneously without dropping details.

•    You’re a skilled communicator — both in writing and in person — with a good eye for design and the ability to produce polished external-facing content.

•    You have prior experience in communications, development operations, or a related field, preferably in a nonprofit, education, or advocacy setting.

•    You’re comfortable with digital and social media platforms and have experience managing organizational accounts or content calendars.

•    You’re a self-starter who can work independently on execution tasks while staying closely aligned with a VP who sets direction and strategy.

•    You’re flexible and adaptable — you understand that in a lean, high-impact organization, we’re all in to get the work done on behalf of Milwaukee’s students, families, and schools.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Demonstrated comfort with digital tools and platforms is essential; this role requires a high degree of technical and professional digital literacy across CRM, content management, social media scheduling, and design platforms. For additional details, see below:

•    College degree or equivalent professional experience in a related field required.

•    Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite required.

•    Experience with media monitoring tools (e.g. Meltwater, Critical Mention) strongly preferred

•    Experience with Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud for design work strongly preferred.

•    Experience with social media management tools (e.g., Buffer or similar) strongly preferred.

•    Experience with Salesforce or a comparable CRM/donor management platform preferred.

•    Experience with Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, or similar email marketing platforms preferred.

•    Experience with Squarespace or a comparable website platform preferred.

•    Driver’s license and regular access to personal transportation required.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

We have established a target salary range of $60,000–$80,000 for this role. CFC also maintains a full set of employee benefits, including health, vision, and dental insurance (with options for HSA), $50,000 in company-paid life insurance coverage, 403(b) retirement plan with 3% company match, 18 paid holidays, and 18 PTO days per year.

Interested candidates should send a letter of interest and resume to careers@cityforwardcollective.org. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

City Forward Collective is an equal opportunity employer and strives to maintain a diverse and inclusive work environment free from all forms of harassment and discrimination, consistent with CFC’s values of equity, impact, justice, and community. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, advancement, or any other employment practices based on an individual’s race, color, religion, gender, ethnicity or national origin, age, sexual orientation or marital status, family status, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected identity.