Senior Development Writer, Institutional Giving

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals, and communities to engage the critical environmental issues of our time and bring about positive change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.  Founded in 1971, Earthjustice has a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. Our headquarters are in San Francisco with offices in Anchorage, Juneau, Los Angeles, Tallahassee, Miami, Honolulu, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Seattle, Bozeman, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.  The Senior Development Writer will serve on a team of fundraising communications professionals who support Earthjustice’s Development department. The person in this position works closely with organizational and program leadership, attorneys, fundraisers, and communications staff to provide writing support for organizational fundraising by writing and editing donor materials that play a critical role in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship to improve the donor journey at Earthjustice. This position will provide donor collateral to ensure the Foundation Relations team meets annual goals of raising approximately one-quarter of Earthjustice’s contributed revenue annually and may support the Principal Gifts team as needed.  Building relationships with a subset of Earthjustice’s program teams, the Senior Writer will serve as a donor communications expert on a segment of Earthjustice’s work (similar to journalistic “beats”) and serve in an advisory role to inform other team members’ projects. In addition to writing projects covering specific programs, the Senior Writer will develop collateral related to Earthjustice’s entire programmatic portfolio and initiatives that exist at the intersection of several program teams. The Senior Writer provides editing, peer coaching and guidance to Donor Communications team members as they craft fundraising assets and will act as a mentor to more junior development writing staff as opportunities arise.    This role can be based in San Francisco, CA or remote from the U.S. Responsibilities
Writing, Editing, Research, and Project Management (70%) 

• Be a strategic partner to foundation and gift officers and program staff to develop and submit the highest quality letters of inquiry, grant proposals, reports, and other supplementary materials to institutional donors.   
• Independently manage a portfolio of writing, including a high volume of writing and editing assignments on a variety of topics and with tight deadlines.
• Develop messages/assets, as needed and in coordination with officers, used to keep donors informed and engaged between formal reports, proposals, and meetings.
• Provide writing, editing, and proofreading support to Development leadership and to members of other Devo teams, including production of multi-media assets. 
• Facilitate strategic planning, creative briefs and project management for donor communications assignments, as well as effective feedback conversations for continual improvement and improved partnerships.
• Maintain current and accurate documentation of all written content, including contributions toward a robust library of frequently updated boilerplate material.
• Provide project coordination and communication support between officers and contract writers.
• Research and review material prepared by frontline Development staff, Earthjustice attorneys, and Communications and Marketing staff to develop and produce creative, compelling written content.
• Gather and incorporate compelling images into written collateral, as appropriate. 

 Program Knowledge and Communication (15%) 

• Interview and coordinate with program leadership and attorneys to remain fluent in the work of Earthjustice regional offices, programs, and campaigns.
• Take ownership over several program/geographic beats and stay abreast of the work of Earthjustice regional offices, programs, and campaigns, including maintaining a working knowledge of key past accomplishments and history.
• Foster collaborative relationships with other Development writers to align styles, coordinate writing, and build shared knowledge. 
• Track the status of legal cases and programs through internal database systems (Foundation), program staff briefings, and program area email lists; interviewing program staff and leadership; and monitoring website updates and press releases.
• Attend program meetings as