Current openings

Development Manager

Priority deadline: February 16, 2024

Experience: At least three years of relevant experience

Salary: $80,000 – $100,000

The D.C. Policy Center is expanding its team with the addition of a Development Manager.

The Development Manager will work with the Executive Director to engage current donors, cultivate new donors, and expand the Policy Center’s donor base.

The ideal candidate will be a motivated, organized, and high-performing professional who thrives on the innovation, creativity, and collaboration required in a nonprofit environment. The Development Manager will be integral to D.C. Policy Center’s success, particularly over the next 3-5 years as the leadership team puts a continuous growth and expansion plan into action, all in service of the Policy Center’s mission.

Responsibilities

Primary duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Organizational Growth and Administration

· Work with the Executive Director to create, develop, and implement a comprehensive strategic development plan to maximize funding streams and reach annual goals through a varied portfolio of public, private, and corporate philanthropic support.

· Serve as staff liaison for the Board-led Development Committee.

· Stay abreast of nonprofit fundraising trends and best practices to help position the D.C. Policy Center ahead of major funding changes and new developments.

· Increase the effective use of the D.C. Policy Center’s fundraising and tracking systems.

· Develop and monitor a grants and donations calendar to ensure that all proposal and reporting deadlines are met.

Individual Donors

· Maintain a robust donor database, ensuring the timely and accurate acknowledgement of all gifts and pledges.

· Schedule regular check-ins with current supporters specifically to show appreciation.

· Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward all prospects and donors, providing an exceptional experience that attracts new supporters and regularly engages donors in the D.C. Policy Center’s mission.

· Collaborate with the Executive Director and the Board of Directors to build on and support the D.C. Policy Center’s major gifts program as well as deferred gifts from donors through estate planning and other types of structured gifts.

Grants and Institutional Support

· Identify and build relationships with national foundations.

· Prepare and submit letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports in collaboration with the program staff and the Executive Director.

· Identify means of increasing the D.C. Policy Center’s name recognition across an array of national foundations.

· Monitor donor information, providing and presenting statistical analyses and reports to the Board of Directors and the Executive Director.

· Identify, cultivate, and solicit corporate gifts and grants, in partnership with the research and program team.

Campaign Management

· Organize fundraising, cultivation, stewardship events, and targeted campaigns.

· Work with policy and communications staff to effectively communicate the D.C. Policy Center’s work to our donor communities.

· Work on regular small donor campaigns.

Experience and Qualifications

Required

· At least three years of nonprofit sector experience with a focus on annual fundraising goals, planned giving, major gifts, and campaign management.

· Demonstrated ability to cultivate relationships with qualified prospective donors to solicit and close charitable gifts.

· Direct experience creating successful donor strategies.

· Knowledge of “best practices” in fundraising and nonprofit management.

· Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including strong attention to detail and editing.

Strongly Preferred

· Knowledge of the District of Columbia and its philanthropic communities.

· Experience in fundraising for a think tank focused on one or more of the D.C. Policy Center’s priority issue areas (economic growth and competitiveness, housing, workforce, education).

Application instructions

Please send a resume, cover letter, one writing sample, and one data visualization sample as a single PDF to jobs@dcpolicycenter.org with the subject line “Development Manager.”

Priority deadline for applications is February 16, 2024. Applications received after that date will be evaluated as needed on a rolling basis.

Independent fellows

Deadline: rolling

The D.C. Policy Center is looking for established researchers, journalists, data scientists, data visualization experts, and policy wonks of all stripes to write for the Center’s website as independent research Fellows. Our Fellows produce data-driven, D.C.-centered analyses on a variety of topics, including housing, public health, employment and labor markets, business environments, D.C. history, demographic change, transportation, and criminal justice.

Articles must include original research or data analysis focused on the District of Columbia. The ideal candidate is an independent thinker with excellent research, analysis, and writing skills, as well as a demonstrated interest in urban data and policy, especially the District of Columbia’s economy or demography.

Please note that Fellows are independent contractors who are paid per piece; this is not a full-time or onsite position.

Application instructions

Please send a resume, brief cover letter, and two relevant writing samples to jobs@dcpolicycenter.org. In your cover letter, please include your specific research interests, and 1-3 brief pitches for article(s) that you would pursue as a Fellow. Applications are considered on a rolling basis.

Note: We also consider submissions from one-time contributors. Please contact jobs@dcpolicycenter.org for more information.