Communications Manager

About Tipping Point

Tipping Point finds, funds, and strengthens the most promising poverty-fighting solutions so one day everyone in the Bay Area can prosper. Since 2005, Tipping Point has invested over $440 million in community interventions, policy change, and new ideas. Last year, our grantees provided life-changing services in housing, early childhood, education, and employment to nearly 90,000 of our neighbors across the Bay Area. Visit www.tippingpoint.org to learn more.

Values

Tipping Point’s core values are at the heart of everything we do and we look for individuals who share our commitments:

• We cultivate community because we know we are more powerful together.
• We practice gratitude.
• We hold ourselves accountable to achieving impact for and with the communities we serve.
• We relentlessly pursue equity because one’s background and identities should not predetermine one’s opportunities.

Position Overview

The Communications Manager is an exceptional communications professional passionate about leveraging the power of storytelling to affect social change. The Communications Manager is responsible for planning and delivering a range of content including fundraising campaigns, event programming, speechwriting, emails, and creative projects. The Communications Manager is required to think both strategically and creatively, and will be responsible for the execution of some of Tipping Point’s most important storytelling moments.

This position reports to the Communications Director and will work closely with other departments.

What will you do?

Content Development

• Distill Tipping Point’s investment strategies into stories, presentations, and written materials that communicate the case for supporting Tipping Point.
• Participate in the planning and execution of donor-facing communications.
• Partner with the Institutional and Individual Giving teams to support donor-facing messaging, grant proposals and reports.
• Participate in communications efforts for select events and campaigns including the development of theme, messaging, and program inclusive of both written and creative communications.
• Develop creative approaches and content to communicate Tipping Point’s mission and impact to key constituencies including staff, donors, and community partners.
• Translate complex ideas into copy and visuals for blogs, speeches, email, digital, case studies, and print collateral.
• Manage vendors (e.g. design firms).
• Understand creative and storytelling trends and bring fresh ideas to the team.

Develop creative partnerships

• Develop creative approaches and content to communicate Tipping Point’s mission and impact to key constituencies including staff, donors, and community partners.
• Collaborate with external partners: thought leaders, creative agencies, designers, film studios, and event producers.
• Translate complex ideas into copy and visuals for blogs, speeches, email, digital, case studies, and print collateral.

Manage Stakeholders

• Manage cross-organizational teams and multiple vendors on a project-by-project basis.
• Collaborate with external partners: thought leaders, creative agencies, designers, film studios, and event producers.

All other duties as assigned.

What qualifications are we looking for?

In addition to our core values, Tipping Point staff exhibit four core competencies: ability to be flexible in a constantly shifting environment, strong communication skills, ability to work well on a team, and ability to continuously problem solve in the face of challenges.

Additionally, the Communications Manager must have:

• Well-developed track record as a communications professional.
• Exceptional written communications skills and ability to translate complex concepts into clear and actionable content; the ability to create visually compelling materials.
• Demonstrated ability to use ideation and creativity to approach work.
• Demonstrated ability to write for a donor audience and use communications to engage current and prospective donors with a mission or cause.
• Track record of excellence in project planning with the ability to self-direct, anticipate roadblocks, meet deadlines, and prioritize among competing goals, while maintaining attention to detail.
• Proven ability to use data to tell a compelling story; ability to interpret data visualizations and suggest ways to simplify it for non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to be flexible in the face of changing environments, and be persistent in the face of obstacles.
• Ability to develop, maintain, and strengthen partnerships and work cooperatively with others on a team and across teams for the benefit of the organization.

Nice to have:

• The ability to create visually compelling materials
• Local knowledge of Bay Area philanthropy

“Nice to have” really means just that; it’s entirely possible that you don’t have any of these and are still a great fit. It’s not expected that any single candidate would have expertise across all of these areas — we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

Salary + Classification

Tipping Point is committed to paying competitive wages. In an effort to increase equity, because we know that salary negotiations tend to have an unfair bias, we do not participate in a salary negotiation process for any candidate. We will make our best offer, and it will be the same regardless of the candidate. The annual starting salary for the Communications Manager role is $117,919. This position meets the exemption requirements as defined by state and federal law. Exempt employees are paid on a salaried basis, and their salary is intended to constitute their entire regular compensation, regardless of the number of hours they work; therefore, exempt employees are not eligible for overtime pay.

Hybrid Work Environment

Tipping Point is committed to the safety of our staff and to facilitating connection and community with one another. While we were remote for almost two years, we are a highly in-person culture and have moved into a hybrid work environment. While managers have some discretion over the schedule, teams are generally expected to be in person Tuesday-Thursdays. All other days staff may choose to work in the office or remotely. Please note that in a constantly changing environment, Tipping Point may adjust this arrangement as it sees the need to.