Communications & Development Manager

As a nonprofit music education organization, Key to Change provides violin and viola instruction, performance opportunities, mentorship, leadership development, and educational experiences designed to help young people develop confidence, discipline, artistry, and a greater sense of possibility for their futures. This includes identifying and following up on prospective donors and other warm leads, executing annual giving and small-dollar fundraising activities, maintaining accurate information in Salesforce, supporting donor stewardship, and tracking whether communications and outreach result in meaningful engagement.

Benefits:

• Employee discounts
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Opportunity for advancement
• Training & development
• Vision insurance

Job title: Communications & Development Manager 
Reports to: Director of Strategic Relationships & Partnerships
Location: Renton, Washington
Status: Full-time, Non-exempt
Work Model: On-site
Salary: $34.61 - $37.50 hourly ($72,000–$78,000 annually)

About Key to Change

Key to Change's mission is to inspire underserved youth through world-class music instruction and support their development as self-aware leaders. As a nonprofit music education organization, Key to Change provides violin and viola instruction, performance opportunities, mentorship, leadership development, and educational experiences designed to help young people develop confidence, discipline, artistry, and a greater sense of possibility for their futures. We believe excellence matters not only in what we provide our students, but also in how we communicate, build relationships, serve our community, and steward the people who invest in our mission.

About the Role

The Communications & Development Manager plays a central role in how Key to Change tells its story, builds relationships, raises funds, and turns audience interest into meaningful action.

This position combines strategic communications execution, digital engagement, fundraising communications, lead management, donor engagement, and development support. The Communications and Development Manager will manage systems that help move individuals from initial awareness and interest toward deeper engagement, whether that means making a donation, attending an event, enrolling in a program, responding to outreach, or building a longer-term relationship with Key to Change.

This position will also help manage the organization’s engagement and development pipeline. This includes identifying and following up on prospective donors and other warm leads, executing annual giving and small-dollar fundraising activities, maintaining accurate information in Salesforce, supporting donor stewardship, and tracking whether communications and outreach result in meaningful engagement. The successful candidate understands the difference between distributing information and inspiring action. They know how audience, storytelling, emotion, urgency, relevance, trust, segmentation, timing, repetition, and strong calls to action influence whether someone simply reads a communication or decides to act.

The successful candidate will learn our mission, programs, organizational voice, and approach to community engagement by collaborating with the Executive Director, Social Media Associate, and other staff to create an integrated pipeline from awareness to engagement to conversion to long-term relationship.

The Director of Strategic Relationships and Partnerships sets overall development strategy and provides direction on major donor relationships, fundraising priorities, and external partnerships. The Communications & Development Manager is responsible for translating that strategy into excellent communications, organized execution, consistent follow-up, and measurable results. 


This is not an entry-level position. We are looking for someone who already knows how to produce polished professional communications and take ownership of day-to-day execution with limited editorial oversight. 

What This Role Owns

The Communications & Development Manager will primarily own:

• External written communications
• Email and e-newsletter execution
• Website content
• Fundraising and engagement campaigns
• Audience segmentation and communication workflows
• Lead and prospect follow-up systems
• Salesforce data quality and activity tracking
• Annual giving and small-dollar development activities
• Donor stewardship communications
• Campaign reporting and performance analysis
• Coordination between communications and development activities

The Director of Strategic Relationships & Partnerships will retain primary responsibility for:

• Overall development strategy
• Major gift strategy and solicitation
• Mid-level and major donor relationships
• Institutional and corporate relationships
• High-level prospect strategy
• Strategic partnerships
• Development revenue goals and priorities
• High-level donor cultivation and stewardship

The Communications & Development Manager will work closely with the Director on these areas and may participate in donor meetings, cultivation, and solicitation activities as appropriate.

Key Responsibilities

Communications, Digital Engagement & Conversion | 35%

• Write polished, compelling copy for Key to Change's website, e-newsletters, fundraising appeals, donor communications, annual reports, program announcements, impact stories, campaign materials, print materials, and organizational publications.
• Translate Key to Change's mission, student experiences, outcomes, programs, and organizational priorities into communications that connect with specific audiences and inspire action.
• Develop e-newsletters and digital communications with clear objectives and calls to action, including donating, registering, attending, responding, clicking through, or learning more.
• Apply an understanding of audience and consumer behavior to communications, including storytelling, urgency, relevance, trust, social proof, personalization, segmentation, timing, repetition, and calls to action.
• Understand different stages of an audience relationship and develop communications that help move individuals from awareness to interest, engagement, conversion, and long-term support.
• Maintain and regularly update website copy, ensuring content is accurate, compelling, current, accessible, and designed to support fundraising, enrollment, and engagement goals.
• Manage Key to Change's e-newsletter strategy, including writing, segmentation, scheduling, testing, calls to action, and performance analysis.
• Develop and maintain communications calendars and workflows that allow the organization to communicate proactively and strategically.
• Analyze open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, website activity, giving behavior, and other indicators to understand audience behavior and improve future communications.
• Use testing and performance data to improve subject lines, messaging, calls to action, campaign timing, segmentation, and other communications practices.
• Maintain high editorial standards and a consistent organizational voice across external communications.
• Proofread and quality-control communications prior to publication or distribution.
• Interview staff, students, families, donors, and community members as appropriate to gather information and stories for communications. 
• Identify opportunities to tell compelling stories about student impact, organizational accomplishments, community relationships, and donor support. 
• Develop communications with a specific audience, objective, desired action, and measurement of success in mind.

The Manager works collaboratively with the Social Media Associate to ensure that social media, email, website, and fundraising efforts support shared organizational objectives and create clear pathways for interested audiences to deepen their relationship with Key to Change.


Development & Donor Engagement | 35%

• Manage and cultivate a portfolio of individual donors and prospective donors.
• Support the Director of Strategic Relationships & Partnerships in cultivating and stewarding individual donors and prospective donors.
• Build relationships with donors and prospective donors through thoughtful, personalized, consistent communication and gift acknowledgments. 
• Identify opportunities to renew, upgrade, reactivate, and deepen relationships with existing donors.
• Develop and execute annual giving and targeted fundraising campaigns across email, website, print, direct outreach, and other channels.
• Understand what motivates different donor audiences and apply those insights to fundraising messages and solicitation strategies.
• Follow up consistently with prospective donors and warm leads generated through events, referrals, social media, email, website activity, community engagement, and other sources. Maintain organized follow-up plans for those prospective donors and engaged supporters. 
• Develop donor segmentation and personalized communication strategies based on giving history, interests, engagement, behavior, and relationship stage.
• Support donor meetings, events, tours, and other cultivation and stewardship activities.
• Track campaign performance, donor retention, response rates, conversion, upgrades, average gift size, and other key fundraising indicators.
• Work collaboratively with the Director of Strategic Relationships & Partnerships and Executive Director on donor strategy, prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Support donor prospect research and preparation for donor interactions.
• Support volunteers involved in development and community engagement activities as needed.
  
  

CRM, Lead Management & Analytics | 20%

• Maintain accurate and timely donor, prospect, and engagement information in Salesforce, by tracking donor interactions, solicitations, gifts, interests, communications, and follow-up activity.
• Identify opportunities to create  automated lead-management systems so individuals who demonstrate interest in Key to Change receive timely and appropriate follow-up.
• Manage mailing lists, audience segmentation, data hygiene, and connections between communications and development platforms.
• Support gift processing, donor records, acknowledgments, and donation reporting.
• Use campaign and engagement data to generate reports, analyze data and recommend changes that improve conversion, retention, donor acquisition, and overall communications effectiveness.
• Monitor campaign respondents, event attendees, highly engaged subscribers, prospective donors, lapsed donors, and other audiences for follow-up opportunities.
• Provide regular updates to the Director of Strategic Relationships & Partnerships on lead activity, follow-up status, and conversion opportunities.
  
  

Engagement & Customer Experience | 10%

• Apply strong customer service principles to donor and community engagement.
• Work collaboratively with staff to strengthen communication practices and consistency across organizational touchpoints.
• Develops surveys and feedback systems that help Key to Change understand the experiences and needs of donors, students, families, and community members.
• Help manage strategies for collecting and responding to online reviews and other forms of community feedback.
• Identify recurring questions, communication gaps, missed follow-up opportunities, or service challenges and recommend solutions.
• Help strengthen systems for responding to inquiries and following up with individuals who express interest in Key to Change.
• Represent Key to Change professionally at community events, concerts, donor gatherings, open houses, and other external activities as needed.
  
  

Required Qualifications

Successful candidates must have:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in nonprofit development, communications, digital marketing, e-commerce, sales and marketing, donor relations, or a closely related field.
• Exceptional professional writing, editing, proofreading, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated understanding of consumer or audience behavior and the factors that influence people to take action online.
• Experience creating communications with clear calls to action and using data to determine whether those communications successfully converted readers into donors, customers, registrants, attendees, leads, or other engaged constituents.
• Understanding of concepts including audience segmentation, conversion, urgency, motivation, cultivation, stewardship, testing, and lead nurturing.
• Uses emerging technology as tools to enhance research, brainstorming, editing, analysis, organization, and workflow efficiency–not as substitutes for original thinking, professional judgement, or authentic communication. 
• Professional experience using a CRM to manage donors, customers, prospects, leads, interactions, and follow-up. Salesforce experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience using an email marketing platform such as Mailchimp and interpreting open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other engagement metrics.
• Experience writing and maintaining organizational website content (Wordpress preferred), managed through a content management system, such as Airtable.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple campaigns, deadlines, audiences, and projects simultaneously.
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills.
• High attention to detail and demonstrated ability to work independently.
• Sound judgment and integrity when handling confidential donor and organizational information.
• Ability to work collaboratively across departments and communicate effectively with colleagues, donors, families, volunteers, and community partners.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working for a nonprofit organization, educational institution, arts organization, youth development programs, or other mission-driven organization.
• Appreciation of  classical music or music education.
• Experience with Salesforce.
• Experience with Mailchimp or comparable email marketing platforms.
• Experience with donor prospecting, moves management, and donor portfolio management.
• Experience with digital fundraising, direct-response marketing, e-commerce, sales, membership, subscription, or another field involving measurable audience conversion.
• Experience with customer service or constituent experience systems.
• Experience using Canva or similar tools to produce basic branded materials.
• Experience working collaboratively with social media, design, photography, or video professionals.
• Experience with A/B testing, audience segmentation, conversion optimization, lead nurturing, or similar approaches to improving digital performance.
• Familiarity with communities in South King County.
  
  

Work Environment and Conditions

This is a full-time, 40-hour-per-week, on-site position based in Renton, Washington. Occasional evening and weekend work is required for concerts, donor events, open houses, community activities, and other organizational programs.

Local travel throughout South King County and the greater Seattle area will periodically be required. Valid driver's license, reliable access to a vehicle, and ability to travel locally for meetings, events, community engagement, and other organizational activities.


The office environment is within an active music studio with frequent violin and viola lessons throughout the afternoon and evenings. The successful candidate should anticipate to continue normal work activities throughout active instruction.


Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.



Compensation & Benefits

The salary range for this position is $72,000–$78,000 annually, commensurate with experience.

Key to Change offers a benefits package including medical coverage through an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA), dental and vision insurance, and a retirement plan.


To Apply

Key to Change recognizes that professional expertise can be developed across different industries and career paths. Candidates with relevant experience in nonprofit development, communications, digital marketing, e-commerce, sales, membership, advancement, or other results-driven environments are encouraged to apply if their experience demonstrates the skills required for this position.

We also recognize that qualified candidates may not meet every preferred qualification listed above. Applicants who are excited about Key to Change's mission and believe their experience can contribute meaningfully to our work are encouraged to apply.


Key to Change is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to workforce diversity. LGBTQIA+, Black, Indigenous, people of color, people with disabilities, and candidates from other historically underrepresented communities are strongly encouraged to apply.


Application Materials

Applicants should submit:

• A resume demonstrating relevant professional experience.
• A cover letter explaining their interest in the position and Key to Change's mission.
• One professional writing or external communications sample that best demonstrates their relevant skills for this position. In a separate document, applicants should briefly describe the intended audience, objective, call to action, and measurable results when available.

Questions regarding this job posting or application requirements can be directed to jobs@keytochangestudio.org.