Development Associate

At Our Children’s Trust, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our Children’s Trust believes that diversity and inclusion is critical to our success and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people.

Our Mission: Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit public interest law firm that provides strategic, campaign-based legal  services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate. We work to protect the Earth’s climate system for present and future generations by representing young people in global legal efforts to secure their binding and enforceable legal rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate, based on the best available science. We support our youth clients and amplify their voices before the third branch of government in a highly strategic legal campaign that includes targeted media, education, and public engagement work to support the youths’ legal actions. Our legal work – guided by constitutional, public trust, human rights laws, and the laws of nature – aims to ensure systemic and science-based climate recovery planning and remedies at federal, state, and global levels. We seek legally-binding, countrywide and/or statewide science-based Climate Recovery Plans that will return atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to levels below 350 ppm by the year 2100.

Position Summary: OCT is a litigation firm engaged in trial and appellate advocacy, working in both state and federal courts, and at all levels of the judiciary. This position will help advance OCT’s strategic legal campaign to protect youths’ constitutional and fundamental human rights to a safe climate.  In particular, the Development Associate will support OCT’s  fundraising activities with particular focus on low to mid-range donors and developing a pipeline of major donors for the Chief Development Officer. This position will support and participate in all fundraising activities including donor relations, marketing and communications, direct mail appeals, and special events.

Location: This position is based in Eugene, Oregon and open to remote employment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work closely with the Chief Development Officer and other staff members as appropriate, to identify potential sources of funding, track the progress of fundraising efforts, and to integrate fundraising with our communications efforts.
• Create and track annual fund appeals and initiatives
• Work with Chief Development Officer to identify, propose, design and execute fundraising initiatives to support effective donor prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation, recognition and stewardship efforts and events.
• Design and propose collateral materials, communicate with potential and existing donors and supporters, maintain consistent communication with existing donors,
• Create and submit reports to current donors and funders
• In collaboration with the Chief Communications Officer and the Communications team, develop social media fundraising opportunities, recurring annual fund appeals and ongoing donor stewardship communications, marketing and outreach efforts.
• Work collaboratively with OCT’s Operations team and Finance and Benefits Manager to keep accurate record of all donations.
• Send timely receipts for and acknowledgements of donations to donors and granting agencies.
• Research organizational and foundation funding prospects and prepare initial drafts of letters of intent, grant proposals, and grant reports for review by Chief Development Officer.
• Research current events and trends in local, national and international climate mitigation and philanthropy.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Track all donor and prospect activities in Neon CRM
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date prospect and donor records in Neon CRM
• Generate revenue reports and forecasting reports through Neon CRM

Minimum Qualifications:

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they have every one of the qualifications as described in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and our hiring processes are centered on assessing candidates based on diverse lived experiences. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of our qualifications described. If you are unsure of whether you meet the qualifications of this position, or how this would be determined, contact us to discuss your application.

• Bachelor’s degree in non-profit management, communications, public relations, or related field
• Minimum of 3 years fundraising experience
• Proficiency in Neon CRM or other donor database systems
• Exceptional writing, organizational, and communication skills
• Highly dependable and available and able to respond quickly to fundraising needs, including short deadlines and in high pressure situations
• Demonstrated commitment to excellence

Preferred Qualifications:

• Grant writing experience
• Social media fundraising campaigns
• Passion for working on climate and with youth
• Familiarity with legal processes
• CFRE or other fundraising/non-profit coursework

 Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong communication skills ensuring information is effectively exchanged with others
• Ability to identify and solve problems with sound judgment and effective solutions
• Respectful, approachable and team oriented, building strong working relationships and contributing to a positive work environment
• Takes personal responsibility for job performance; receptive to feedback, willing to learn, and embraces continuous improvement
• Displays emotional resilience and the ability to withstand pressure on an ongoing basis

Salary and Benefits:

OCT offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience. Benefits include 100% employer paid medical and dental for employee, long and short-term disability, life insurance, SIMPLE IRA plan, generous vacation, sick and holiday leave including restorative leave after 6 years. 

Working Conditions/Work Schedule: Work is primarily performed in a standard office setting. Work is primarily performed Monday through Friday during regular business hours; however, evening and weekend hours may be necessary dependent upon case activity, deadlines, and workload.

Physical Working Requirements: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be provided to the extent possible and appropriate in the event of ADA qualifying disability.

This position requires the incumbent to sit for long periods of time; understand speech of another person and speak clearly so listeners can understand; routinely uses fingers to grasp, type move or assemble small objects. Position occasionally lifts and carries files and boxes weighing up to 20 pounds.