Development Associate (Community-based Philanthropy)

About Youth on Root (YoR)

Based in California, YoR’s mission is to center low-income youth and youth of color as change agents in their communities by providing tools for learning from each other and opportunities to use their unique power to promote environmental justice. We envision a self-sustaining grassroots movement led by youth who have meaningful opportunities to enact their visions of environmental justice for their communities. YoR believes that youth on the frontlines of environmental harms have the most lived experience and hold the highest impact solutions, therefore making them the ideal leaders of the Environmental Justice Movement. We believe that youth are not the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today. To learn more, visit YoR’s website. 

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a part-time Development Associate to conceptualize, operationalize, and lead a community-based individual giving program as part of YoR’s fundraising strategy. The role will also collaborate with other YoR staff and program areas to elevate youth stories, conduct intentional outreach to current and future strategic partners, and engage YoR’s donor community. To learn more about YoR’s fundraising philosophy, see here. This is a fixed-term, one-year position with the possibility of renewal and increase to full-time employment based on funding availability and performance. This remote position includes occasional travel events and team retreats. Our ideal candidate will reside in or have significant ties to the state of California. 

Candidate Profile: 

The ideal candidate will: 

• Uphold the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, the Principles of Environmental Justice, the Principles of the Youth Environmental Justice Movement, and the Youth-to-Youth and Youth-to-Adult Principles of Collaboration in all of YoR’s work.
• Bring experience working with fundraising in a professional capacity, such as grant/proposal writing, community outreach, database management, communications, event planning, partnerships management. 
• Lead by example in centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in all facets of the work.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities*: 

• Fundraising strategy development: Design an individual giving fundraising strategy that is values-aligned with YoR’s community-based fundraising philosophy
• Individual giving program leadership: Plan and execute the implementation of YoR’s community-based individual giving program; build, refine, and manage relevant funds reception, tracking, and relationship management systems and platforms such as funder databases, customer relationship management software (CRM); source, propose, and follow through on opportunities to grow and engage YoR’s network and community of individual donors
• Team coordination: Collaborate with YoR team to implement fundraising initiatives on YoR’s platforms, including website, social media, fundraising events, and other outreach
• Thought leadership: Co-create resources and events to empower community-based giving, such as: a gift acceptance policy, individual donor giving guide, blog posts, and donor convenings, etc.
• Grants: Limited grant research and applications, roughly 10% of the role.

*Additional responsibilities may be assigned. 

Preferred Experience:

• At least 1-3 years of experience in fundraising or related functions 
• Ability to conceptualize, partner, implement, and manage an ongoing individual giving program
• Ability to manage multiple projects with various internal and external stakeholders 
• Demonstrated organizational skills and leadership experience 
• Demonstrated consistency and reliability in a professional environment 
• Excellent verbal and written communication and storytelling skills 
• Ability to build and sustain strong relationships with team members, partner organizations, individual donors, and general public audiences

We recognize that the job description may not exactly match your qualifications. If you think you may be a good fit for YoR’s mission, we encourage you to apply. 

Application Instructions

We are committed to reducing bias in the application review process. To that end, we ask that all personally identifiable information be redacted from your resume and cover letter, including: name, academic institutions, and grade point average/grades. Please also ensure your name is not in file names. 

To apply, please email a resume and cover letter to hiring@youthonroot.org with the subject line “Development Associate: [Your Name]”. Please consider filling out this form with demographic questions (please note this is optional and responses to this form will not be reviewed by the hiring committee).

The priority deadline to apply for this position is February 8th. Please note that a background check will be required upon acceptance of the position. If you have any further questions about this opportunity, please email hiring@youthonroot.org.