Remote

The Organization: American Journalism Project

We’re a small but entrepreneurial team working to re-shape the future of local news in our country. We’re passionate about journalism, civic engagement, and how local news plays a unique role in shaping our democracy. We help build and grow sustainable local news organizations all over the country — through financial investment, venture support, and movement building — that are governed by, sustained by, and look like the public they serve. Learn about our grantees.

Our team is deeply connected to our mission and supportive of each others’ goals and overall well-being. We aim to be an organization where everyone feels heard, respected, and valued. We are an entirely remote, distributed team and strive to maintain a healthy, fun, and productive workplace, working alongside smart, energetic colleagues who enjoy one another and the work. Meet our full team.

Position Overview

The VP will lead AJP’s efforts to  secure funding for the American Journalism Project’s local fundraising efforts.

The VP will work with our Program Team to achieve ambitious revenue goals, will serve as interim heads of development for our startup studio organizations and then oversee the hiring and onboarding of a permanent local fundraising executive.

Our ideal candidate is a fundraising professional who has expertise in pursuing six- to eight-figure contributions and grants, particularly major gifts, as well as experience with project management; building systems and processes for fundraising; and engaging local communities and constituencies.

The VP will lead the strategy, execution and portfolio management of our local fundraising efforts and have the following responsibilities:

• Develop the overall fundraising and stewardship strategy for the Program Team’s place-based work — our Local Philanthropy Partnerships and Startup Studio — across diverse revenue streams: major gifts from foundations, individuals, and corporate support
• Define and meet fundraising goals for the each place-based project
• Prepare Chief Investment Officer, and leaders and board members of our startup organizations, for fundraising, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.  Lead in preparation efforts for major fundraising meetings and solicitations; build new external relationships as appropriate, thoughtfully advancing complex partnerships and demonstrating excellent presentation and communication skills to connect prospects to the missions of the American Journalism Project and our place-based partners and projects.
• Provide leadership throughout prospecting, cultivation and stewardship efforts, ensuring every element of engagement is strongly executed towards securing revenue; work with team to oversee the execution of deliverables such as proposals and reports
• Work across our Program and Advancement Teams to oversee the coordination of information with our Advancement Team’s systems for gift solicitation, management, reporting, and stewardship

• Assist with our startups’ board development and management; act as a key liaison to the boards on fundraising
• Manage and mentor a team of currently 1 FTE, as well as managing any fundraising consultants and vendors
• Act as interim head of development for our startups and work with the team on recruiting, hiring and onboarding startup staff, particularly development leadership

Who you are

We know not all strong candidates will have all the skills we list. That’s OK. Research shows that women and people of color are less likely to apply for a position if they don’t meet every skill listed. At the American Journalism Project, we are committed to creating a better, more diverse, and more inclusive news ecosystem, and that starts with doing the work ourselves. So if your past experience doesn’t align perfectly, but you know this is the role for you – please tell us!

This role might be a fit if you are:

• Strategic leader: You thrive at understanding and navigating through complexity and setting clear strategy and prioritization. You love to see a complex problem and come up with a clear solution.
• Excellent communicator: You excel at written and verbal communication. You are able to effectively communicate strategy and distill impact in a way that can inspire external stakeholders.
• Goal and mission-oriented: You live and breathe our overall fund goals. You manage against personal goals regularly. You manage and track yourself to goals consistently, but you also think holistically about how we are bringing in new support.
• Collaborative and agile: You love people and you are the kind of person that brings energy to a meeting. You excel at collaborating across teams without direct authority. You see fundraising as a team sport and leverage others appropriately. You bring others into your thinking on how to advance leads.
• Fundraising experience: An ideal candidate would have significant philanthropic experience, a demonstrated track-record of seeking and securing six- to eight-figure gifts, and tangible experience expanding and cultivating existing donor relationships over time. Knowledge and experience in the field of journalism are preferred.
• Committed mentor: You are ready to provide guidance and advice to the passionate, emerging leaders on your team and within our grantee organizations. You provide encouragement and frank, honest, and constructive feedback. You take initiative in the mentorship relationship, but allow the mentee to take responsibility for their growth, development, and career planning.
• Systems-thinker and pattern-spotter: Our goals are cross-organizational and very little can be accomplished without the input and collaboration of others. You love working across teams, spotting patterns, and facilitating processes that enable effective collaboration.
• Committed to equity: You bring experience of managing across lines of difference. You’ve worked with organizations led by BIPOC and/or nonprofits that have a track record of serving diverse communities and bring a fluency that has been shaped by those experiences.
• Bold and mission-oriented: You wake up every day terrified about the future of local news in our country but boldly optimistic that we can reimagine our country’s local news infrastructure. You work with urgency to get us there faster.
• Ready to travel if needed but also excited to work for a remote organization: We are a fully virtual team. However, travel is occasionally needed to achieve the overall objectives of this role.
• Fun and supportive: We are working hard to reimagine the future of local news and our mission is vitally important to the future of our country. We also love the people we work with and love to laugh.

How To Apply

Please submit an application through our link. Download the full job description here. If you have any questions please feel free to email careers@theajp.org with “VP, Local Partnerships” in the subject line.