Senior Communications and Donor Stewardship Manager

Organization Overview

Pew Research Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and non-advocacy organization that conducts high-quality, fact-based research. It serves leaders and the public worldwide and emphasizes independence, objectivity, accuracy, rigor, humility, transparency, and innovation.

The Senior Manager drives the Center’s fundraising narrative and donor experience, translating research into compelling philanthropic opportunities. The role collaborates across communications, fundraising, research, finance, and legal to create donor-facing communications, partner engagement, and grant reporting. The Senior Manager aligns prospect outreach with the Center’s messaging, develops concept notes, budgets, and outreach plans, and ensures donor and board awareness of research impact.

• Coordinate and manage donor stewardship activities.
• Draft, edit, and oversee production of tailored written materials for donors, prospects, and connectors (concept papers, proposals, stewardship reports, collateral).
• Translate Center work into compelling prospect and donor communications linked to core priorities.
• Develop and manage budgets supporting fundraising and donor relations.
• Contribute to grant proposals and agreements, ensuring cross-functional consultation with research, communications, finance, legal, and HR.
• Regularly communicate fundraising activity to key organizational groups.
• Identify opportunities to weave prospect outreach into Center communications activities.
• Ensure senior leadership is prepared to make fundraising strategy decisions.
• Document and track grant deadlines, deliverables, and requirements for current donors.
• Brief communications and research colleagues on grant requirements for effective collaboration.
• Monitor press mentions of key partners and advise communications leadership on reputation management.
• Work with fundraising, communications, and research colleagues to prepare comprehensive grant reports, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data to highlight impact.
• Write and edit narrative grant reports and project manage their completion within deadlines.
• Manage stakeholder requests for the executive team: provide strategic counsel, prepare talking points, liaise with external parties and social/digital teams.
• Identify opportunities for the President and executive vice president to spotlight Center work.
• Draft materials for the Pew Charitable Trusts and Center board on research and partnership initiatives.

• Bachelor’s degree in public relations, communications, fundraising/development, or related field.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in communications, fundraising, or donor relations.
• Experience in a national or international nonprofit, foundation, or think‑tank environment preferred.
• FLSA status:
  Exempt.

• Exceptional project management skills; certification is a plus.
• Excellent writing and verbal communication; ability to craft compelling stories using quantitative and qualitative data.
• Strong teamwork and cross‑functional collaboration under tight deadlines with diplomacy and poise.
• Knowledge of strategic communications and fundraising or development planning.
• Creative and strategic thinker.
• Highly organized and detail‑oriented; able to juggle multiple projects.
• Knowledge of project management systems (e.g., Asana) and media/analytics tools (e.g., Meltwater, Parse.ly) is a plus.
• Experience writing grant proposals, agreements, and reports; developing program budgets; tracking and analyzing quantitative and qualitative metrics.

Pew Research Center makes employment decisions without regard to age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, military/veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. We encourage applications from candidates who represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.

• Affordable, comprehensive health care (medical, dental, vision).
• Generous paid annual leave, including a winter break between Dec.
  25 and Jan.
  1.
• Employer‑paid disability, life insurance, and paid family leave plans.
• Up to 12% employer 401(k) contribution, with vesting at the end of the first year.
• 37.5‑hour workweek.
• Health savings or flexible spending account options with employer funding.
• Flexibility to telework a portion of each week and four additional telework “flex weeks” per year.

Staff are required to be present in the Center’s Washington, D.C., office three core days weekly (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). Remote work is permitted on other days within the typical work week.