Development and Communications Senior Manager

About Oakland Thrives

Oakland Thrives is a collective impact backbone organization, fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It is dedicated to advancing well-being and equity for Oakland’s children, families, and communities. Oakland Thrives is connected to the Youth Ventures Joint Powers Authority (YVJPA), a public-sector collective impact forum that includes the County of Alameda, City of Oakland, Oakland Unified School District, Alameda County Office of Education, Peralta Community College District, and First 5 Alameda County. The YVJPA was established to improve outcomes for Oakland youth through coordinated, cross-sector collaboration. Over time, Oakland Thrives has expanded into a robust public-private partnership, bringing together leaders from business, nonprofit, philanthropy, and the broader community.

As a collective impact organization, Oakland Thrives brings these leaders together to plan and implement initiatives that create the conditions for Oakland’s children, families, and communities to be the healthiest in the nation. Oakland Thrives works across the city on high-priority community needs in the areas of health, wealth, education, safety, and housing. Our current priority initiative is Rise East, a multi-year collective impact effort to improve the health and well-being of Black children and families in East Oakland. The Development and Communications Senior Manager reports to the Chief of Staff.

Position:

Oakland Thrives has relied on professional consultants to support our work in the communications and fund development areas. At this time, Oakland Thrives seeks internal staff capacity to implement communications and fund development strategies. We expect that, at least initially, the position will work closely with the consultants on implementation activities. In this role, there is potential for advancement.

The Development and Communications Senior Manager plays a crucial role in advancing Oakland Thrives' mission by

Key Responsibilities:

• Support implementation of philanthropic fundraising efforts (40%)
  • Working with Oakland Thrives staff and consultants, assist with the development and execution of a diverse fundraising strategy including foundation grants and major gifts
  • Build and maintain a donor database using a customer relations management tool or similar database
  • Support the engagement of funding partners through meetings, site visits, updated materials, or other engagements
  • Execute fundraising events
  • Create fundraising materials
  • Research philanthropic grant opportunities, prepare grant application materials, submit proposals, and track application processes and status
  • Support grant management of all philanthropic grants for Oakland Thrives, including tracking and preparing, in consultation with Oakland Thrives staff, grant reports due to funders and support grant tracking for Oakland Thrives’ external initiatives including Rise East
  • Support the CEO to raise philanthropic funds for Oakland Thrives and its initiatives such as Rise East
• Supporting public resource fund development (10%)
  • Support the Director of Public Policy and Finance to create, maintain, and act upon tools such as fiscal mapping and public resource leverage frameworks
  • Prepare grant applications and apply to public funding opportunities
• Leading communications and external relations efforts (50%)
  • Assist with the development and execution of a communications and external relations strategy for Oakland Thrives, including specific strategies for its initiatives such as Rise East
  • Coordinate with initiative partners, such as the Rise East 40 x 40 partners, to align communications efforts
  • Craft messaging and create content across a variety of platforms including website updates, newsletters, social media, videos, annual reports, and ad-hoc materials
  • Work with Oakland Thrives staff to identify content to share across a variety of platforms, such as webinars, articles, etc.
  • Build and maintain a database of all organizational contacts using a customer relations management tool or similar database
  • Independently or by working with consultants, secure earned media for Oakland Thrives and its initiatives and amplify any earned media across a variety of social media platforms
  • Execute events and regularly attend external events to maintain key external relationships
  • Support the development of the Oakland Thrives brand and maintain brand integrity across all mediums

Education and Experience:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in relevant field required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience: At least 3-5 years of experience executing development and/or communications strategies; experience in a non-profit or public sector setting preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage and create content across a variety of platforms to engage a variety of audiences
• Demonstrated ability to create, maintain, and leverage relationships to achieve organizational goals
• Strong commitment to the mission and values of Oakland Thrives, with a passion for social justice and equity.