Advancement Manager
$72,000–$72,000 year
HybridDetroit, Michigan, United States
Job Summary
Build and manage a unified advancement function that aligns fundraising and communications across national priorities and local office needs. Develop foundational systems, including an individual giving program and coordinated institutional fundraising workflows, while overseeing the end-to-end development of funder-ready proposals. Lead storytelling efforts that translate complex legal work into clear narratives, supervise communications and digital engagement, and cultivate funder relationships through strategic research and insight. Mentor a small team of fellows and interns, establish resourcing plans, and track fundraising pipelines using data to inform iterative improvements and performance assessment.
Required Qualifications
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in nonprofit advancement, fundraising, or a related field, including direct responsibility for managing a portfolio and meeting defined revenue goals.
- At least 2 years of experience supervising staff, fellows, or contractors, with responsibility for setting priorities, providing feedback, and supporting performance.
- Strong writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex programmatic work into clear, compelling funder- and public-facing materials.
- Experience managing advancement projects and timelines across multiple stakeholders, including close collaboration with program and finance partners.
- Working knowledge of nonprofit budgets and financial concepts, sufficient to support proposal development, budget alignment, and funder reporting in partnership with finance staff.
- Strong organizational and project-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple workstreams, competing deadlines, and evolving priorities.
- Experience working in or alongside interdisciplinary teams within a mission-driven organization.
- High emotional intelligence and a demonstrated ability to build trust and credibility with stakeholders across roles, offices, and backgrounds.
- Based out of our Detroit office, this is a hybrid role with minimal to occasional travel.
Desired Qualifications
- 7 or more years of experience building or leading advancement, fundraising, or communications functions in a mission-driven organization.
- Experience working within a national organization with locally based offices, programs, or affiliates, including coordinating advancement priorities across sites.
- Experience building or managing advancement systems, such as funder pipelines, grant calendars, CRM tools, reporting trackers, or internal proposal workflows.
- Familiarity with common nonprofit advancement and project-management tools (e.g., Salesforce, Airtable, Asana, Monday, Submittable, Fluxx, or similar systems).
- Demonstrated experience using data and analysis to inform fundraising strategy, pipeline management, and performance assessment.
- Demonstrated success managing institutional fundraising, including proposal development, reporting, and funder relationship coordination.
- Familiarity with public defense, legal services, or similarly complex justice-oriented nonprofits, including public or contract-based funding environments.
- Demonstrated commitment to racial justice, equity, and systemic change, and experience thoughtfully integrating equity considerations into advancement strategy and storytelling.
Additional Requirements
- NDS encourages people with incarcerated loved ones, formerly incarcerated people, people of color, women, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender fluid people to apply.
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