Climate Resilient Communities Major Partnerships Manager

Climate Resilient Communities; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

Climate Resilient Communities seeks a strategic Major Partnerships Manager to mobilize philanthropic support for community-led climate resilience and justice initiatives.

The role cultivates a portfolio of high-capacity donors, family foundations, and donor collaboratives, bridging philanthropy with frontline leadership. The ideal candidate combines fundraising expertise with deep climate justice grounding and narrative storytelling for donors.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in major gifts, philanthropic partnerships, or institutional fundraising within nonprofit or climate justice spaces.
• Demonstrated success securing five- and six-figure gifts; seven-figure partnerships strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to manage complex donor portfolios and build long-term philanthropic relationships.
• Strong strategic planning, forecasting, pipeline management, and fundraising analytics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for proposals, briefs, and donor reports.
• Experience engaging sophisticated philanthropic audiences, including high-net-worth individuals and donor collaboratives.

Responsibilities

• Lead Major Partnerships strategy and portfolio growth with five-to-seven-figure giving potential.
• Design cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans to deepen multi-year investments.
• Build trusted partnerships aligning philanthropy with community-led resilience and justice outcomes.
• Collaborate with executive leadership and board on donor strategy and briefing prep.
• Translate program outcomes and community stories into donor communications and reporting.
• Coordinate cross-functional work with program, communications, and finance teams.

Skills

Major gifts fundraising

Donor portfolio management

Strategic planning

Proposal development

Communication

Relationship building

Climate justice awareness

Tools

AirTable

Bloomerang

Job description

ABOUT CRC

CRC partners with frontline communities, movement leaders, philanthropy, and public institutions to advance locally led climate resilience, environmental justice, and community power. We believe the people most impacted by climate disruption hold the wisdom, leadership, and solutions necessary to build a more just and resilient future.

Our work supports community-rooted organizations and coalitions working across climate adaptation, regenerative systems, disaster resilience, and community participation. Through flexible funding, strategic partnerships, narrative change, and collaborative learning, we help strengthen the long‑term capacity of communities to respond to climate challenges while shaping more equitable systems.

As our organization grows, we are hiring this role to deepen our commitment to values‑driven leadership, equity‑centered practice, cross‑sector collaboration, and long‑term movement infrastructure. We are building a culture that is collaborative, adaptive, and grounded in care - while expanding the scale and ambition of our partnerships and fundraising efforts to meet this critical moment.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Climate Resilient Communities is seeking a strategic, relational, and entrepreneurial Major Partnerships Manager to help mobilize transformational philanthropic support for community‑led climate resilience and justice initiatives.

This role will cultivate and steward a portfolio of high‑capacity donors, family foundations, donor collaboratives, and philanthropic partners who are aligned with movement‑led climate solutions and long‑term systems change. The Major Partnerships Manager will serve as a key bridge between philanthropy and frontline leadership — helping donors deepen their understanding of community‑driven resilience while building meaningful, values‑aligned partnerships that sustain long‑term impact.

The ideal candidate combines sophisticated fundraising experience with a strong grounding in climate justice, equity, and relationship‑centered philanthropy. They are equally comfortable developing strategy, cultivating transformative gifts, facilitating high‑level engagement spaces, and translating complex grassroots work into compelling narratives for philanthropic audiences.

This is a unique opportunity to help shape an evolving and ambitious organization at a pivotal time for climate resilience and environmental justice.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Major Partnerships Strategy & Portfolio Leadership

• Manage and grow a strategic portfolio of high‑capacity individual donors, family offices, philanthropic advisors, and institutional partners with five‑to‑seven‑figure giving potential.


• Develop and implement tailored cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that deepen long‑term engagement and multi‑year investment.


• Serve as a trusted thought partner to donors seeking to align their philanthropy with community‑led climate resilience and justice outcomes.


• Partner closely with executive leadership and board members to support donor strategy, relationship management, briefing preparation, and follow‑up.


• Build pipelines for transformational gifts, unrestricted support, and strategic partnerships that strengthen organizational sustainability and impact.


• Support forecasting, revenue planning, portfolio analysis, and fundraising reporting processes.

2. Strategic Donor Engagement & External Partnerships

• Design and support intimate donor gatherings, learning opportunities, and curated engagement experiences that connect philanthropic partners with community leadership and climate resilience work.


• Represent Climate Resilient Communities at conferences, philanthropic convenings, and cross‑sector gatherings focused on climate, equity, resilience, and systems change.


• Develop compelling donor‑facing materials, proposals, updates, and presentations that communicate impact with clarity, rigor, and authenticity.


• Cultivate relationships within climate philanthropy, progressive wealth networks, resilience‑focused collaboratives, and emerging philanthropic communities.


• Support broader advancement and communications efforts through strategic storytelling, campaign participation, and donor engagement initiatives.

3. Strategic Analysis, Learning & Growth

• Analyze donor trends, philanthropic opportunities, and emerging funding models relevant to climate resilience and environmental justice.


• Utilize CRM systems and data tools to track portfolio activity, measure progress toward goals, and inform strategic decision‑making.


• Contribute to organizational learning around fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and philanthropic positioning.


• Identify opportunities to strengthen partnership approaches, donor experiences, and long‑term fundraising sustainability.


• Support cross‑functional collaboration and knowledge sharing across advancement, communications, and program teams.

4. Cross-Organizational Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with program, communications, finance, and leadership teams to ensure fundraising strategies align with organizational priorities and community impact.


• Translate programmatic outcomes, monitoring data, and community stories into persuasive donor communications and impact reporting.


• Ensure accurate and timely donor documentation, proposal tracking, and stewardship coordination.


• Contribute to a collaborative, mission‑aligned organizational culture grounded in equity, transparency, and shared accountability.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Required Qualifications

• Significant experience in major gifts, philanthropic partnerships, or institutional fundraising within nonprofit, environmental, climate, social justice, community development, or movement‑based organizations.


• Demonstrated success securing and stewarding five‑ and six‑figure gifts; experience with seven‑figure partnerships strongly preferred.


• Proven ability to manage complex donor portfolios and build long‑term philanthropic relationships grounded in trust and shared values.


• Strong strategic planning and analytical skills, including forecasting, pipeline management, and portfolio analysis.


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience developing proposals, donor briefings, presentations, and strategic communications.


• Experience engaging sophisticated philanthropic audiences, including high‑net‑worth individuals, donor collaboratives, and family foundations.


• Comfort working in collaborative, fast‑moving, and evolving organizational environments.


• Strong emotional intelligence, interpersonal judgment, and relationship‑building skills.


• Experience using donor management systems and CRM platforms such as Air Table, Bloomerang or similar tools.


• Deep commitment to climate resilience, environmental justice, equity, and community‑led approaches to systems change.

Preferred Qualifications

• Existing relationships within climate philanthropy, resilience funding networks, or progressive philanthropic communities.


• Experience with donor‑advised funds, planned giving, next‑generation philanthropy, or impact investing ecosystems.


• Familiarity with movement‑led funding approaches, participatory philanthropy, or trust‑based philanthropy practices.


• Experience supporting executive leaders and boards in fundraising and external engagement.


• Multilingual abilities and/or experience working across global or multicultural contexts.

ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• A strong commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice‑centered leadership


• Collaborative and solutions‑oriented working style


• Strategic thinking and adaptability


• Transparency, accountability, and integrity


• Ability to navigate complexity with steadiness and humility


• Deep respect for community leadership and lived experience

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The anticipated salary range for this role is approximately $80,752 - $98,880 annually, depending on experience and location considerations. Climate Resilient Communities also offers a comprehensive benefits package and flexible, mission‑driven work environment.

We encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply, particularly those with deep connections to frontline communities, climate resilience efforts, and justice‑centered organizing.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY

Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. 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. CRC makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs. If you require reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.