Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation seeks Communications and Development Manager

JOB TITLE: Communications and Development Manager (P/T, 4 days/week)
REPORTS TO: Chief Operating Officer
LOCATION: Valhalla, NY or Houston, TX

Organization: The mission of the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF) is to establish sustainability as an integral part of every child’s K-12 learning experience. Our approach is comprehensive, engaging students, teachers and administrators, parents and caregivers, communities and businesses in pursuing whole-school transformation through professional development, experiential learning programs, and cultivation of community partnerships. CELF is a small non-profit led by a team of highly-collaborative, dedicated professionals. Growing demand for our services has opened new opportunities that require creative outreach to expand our impact and strategic fundraising. This position is an exciting opportunity in a rapidly evolving field addressing some of the most pressing issues of our times.

Summary: CELF is seeking a Communications and Development Manager who has 3+ years of communications and/or development experience, ideally in an in-house leadership role within a fast-growing nonprofit, and covering areas of communications such as event marketing, social media, website content, and newsletters, and areas of development such as donor communications, donor outreach, and grant writing.

Detailed Description: Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Communications and Development Manager will set and guide the strategy for all communications, website, and public relations messages and marketing collateral to consistently articulate CELF’s mission to a wide array of stakeholders. The Communications and Development Manager will also support the Executive Director with development priorities such as donor outreach, prospecting grant opportunities, and grant writing. The Communications and Development Manager will ensure that CELF is viewed as the primary source, disseminator, and conduit of information within this diverse network and constituent base. The Communications and Development Manager will partner with colleagues on a variety of strategic initiatives across education programming, fundraising and marketing.

The Communications and Development Manager is responsible for executing an integrated strategic communications plan that consistently reinforces the organization’s brand and messages among key audiences and enhances the organization’s position as an industry leader. These key audiences include K-12 educators and administrators, education policymakers, and a range of corporate, foundation, and individual donors.

The ability to take knowledge and transform it into exciting, relevant messages, and disseminate it to the right audiences through the best distribution channels is critical.

Specific Requirements and Responsibilities:
Communications
● Refine and implement the organization’s strategic communications plan, manage the overall brand and messaging, and execute across relevant channels.
● Website: Ongoing web content management.
● Social Media: Follow relevant external activity and manage all CELF accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
● Newsletters, fundraising materials, program collateral, press releases: write and oversee production of written promotional materials – both electronic and print, and multimedia content.
● Database management: Serve as key staff person for the maintenance of the contact management database , including program participants, prospective participants, partners, donors and prospective donors.
● Program Communications: Liaise with current and past teacher and administrative participants to track progress, obtain quotes and anecdotal stories, and develop case studies.

Development
● Donor cultivation: Support the Executive Director in building relationships with existing and prospective donors.
● Grants: Research, write, and edit grant applications in collaboration with the Executive Director.
● Donor reporting: Maintain gift recognition programs and support the Executive Director to ensure timely and accurate report deliveries to funders.
● Fundraising events: Support execution of fundraising or donor cultivation events, including but not limited to cocktail parties, salons and panel discussions.

Overall
● High energy, maturity, and leadership with the ability to serve as a unifying force and to position communications discussions at both the strategic and tactical levels.
● Sincere commitment to working collaboratively with all constituent groups, including staff, board members, volunteers, donors, program participants, and other supporters.
● Self-starter, entrepreneurial and able to work independently, who enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives.

Qualifications:
● The position requires a motivated professional with excellent written, verbal and visual communication skills.
● Bachelor’s degree / Equivalent experience in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, and/or Fundraising/Development.
● Working knowledge of MS Office, Google suite, email marketing, and social media platforms.
● Experience with donor database management a plus.
● Photography and/or videography and editing skills a major plus.
● Passion for making a difference – environmental, K-12 education, and/or social justice background a plus.
● Spanish language skills a plus
● Direct experience in non-profit, education and philanthropy sectors, a plus

Hours: Part time; flexible hours, hybrid remote/in-office work options available.
Salary Range: $45,000-$60,000 commensurate with skills and experience, with the $55,000-$60,000 range denoting over 5 years of directly relevant experience and demonstration of desired qualifications.

Locations:

• CELF NY: 100 Summit Lake Drive, Suite 160 Valhalla, NY 10595
• CELF TX: Remote, based in Houston

How to apply:
Email your cover letter, resume, to Pallavi Mehta (pallavi@celfeducation.org) with “Communications and Development Manager” in the Subject line. We also highly recommend inclusion of a work sample, such as a link to a social media campaign or newsletter you developed, writing sample, etc.

CELF is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or political affiliation. CELF encourages qualified applicants who identify as having lived and/or worked in a community impacted by environmental injustice. CELF is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.