Remote External Relations Associate

Summary

Ballotpedia seeks a remote External Relations Associate to prospect new donors, maintain relationships with prospects, and help grow the donor base. The ideal candidate has 1-3 years of experience in nonprofit development and fundraising, is a true believer in Ballotpedia's mission, and possesses strong research, written, and verbal communication skills.

Requirements

• Have 1-3 years of experience in nonprofit development and fundraising
• Be a true believer in Ballotpedia’s mission to provide neutral, fact-based information to American voters
• Possess a strong customer service orientation and enthusiasm for connecting new donors to Ballotpedia
• Demonstrate curiosity as a highly motivated self-starter and be eager to get to know our donors, discover what makes them tick, identify why they like Ballotpedia, and learn how we can get them to like Ballotpedia even more
• Exemplify ‘organized persistence’ in working with people to close meeting requests
• Have the ability to handle rejection gracefully
• Be effective at managing multiple projects with moving parts simultaneously
• Have strong research, written, and verbal communication skills
• Be highly proficient with Salesforce (preferred) or other donor databases

Responsibilities

• Execute and optimize Ballotpedia’s prospecting plan to build relationships and secure meetings with major donors to meet annual fundraising goals
• Conduct in-depth research on major donor prospects to determine the most effective approach for funding requests
• Engage with prospects through emails, handwritten notes, phone calls, and limited in-person meetings, utilizing an effective moves management strategy
• Qualify donor prospects to support Ballotpedia’s strategic and operational goals
• Maintain an active portfolio of top prospective donors, with donors in the prospecting pipeline
• Develop strategies to convert leads into prospects and prepare them for solicitation meetings with senior staff
• Create regular reports and analyses on prospecting progress, recommending growth opportunities
• Manage the organization’s Ballotpedia Society campaigns
• Maintain the prospect database in Salesforce
• Identify opportunities to pitch and sell Ballotpedia products and capabilities to new prospects
• Develop and disseminate collateral materials
• Conduct research on policy issues to produce well-informed pitches and proposals

Benefits

• The starting base pay range for the External Relations Associate is $55,000-$65,000, commensurate with experience, with additional fundraising performance incentives
• In addition to salary, Ballotpedia offers performance bonuses and a $8,000 annual benefits stipend, which can be used to pay for a full benefits package, including health, vision, and dental insurance; retirement accounts; and more