Associate Director of Development & Communications (Austin)

Illinois Peace Project; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Life insurance

401K

Job summary

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago is seeking an Associate Director of Development & Communications to integrate fundraising strategy with organizational communications. You will lead donor engagement, campaigns, and stewardship while translating impact into compelling narratives that drive revenue growth.

Cross-functional work with program leadership, finance, and data teams will shape metrics and engagement tactics to advance fundraising priorities and strengthen collaboration across channels.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience; Master’s preferred.
• 5–8 years of progressive experience in development, communications, or nonprofit leadership.
• Demonstrated success linking communications strategy to revenue growth.
• Exceptional writing and storytelling skills.
• Experience managing analytics dashboards and campaign reporting.
• Passion for Nonviolence Chicago's mission.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead an integrated development and communications strategy aligned with revenue goals.
• Oversee appeals calendar (major gifts, lapsed, acquisition, stewardship).
• Maintain visibility across the donor pipeline and coordinate cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities with development staff.
• Ensure external messaging reinforces donor cultivation and fundraising objectives.
• Guide brand positioning to support philanthropic growth.
• Lead writer for donor appeals, stewardship reports, and campaign messaging.
• Establish KPIs linking communications performance to revenue outcomes.
• Oversee reporting dashboards tracking engagement and retention trends across channels.
• Analyze campaign performance and recommend strategic adjustments.
• Partner with CRM and data teams on segmentation and channel optimization.

Skills

Exceptional writing

Storytelling

Analytics dashboards

Campaign reporting

Microsoft Office

MailChimp

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Master’s preferred

Tools

CRM (Little Green Light)

Social media tools (Hootsuite, LinkedIn)

Video editing

YouTube/Vimeo

Job description

The Associate Director of Development & Communications leads the integration of fundraising strategy and communications at Nonviolence Chicago. This role owns the fundraising and communications pipeline at a systems level, ensuring that donor engagement, campaigns, stewardship, and messaging are coordinated, measured, and aligned to revenue goals. This role ensures that marketing, storytelling, engagement campaigns, and donor communications operate as direct functions of development strategy. The Director translates programmatic impact into compelling narratives that drive revenue growth, strengthen donor retention, and expand Nonviolence Chicago's philanthropic base.

Working cross-functionally with program leadership, finance, and data teams, the Associate Director aligns messaging, metrics, and engagement tactics with organizational fundraising priorities. This position is primarily "behind the scenes" internal-facing, focused on building systems, strengthening collaboration, and ensuring development-centric decision making across communications channels.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Integrated Development & Communications Strategy

• Develop and lead an integrated annual development and communications strategy aligned with revenue goals.
• Oversee appeals calendar (major gifts, lapsed, acquisition, stewardship).
• Maintain visibility across the donor pipeline and ensure timely coordination of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities in partnership with development staff.
• Ensure external messaging reinforces donor cultivation and fundraising objectives.
• Guide brand positioning to support philanthropic growth.
• Ensure site visits, convenings, events, and stewardship experiences are aligned with cultivation and solicitation objectives

Revenue-Focused Communications Leadership

• Serve as lead writer for donor appeals, stewardship reports, and campaign messaging.
• Translate impact data into donor-centered narratives.
• Oversee creative direction of marketing materials with a fundraising lens.
• Ensure alignment between grant messaging and individual donor communications.

Metrics, Analytics & Data-Informed Decision Making

• Establish KPIs linking communications performance to revenue outcomes.
• Oversee reporting dashboards tracking engagement and retention trends on communications channels.
• Analyze campaign performance and recommend strategic adjustments.
• Partner with Development Officer on CRM and Comms channel optimization and segmentation strategy.

Internal Partnership & Strategic Alignment

• Build strong relationships with program leadership to surface compelling impact stories.
• Collaborate with data team to ensure accurate reporting.
• Support leadership in advancing strategic priorities through donor communications.
• Serve as thought partner to Vice President of Development & Communications.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience required; Master’spreferred.
• 5-8 years of progressive experience in development, communications, or nonprofit leadership.
• Demonstrated success linking communications strategy to revenue growth.
• Exceptional writing and storytelling skills.
• Experience managing analytics dashboards and campaign reporting.
• Passion for Nonviolence Chicago's mission.

Proficiencies:

• Microsoft Office Suite
• Common social media management tools: Hootsuite, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, bit.ly, TikTok
• Email Marketing platforms, i.e. MailChimp
• Experience with Little Green Light or other CRM, preferred
• Video and Photography shooting and editing, a plus: YouTube, Vimeo

Salary & Benefits

Compensation is commensurate with years of related experience, position requirements, and candidate qualifications. The average salary for the position is up to $78,000.

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago puts our people first with a top-of-the-line benefits package.

Competitive benefits package available, including Health, Life, and 401K.

About Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago's mission is to end the cycle of gun violence in Chicago using Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s principles and teachings of nonviolence. Informed by a philosophy of nonviolence, Nonviolence Chicago will establish caring and sustained relationships with participants engaged in the cycle of violence. We will emphasize partnerships with community members, leaders, social service providers, and local law enforcement to reduce community levels of violence. We will help create a safer, healthier environment for young adults, youth, and their families. These general approaches will be specifically addressed using five major methods: Community Violence Intervention (CVI) / Street Outreach, Individualized Service Provision, Victim Support Services, Behavioral Health and Nonviolence Training.

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago -- EEO Statement

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics.

In addition to federal law requirements, the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the organization has facilities.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.