Digital Fundraising Associate

Digital Fundraising Associate

The Climate Reality Project is a nonprofit organization founded by former US Vice President Al Gore. Our mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.  

At The Climate Reality Project, we come to work every day to help solve the climate crisis. We do it by working from the ground up, empowering people and communities worldwide to fight for their future and together drive a just transition to clean energy.

We are committed to building a more just and equitable world, one where all voices are heard and respected regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or physical ability. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other historically marginalized communities. We encourage applicants to read our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice statement on our website.

Position Summary

The Digital Fundraising Associate will work closely with members of the Communications and Advancement teams, and outside vendors to execute day-to-day activities for Climate robust grassroots digital fundraising program. This position will be responsible for writing and building fundraising web pages, SMS messages, and emails, answering inquiries from online donors, assisting in email targeting and donor list segmentation, and assisting in managing donor records in Climate Reality’s customer relationship management (CRM) system and email marketing platform.

Currently reporting to the Digital Fundraising Manager, the Digital Fundraising Associate has no direct reports.  

This position is within a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment will be subject to a collective bargaining agreement between Climate Reality and the union.This is a full time, non-exempt, hourly, benefits-eligible, hybrid position. The Climate Reality Project offers a flexible hybrid schedule, with staff working from our office in downtown Washington, DC at least two days per week to enable and encourage collaboration within and among teams. The salary for the role is $56,500 USD per year.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Write and build fundraising pages, emails, lightboxes, and broadcast SMS messages.
• Assist with targeting emails and building list segmentation for online donors and non-donors on Climate Reality’s email list in EveryAction.
• Collaborate with Digital Fundraising Manager on campaign plans, goals, and strategies, and write campaign-specific plans that operationalize annual, quarterly, or monthly goals.
• Support maintenance of donor records, opportunities, and correspondence including established procedures.
• Produce reports, dashboards, and build queries that accurately meet the criteria outlined by internal clients, as well as help to define those criteria with the Digital Fundraising Manager.
• Respond to all supporter requests and donation or service issues in a timely, professional, and enthusiastic manner via multiple channels, including phone, email, and text messaging.
• Assist with tracking and reporting on analytics for email marketing, social media, and website performance as it relates to fundraising.
• Assist with reviewing and updating email automation efforts to cultivate online donors.
• Assist with data maintenance and hygiene for email supporters and online donors in CRMs.
• Support coordination with the Digital team and external vendor on online fundraising strategy and attend weekly planning meetings.
• Contribute to brainstorms to develop campaign ideas and improve online fundraising efforts.
• Support and contribute to the ongoing improvement of our operations and enrichment of our culture, for example by serving on ad hoc or ongoing work groups, assisting with the onboarding and training of colleagues, and participating in efforts to assess, refine, and strengthen our culture and practices.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Abilities

• Familiarity with EveryAction/Bonterra or similar platform utilized for digital fundraising highly desired
• Strong writing skills across digital platforms
• Familiarity with and desire to learn more about email best practices, including formatting, deliverability and spam, testing, and metrics
• Talent for writing clear and compelling email, web, and SMS copy
• Basic HTML and CSS knowledge
• Excellent attention to detail, working knowledge of quality control processes and procedures, demonstrated ability to identify and solve problems independently
• Care deeply about both climate change and environmental justice and want to work to solve the climate crisis and create a healthy and equitable future for all
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer required

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or related field—or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 1 year of experience working in customer relationship management (CRM) systems and/or email marketing software, such as EveryAction, Salesforce, ActionNetwork, or similar
• Demonstrated proficiency with relational database and spreadsheet programs

Organizational Competencies

The Climate Reality Project has adopted a competency-based approach to job definition, hiring, performance assessment, and professional development. The following are our seven organization-wide competencies and examples of how they manifest for this role.

• Teamwork and Collaboration: Builds and sustains productive working relationships with colleagues; actively listens to others and seeks to understand diverse perspectives; follows through on commitments.
• Flexibility and Adaptability: Demonstrates the ability to adapt to changing priorities and circumstances; takes initiative to solve problems, improve processes, and/or achieve outcomes; learns quickly when faced with new situations or systems.
• Written and Verbal Communication: Written communication is clear and concise; verbal communication is intentional and straightforward; provides timely and helpful information across the organization as needed; gives and receives constructive feedback in a thoughtful manner.
• Time and Project Management: Possesses a strong work ethic i.e., a sense of ownership over tasks, commitment to following things through, and a willingness to do what it takes to get the job done; manages multiple competing priorities, tasks, and projects effectively, appropriately seeking help from others when needed.
• Professional Development: Shows commitment and acts to continuously improve; connects with advocates, experts, mentors, and resources, and actively seeks new ways to grow and be challenged through internal and external training opportunities; accepts assignments that broaden capabilities.
• Climate Justice: Works to understand and achieve anti-racist principles to disrupt the systems of white supremacy, privilege, classism, sexism, and racism; seeks to understand how systemic racism and environmental injustice impact individuals and frontline and fenceline communities; works to promote a welcoming and inclusive environment in Climate Reality spaces (workplace, events, trainings, and other convenings).
• Climate Reality Mission and Focus: Is passionate about Climate Reality’s role and mission and can act as a Climate Reality ambassador to a diverse set of audiences.

Role-Specific Competencies

In addition to organization-wide competencies, each role has its own competencies. Below are examples of how each competency manifests in this role.

• Communication Skills: Possesses strong all-around communication skills and can communicate fluently in a wide range of formats; creates clear and compelling digital communications content; stays up-to-date on current and new digital communications best practices.
• Technology and Data Systems: Proficient with basic HTML, Salesforce, EveryAction, and Drupal; knows quality control processes and procedures; able to build email and SMS campaigns and donation web pages; can assist with basic website production for online fundraising and advocacy purposes.
• Strategy Development: Proficient in implementing compelling digital content and strategies.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Climate Reality, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in this job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

The Climate Reality Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or any other category prohibited by local, state or federal law. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, compensation, benefits, social and recreational activities and termination.