Associate Director of Donor Communications

Salary Range

$97,750.00 To $ Annually

This is a role that will work under the direction of the Marketing & Communications Director. The Associate Director of Donor Communications will be responsible for leading the strategy, development, and execution of donor-facing communications and donor acquisition efforts, playing a pivotal role in advancing WRA’s mission. This position will develop and implement a comprehensive donor communications stewardship plan along with crafting persuasive content that articulates the impact of philanthropy and our organizational goals to engage existing and prospective donors.

Providing donor communications advice, guidance, and training to a wide range of colleagues, the Associate Director of Donor Communications also spearheads how prospects are introduced to the organization, how donor messaging evolves over time, and how fundraising priorities are communicated across channels.

WRA fights climate change and its impacts to sustain the environment, economy, and people of the West. Our team of policy experts, scientists, economists, and attorneys has a 35-year history of working where decisions are made, sweating the details, creating evidence-based solutions, and holding decision makers accountable. This on-the-ground work with policymakers and other advocates advances clean energy, protects air, land, water, and wildlife — and sustains the lives and livelihoods of the West.

This position may work remotely in our seven-state region, in one of our six offices, or a hybrid of the two. Our seven-state region includes Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. WRA has offices located in Boulder, CO;
Reno, NV;
Denver, CO;
Phoenix, AZ;
Salt Lake City, UT; and Santa Fe, NM. Access to a major airport is required, as this position involves some travel.

• Develop and implement a comprehensive donor communications strategy supporting donor acquisition, engagement, and retention to achieve the organization’s overall fundraising goals.
• Define donor messaging priorities, narrative frameworks, and communication cadence across channels.
• Collaborate with the Development management team and other senior WRA staff to identify and articulate unique areas of work for stories and giving opportunities.
• Create and execute sophisticated creative and strategic communications to engage prospective and existing donors in advancing WRA’s mission.
• Leverage content and communications to support the Development team and WRA senior leaders in making connections, building relationships, and raising critical funding.
• Oversee WRA’s ladder of donor engagement strategies across web, email, and paid media channels and offline donor communications to ensure full integration with the cycle of giving and moves management efforts and overarching organizational communications strategies.
• Coordinate with the Marketing & Communications and Development teams to guide and enhance online fundraising strategies.

• Identify compelling stories ideas and bring them to life in accordance with the WRA’s brand and messaging standards and build a robust donor story library.
• Research, write, and edit various print and digital materials, including case statements, gift proposals, impact statements, presentations, brochures, feature stories, donor profiles, solicitation and stewardship letters, speeches and other donor communication materials as needed.
• Develop compelling solicitations and pitches for strategic initiatives for leadership gifts.
• Write and edit complex solicitation proposals for prospects and donors.
• Identify and develop relevant information and stories with the ability to translate technical information for a variety of audiences, an aptitude for creating multiple types of content, and a talent for researching and writing compelling content to be shared with donors and prospects.
• Independently incorporate changes, comments, and critiques from multiple reviewers using exceptional writing and editing skills.
• Conduct interviews with internal stakeholders to…