Associate Director, Donor Communications

About the role

The Associate Director of Donor Communications manages the day-to-day operations of ClimateWorks’ donor communications function, overseeing the products, strategies, and touchpoints that help the organization build trust with current and prospective funders and raise capital for climate solutions. This role is the operational leader of a function whose mission is to make fundraising dreams come true — developing the white-glove funder strategies, broad-based communications, stewardship touchpoints, and tailored products that directly support Philanthropic Partnerships in moving funder relationships forward.

The Associate Director supervises the donor communications team (currently two direct reports) and manages across three core areas: product development and funder-facing messaging, broad-based funder communications strategy and execution, and white-glove stewardship and cultivation approaches for high-priority funders and prospects.

This role reports to the Director of Partner + Program Communications, who sets the overarching audience strategy and provides the cross-program, cross-audience perspective that informs donor communications priorities.

About the Marketing and Communications department

The Marketing and Communications team strengthens ClimateWorks’ ability to achieve its mission by shaping how the organization communicates, builds trust, and engages the partners needed to scale climate solutions. The team ensures that ClimateWorks’ role, strategy, and impact are clearly understood by the audiences positioned to fund, implement, and amplify this work.

The department is structured around three leadership areas: Institutional Communications & Public Affairs (media, editorial, events, CEO thought leadership, and organizational narrative), Partner & Program Communications (funder engagement, program and service messaging, and grantee/partner audiences), and Creative Studio, Channels & Operations (visual identity, channels, marketing systems, and production infrastructure).

How you will contribute

Product development and funder-facing messaging

● Oversee the development of donor-facing materials that help funders understand ClimateWorks’ strategy, value, and impact — including decks, memos, talking points, stewardship materials, narrative briefs, and tailored two-pagers.

● Translate organizational and program content into funder-ready products, ensuring materials are grounded in the language of impact that resonates with philanthropic audiences.

● Build and maintain messaging frameworks for donor communications, ensuring consistency, coherence, and strategic alignment across programs and partnerships.

● Manage the intake, scoping, and workflow for donor communications requests, setting appropriate levels of support and ensuring work is aligned with audience and relationship goals before production begins.

● Make recommendations on readiness, review pathways, and approval processes — including when Philanthropic Partnerships needs to be involved in developing or reviewing materials.

Broad-based funder communications

● Manage the strategic cadence of communications that keeps ClimateWorks’ funder community informed, connected, and confident — using segmentation, audience mapping, and right-sized channels.

● Oversee the development of segmented communications strategies for funders across roles (principals, program officers, advisors, communications staff), ensuring that different audiences receive content appropriate to their relationship with ClimateWorks.

● Partner with the program communications team and Partnerships to ensure narrative consistency across all funder touchpoints.

● Oversee list hygiene, audience mapping, and lead triage to support a clear view of how funders interact with ClimateWorks across channels.

White-glove stewardship and cultivation

● Oversee the development and execution of individualized stewardship plans and cultivation strategies for top-tier funders and high-priority prospects.

● Deliver key donor moments and high-impact engagement experiences in coordination with Events and other MarComm teams.

● Provide leadership and program staff with tailored narratives, talking points, and preparation for meetings with funder principals and CEOs.

● Ensure stewardship and cultivation touchpoints work together to build trust and unlock relationship movement, supporting moves management with materials and strategic insight.

Prospect engagement

● Own the development and execution of prospect engagement strategies that expand ClimateWorks’ philanthropic pipeline beyond current funders.

● Build activatable prospect campaigns — peer-to-peer outreach, program-adjacent prospect days added to existing convenings, outreach to philanthropic associations and climate-adjacent funders, and similar strategies that don’t depend solely on individual philanthropy manager capacity.

● Identify and develop engagement pathways for new-to-climate funders, working with Partnerships to understand the prospect landscape and prioritize outreach.

● Track and report on prospect engagement activity and pipeline development, ensuring visibility into what’s working and where to invest further.

Team management

● Supervise the donor relations team (currently two direct reports), providing coaching, guidance, and career development support.

● Assign work and manage capacity across the team, ensuring priorities are clear and workload is sustainable.

● Maintain a coordinated view of all active donor communications work — products in development, stewardship touchpoints in progress, broad-based communications in the pipeline — so the Director and Partnerships have visibility into what’s happening and what’s coming.

● Manage donor communications workflows, intake processes, and project timelines to ensure consistent, high-quality execution.

Collaboration and coordination

● Serve as a primary operational liaison to the Philanthropic Partnerships team, ensuring alignment between communications strategies and fundraising priorities on a day-to-day basis.

● Work closely with the Director to ensure donor communications priorities are informed by the broader audience strategy, cross-program intelligence, and organizational context.

● Collaborate with the program communications team to ensure that foundational messaging, stories, and program content are feeding into donor communications products — and that funder intelligence flows back to inform what program comms produces.

● Partner with Institutional Communications & Public Affairs and Creative Studio, Channels & Operations on shared deliverables, events, and campaigns that involve funder audiences.

● Coordinate with Partnerships on dotted-line relationships with donor relations staff, ensuring that the operational relationship with Partnerships is smooth and well-communicated.

Required qualifications

● 7+ years of experience in fundraising communications, donor relations, development communications, or a closely related field, with at least 2–3 years supervising staff.

● Deep understanding of how communications supports fundraising — including donor stewardship, cultivation, prospect engagement, and funder-facing product development in a philanthropic or nonprofit context.

● Demonstrated ability to translate complex organizational strategies into clear, compelling, funder-ready materials across multiple formats (decks, memos, narratives, talking points, emails).

● Strong writing and editorial skills with the ability to work on materials for multiple audiences and adapt tone, framing, and level of detail to the relationship context.

● Experience managing a team’s workflow and capacity, including intake processes, project timelines, and prioritization across competing demands.

● Experience with audience segmentation, funder journey mapping, or CRM-informed communications strategies.

● Advanced analytical and critical thinking skills — the ability to synthesize complex information, maneuver through ambiguity, and make sound judgment calls about what funders need to hear and when.

● Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, juggle complex tasks, and keep work moving across teams.

● Excellent relationship-building skills — the ability to partner effectively with fundraising teams, program staff, and leadership, and to change the thinking of others in sensitive situations without damaging relationships.

● A commitment to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable work environment.

Other desired qualifications include:

● Experience working at or closely with philanthropic foundations, climate organizations, or mission-driven nonprofits with complex funder ecosystems.

● Background in prospect research, pipeline development, or prospect engagement strategy — not just stewardship of existing funders but building new funder pathways.

● Experience with Salesforce, Account Engagement (Pardot), or similar CRM/marketing automation platforms in a fundraising context.

● Familiarity with the climate philanthropy landscape: key funders, funding trends, and the relationship between institutional funders, intermediaries, and implementing partners.

● Experience working in a matrixed environment where communications serves multiple internal clients with different needs and timelines.

● Proficiency with project management tools such as Asana, and communications tools such as Google Workspace and presentation software.

Location

ClimateWorks Foundation is based in the San Francisco Financial District. This position is classified as U.S. Flexible.

Compensation

ClimateWorks offers an excellent benefits package and a competitive salary that is commensurate with experience (geographic differential applied based on location).

For this U.S.- based position, the salary range is as follows:

Tier 1: $130,000 to $140,000 (SF Bay Area/NYC)

Tier 2: $120,000 to $130,000 (Other US locations)

Benefits

ClimateWorks competitive benefits package includes:

● 100% healthcare coverage plans (medical, dental, and vision).

● 20 days of paid time off for first-year employees, with incremental paid time off in subsequent years; 14 paid holidays annually; and paid sabbatical leave for qualifying employees.

● 401(k) plan with contributions from ClimateWorks and matching employee contributions.

● Life insurance and disability (short-term and long-term) coverage.

● Support for families, including fertility, child, elder, and pet care.

● Access to physical wellness benefits (e.g., gym memberships, fitness equipment), financial wellness (e.g., financial planning services), and mental wellness (e.g., therapy and coaching).

Culture

ClimateWorks’ culture is rooted in our core values: collaboration, humility, curiosity, learning, and risk-taking. We come together around shared goals, draw strength from diverse perspectives, and face challenges with an open mind. We grow through experience and boldly experiment to drive meaningful impact in climate philanthropy. Together, we turn ambition into action—spotting big opportunities, convening people, and helping scale bold solutions.

As a globally distributed organization, ClimateWorks offers multiple opportunities each year for staff to meet in person, foster relationships, and enhance collaboration. Staff are expected to attend an in-town week in San Francisco, an all-staff retreat, and a department retreat annually.

About ClimateWorks Foundation

ClimateWorks Foundation is a catalyst for accelerating climate progress, driving bold solutions that benefit people and the planet. We connect funders and implementing organizations worldwide to identify and scale transformative solutions across sectors and geographies, achieving faster, greater impact together. Since 2008, ClimateWorks has granted over $2 billion to more than 850 grantees across 50 countries, working with over 80 funders.

ClimateWorks Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer

ClimateWorks Foundation is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. We make decisions about all aspects of our employment practices, without regard to race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, sex (including childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), pregnancy, uniform service member and veteran status, citizenship status, disability, protected medical condition, genetic information, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

As part of our commitment to centering diverse people and perspectives and providing equal opportunities, we ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application process, please note that in your application.

How to apply

Follow the link below to apply for this position. Please note that ClimateWorks will never request applicants’ credit card or financial information during the interview process. Should you receive a message requesting this information, please report it to ClimateWorks.