Development Communications Writer

Reports to Director of Development Communications

Summary:
Under moderate supervision and with moderate latitude for independent judgment, assists in the development and production of print and electronic fundraising and development communications materials for both internal and external audiences of donors and prospective donors, and generally ensures that fundraising and development communications materials adhere to high editorial standards and incorporate appropriate messaging.

Key responsibilities:
Develop awareness of funding priorities and initiatives, as well as academic programs and faculty activities, for use in printed and electronic fundraising and development communications materials. Incorporate messaging points in printed and electronic fundraising and development communications materials as appropriate.

Research, write, and edit content for Pratt’s promotional, fundraising, and stewardship materials, including major gift proposals, grant and sponsorship reports, funding area direct mail and brochures (e.g., The Fund for Pratt, Planned Giving) as well as articles for the Inspire giving newsletter, DxD corporate publication, and Prattfolio magazine. Draft content with input from the Director of Development Communications and the Directors of Development. Work with Directors of Development to obtain appropriate approvals where needed.

Provide administrative support to the Director of Development Communications and the Creative Services team in creating content for print and electronic advancement publications.

Assist with photo research and distribution of Prattfolio magazine.

Draft remarks and talking points for President Schutte and other senior Pratt administrators for fundraising, cultivation, recognition, and other advancement-related events.

Assist with editorial review of all printed and electronic fundraising materials (i.e., brochures, event invitations, email blasts, etc.).

Perform all other related duties as assigned.
Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, journalism, communications, or related discipline

Experience: At least three years of relevant work experience, preferably in a higher education environment; demonstrated experience in development communications and/or external affairs writing for a non-profit institution; demonstrated ability to adapt style and tone to conform with institutional branding and for diverse speakers; demonstrated understanding of fundraising and constituent engagement. Experience with comprehensive or capital campaigns, event planning, and donor relations desired.

Skills: Ability to meet tight deadlines and work on multiple projects simultaneously. Excellent organizational, written, and verbal communication skills. Proficient in Microsoft Word, familiarity with Raiser’s Edge. Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Responsibilities
• Enter book kits, thematic kits, and other content into the Content Management System, reviewing and revising as necessary
• Upload images, PDFs, and other files into the Content Management System, writing titles and short descriptions, as necessary
• Program weekly refreshes of site using Content Management System
• Edit existing site content to improve formatting and fix any errors
• Keep track of content and assets using spreadsheets set up by team
• Assist with other projects, as assigned
• Contribute to special programs and team initiatives
• Work with the rest of the editorial team to constantly improve the quality of content on the website
• Liaise with freelancers, interns, and other Scholastic divisions as appropriate
• Reply to website customer queries as requested

Qualifications
• Experience in magazine, newspaper or online editorial preferred
• Must be a self-starter with the ability to work independently
• Must possess excellent attention to detail
• Must have excellent writing and proofreading skills
• Must have the ability to meet deadlines
• Must possess excellent organizational and interpersonal skills
• Must be creative, enthusiastic, and willing to learn new skills
• Must be proficient in the use of Microsoft Word and Excel
• Must be able to navigate effectively on the Internet
• Previous work with a Content Management System a plus

Temporary Position
• This is a part-time (21-25 hours per week) temporary position
• The editorial assistant will work in the office. This is not a remote position.

Preferred Qualifications:
*Proactive and responsible.
*Passionate about education.
*Experience producing, shooting and editing

Duties and Responsibilities:
*Working with the EdLab team to document and produce interviews and lectures that occur onsite and around campus
*Editing with Adobe Premiere
*Filming with Canon DSLRs and Sony HD and 4K Camcorders
*Working with the video team to convey meaningful content in creative and engaging ways

Preferred Qualifications:
*Proficient with After Effects and animation
*Experience with Mac hardware
*Experience with audio and video hardware
*Attentive to details on rough cuts and final cuts
*Experience documenting and storytelling in video
*Proactive and responsible
*Passionate about education

Duties and Responsibilities:
*Lay out, build, test, troubleshoot, repair, and modify development and production electronic components, parts, equipment, and systems, such as computer editing stations, filming equipment, and projectors.
*Color Grading with Davinci and Sound Mixing with Adobe Audition and/or ProTools

Senior Director, Media Relations
Job ID: HC20151204-61687
Description:
The College Board, the national educational organization, is conducting a search for a Senior Director of Media Relations.

This position is resident at our New York City headquarters and reports to an executive director.

POSITION SUMMARY

Leads a proactive and reactive media relations strategy that protects and builds the reputation of the College Board and furthers the organization’s mission. Expands the reach, quality and impact of earned media by building and maintaining relationships with a cross-section of outlets – print, broadcast and digital – at the national, state and local levels. Supervises a team in executing a strategy that includes placement of stories, timely and accurate responses to incoming inquiries, and streamlined rapid response in crisis situations. Works closely with program leadership and external agencies to ensure consistent use and delivery of messages. Reports directly to the Executive Director, Communications.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

* Responsible for developing and executing a robust, multi-faceted national and regional/local media strategy that helps further the mission and aligns with state and national goals by creating proactive opportunities; cultivate relationships with media outlets that touch a variety of different key audiences – policymakers, students, parents, educators, advocates, etc. – through different channels
* Work closely with College Board programs, Executive, Member, Program, and Community Communications, Government Relations, State & District Partnerships and others to ensure appropriate messaging materials;
* Lead crisis communications and issues management;
* Manage media campaigns in support of College Board public policy initiative including state-by-state Government Relations initiatives and execution of media events around the country for both national and state events;
* Advise senior division management and College Board executives on communications and public relations issues;
* Assist with and contribute to the strategic planning for the unit;
* Manage media relations staff members as they work to execute strategy;
* Build and manage an international media relations strategy.

PRINCIPAL RELATIONSHIPS

Internal Contacts:

Maintain regular contact with executive leadership, College Board spokespeople and managers in other departments/divisions to integrate work activities and products. Provide strategic media advice to senior managers and College Board executives

External Contacts:

Maintain significant contacts with members of the media, external College Board spokespeople and advocates, government officials, consultants, vendors and other external parties who have a major impact on the image, reputation and success of the department and of The College Board

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

* Bachelor’s Degree required. Master’s degree a plus.
* Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in public relations, journalism or a related field required.
* Background should include direct support of a prominent principal (client/elected official/candidate), including staffing for media events and preparing briefings.
* Extensive experience working with members of large media outlets a must. International experience a plus.

RELATED SKILLS & OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

* Must be able to travel as needed
* Ability to communicate complex public policy initiatives for a broad audience
* Comprehensive, integrated knowledge of all College Board programs

BENEFITS

We offer our employees an outstanding benefits package which includes 4 weeks of paid time off, a generous retirement plan, tuition reimbursement and ongoing professional development and training.

MISSION

The College Board’s mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. We are a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education. Among our best-known products are the SAT®, PSAT/NMSQT®, and Advanced Placement Program®.

Requirements:
Desired Travel 25% - 50%
Areas of Expertise Media Relations, Communications
Highest Level of Education Bachelor's Degree
Job Type Full Time
Location New York, NY
Years of Relevant Experience 6-9

An established Queens-based media company seeks an ambitious writer to join our digital media division. The reporter will be responsible for creating successful campaigns for clients through writing stories about and relevant to their businesses that will get as many pageviews as possible online and maximizing sharing on social media. The reporter will also use company and personal social media outlets to build traffic; help define and create reporting to evaluate success of campaigns; work with the digital, sales and editorial departments in several capacities to achieve a mutual goal of increasing traffic and user activity on the site and social media and achieving digital revenue goals; moderating the website and serving as a backup to the digital editor.

The qualified candidate MUST be a current New York City resident; very active in social media; have a knack for knowing popular trends; be a creative self-starter open to new ideas and concepts; work well with the team and clients; be proficient in English and have a web-savvy writing style. Knowledge of WordPress and Queens, as well as prior experience in journalism or marketing, are pluses.

Gannett is seeking a Mobile Product Manager who can easily balance editorial, engineering and business needs, break down complex problems in order to achieve success and evaluate emerging product development opportunities.

This position works with colleagues across Gannett to support mobile product development. They will be expected to:

* Lead a team of developers, designers, UX researchers and QA engineers to maintain and improve the performance of Gannett news applications.
* Develop and maintain strong business development relationships with global mobile platform vendors.
* Innovate on the customer’s behalf, pushing the boundaries of mobile technology, app development and content creation to drive business objectives.
* Track and report on product performance including financial performance, customer experience, engagement levels and other key performance indicators.
* Seek out and interpret user feedback and market research to guide product development.
* Utilize data-driven analysis to inform product roadmaps and strategic direction.
* Conduct competitive and marketplace analyses to assess trends and determine their relevance to the product roadmap.
* Work with UX researchers to translate customer needs into solutions.
* Work with project management to balance development scope and priorities, in order to deliver products on time and on budget.
* Proactively engage stakeholders and communicate with them about product cycles and strategic priorities.
* Produce written requirements for new features.
* Work with Business Development to negotiate agreements with external vendors.

CAREER OPPORTUNITY
Communications Strategist [COMM-34]
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
Communications Department, NY

For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than a million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or national origin.

The Communications Department of the ACLU’s National Office in New York City is seeking applicants for the full-time position of Communications Strategist.

OVERVIEW

Reporting to the Deputy Director of Communications, the Communications Strategist will play a critical role in developing and executing communications strategies that advance the ACLU’s work on civil liberties. The strategist will work to advance the agenda of the ACLU through collaboration with Communications colleagues, lawyers, lobbyists and state advocates. The strategist will also engage target audiences about litigation and advocacy; create content for publications and the website; and, plan events such as issue teleconferences.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the development of multi-faceted communications strategies on a wide array of civil liberties issues, including criminal and racial justice, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, LGBT, reproductive rights, national security, technology and privacy. Develop and implement general communications strategies to further the ACLU brand as needed. Participate in shaping communications plans for legal cases and initiatives to maximize their communications value and effectiveness, as well as the visibility of the ACLU.
• Develop multi-faceted communications and media plans, which include message development, web presence, advocacy and social media, to educate, motivate, and influence target audiences.
• Work in collaboration with the advocacy team to develop communications strategies and tactics for state legislative and advocacy initiatives.
• Develop, update, and distribute issue talking points (in the form of message grids); work with lawyers and advocates to develop messaging on sensitive and/or controversial issues.
• Prepare clients, litigators, state advocates, and other spokespeople for media appearances.
• Collaborating with the senior writer/editor, , conceptualize, draft and edit blog posts for the ACLU’s blog, Speak Freely.
• Write and edit website text, reports and other communications materials.
• Strategize to determine the most effective spokespeople for disseminating the ACLU messages and brand.
• Provide guidance to affiliates in the development of communications materials and strategy, when necessary.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communications or a related field required.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in a combination of the following areas: media, strategic communications, digital communications, and public relations.
• Experience working on issue-based advocacy campaigns and/or political campaigns.
• Experience in communicating complex issues to varied audiences.
• Must possess strong organizational skills, be detail-oriented and possess the ability to follow projects through to completion.
• Ability to communicate persuasively and professionally, in writing through op-eds and blog posts, and to communicate verbally to a wide variety of media, political, stakeholder and influencer audiences.
• Experience working with the media and cultivating relationships with print, radio, television and online journalists.
• Experience crafting social media messages, and promoting issues through social media required.
• Familiarity with online news, social media and digital advocacy tactics.
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with others in a team environment
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Associated Press style required. Familiarity with Cision/Vocus public relations software a plus.
• A demonstrated interest in civil liberties and passion for the work of the ACLU is essential.
Possessing these skills is a plus:
• Basic proficiency with HTML; experience using a CMS to publish and update website content.
• Experience using Photoshop to edit basic graphics.
• Understanding of trends and best practices for online campaigning, and best practices for communicating via email, Facebook and Twitter.
•
COMPENSATION

The ACLU offers a generous and comprehensive compensation and benefits package, commensurate with experience and within parameters of the ACLU compensation scale.

July 15, 2015
CAREER OPPORTUNITY
Online Campaigner [COMM-52/32]
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION
Communications Department, New York, NY

For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than a million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or national origin.

The ACLU is seeking two full-time Online Campaigners to join our Online Engagement unit of the Communications Department in New York.

OVERVIEW

The Online Campaigner will develop and execute strategies to mobilize supporters using email, web, social media, and other digital platforms. Reporting to the Director of Online Engagement, the Online Campaigner will work with ACLU’s Online Engagement unit of the Communications Department to increase the number of ACLU supporters and donors to expand their engagement with the organization through targeted advocacy, outreach, and engagement campaigns.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Write and edit compelling campaign content including emails, social media posts, landing pages and actions to engage supporters to take action and participate in campaigns.
• Develop petitions, letters to elected officials, and other online advocacy campaigns.
• Code and test HTML and CSS emails using email management software; review and edit emails to ensure quality.
• Liaise with key Communications, Development, Advocacy, and Program staff to establish campaign goals, develop campaign concepts, and review content.
• Design and implement test plans, metrics and segmentation for A/B and multivariate split tests for email, social media, and website content.
• Develop list-building tactics using web, social media, and email communications.
• Compile statistics, analysis and reports on the performance of online campaigns including email, social and website components.
• Work with vendors, consultants and contractors to implement online campaigns.
• Monitor news and current events for our priority issue areas to identify potential campaign opportunities.
• Conduct research for new technologies and tactics for online engagement as needed.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience and a minimum of three years’ experience in nonprofit communications, online campaigning, or related fields is required.
• Must possess experience with issue-based advocacy, communications, and fundraising strategies.
• Must possess a keen understanding of effective list growth and engagement strategies.
•
• Experience developing content for issue-based or political advocacy campaigns; familiarity with a range of online campaigning tools, tactics and strategies.
• Excellent verbal, writing and interpersonal communication skills; strong attention to detail, ability to write and deliver work product under deadlines, and with commitment to high quality standards.
• Proficiency using HTML and CSS to code emails for multiple email clients; experience using Photoshop or other design tools to create basic graphics.
• Basic Drupal and email management system experience.
• Understanding of trends and best practices for online campaigning, and best practices for communicating via email, Facebook and Twitter required; experience using social media trend analysis tools is preferred.
• Commitment to the mission and goals of the ACLU.

July 15, 2015
CAREER OPPORTUNITY
Online Campaigner [COMM-52/32]
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION
Communications Department, New York, NY

For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than a million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or national origin.

The ACLU is seeking two full-time Online Campaigners to join our Online Engagement unit of the Communications Department in New York.

OVERVIEW

The Online Campaigner will develop and execute strategies to mobilize supporters using email, web, social media, and other digital platforms. Reporting to the Director of Online Engagement, the Online Campaigner will work with ACLU’s Online Engagement unit of the Communications Department to increase the number of ACLU supporters and donors to expand their engagement with the organization through targeted advocacy, outreach, and engagement campaigns.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Write and edit compelling campaign content including emails, social media posts, landing pages and actions to engage supporters to take action and participate in campaigns.
• Develop petitions, letters to elected officials, and other online advocacy campaigns.
• Code and test HTML and CSS emails using email management software; review and edit emails to ensure quality.
• Liaise with key Communications, Development, Advocacy, and Program staff to establish campaign goals, develop campaign concepts, and review content.
• Design and implement test plans, metrics and segmentation for A/B and multivariate split tests for email, social media, and website content.
• Develop list-building tactics using web, social media, and email communications.
• Compile statistics, analysis and reports on the performance of online campaigns including email, social and website components.
• Work with vendors, consultants and contractors to implement online campaigns.
• Monitor news and current events for our priority issue areas to identify potential campaign opportunities.
• Conduct research for new technologies and tactics for online engagement as needed.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience and a minimum of three years’ experience in nonprofit communications, online campaigning, or related fields is required.
• Must possess experience with issue-based advocacy, communications, and fundraising strategies.
• Must possess a keen understanding of effective list growth and engagement strategies.
•
• Experience developing content for issue-based or political advocacy campaigns; familiarity with a range of online campaigning tools, tactics and strategies.
• Excellent verbal, writing and interpersonal communication skills; strong attention to detail, ability to write and deliver work product under deadlines, and with commitment to high quality standards.
• Proficiency using HTML and CSS to code emails for multiple email clients; experience using Photoshop or other design tools to create basic graphics.
• Basic Drupal and email management system experience.
• Understanding of trends and best practices for online campaigning, and best practices for communicating via email, Facebook and Twitter required; experience using social media trend analysis tools is preferred.
• Commitment to the mission and goals of the ACLU.