Fundraising and Advocacy Writer

Term of Employment: Full-time, Exempt
Reports To: Head of Marketing
Union: Bargaining Unit Position, Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU)
Location: Remote (U.S. Based)

Who We Are

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. The Animal Legal Defense Fund accomplishes this mission by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are held accountable for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, gathering data about and advocating for effective regulation of animal exploitative industries and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law.

About the Role

The Fundraising and Advocacy Writer develops and produces written content that engages ALDF's member and supporter communities and supports the organization's fundraising, advocacy, and engagement goals. Reporting to the Head of Marketing, this role covers direct mail and digital channels, including appeals, action alerts and other non-fundraising engagement, and acknowledgment messaging that translate ALDF's legal work into clear narratives that inspire action. The role requires someone who can work independently, manage a high volume of content, and write with both precision and persuasion.

Responsibilities

• Write and edit more than 150 direct mail and email communications annually, in collaboration with the Communications’ content strategy team.
• Write and maintain acknowledgment templates, donor stewardship communications, website donation pages, and welcome series emails.
• Translate ALDF's legal and programmatic work into engaging, storytelling-centered content that shapes and guides a user-journey across print and digital (email /SMS) channels.
• Hone a singular narrative-driven voice for email audiences that can smoothly transition across advocacy, fundraising, educational/informational, and stewardship messaging.
• Develop variable content tailored to specific audiences, including supporters (those who support our work but who do not donate) as well as sustainers, planned givers, mid-level, and major donor segments.
• Copyedit all mass communications produced by the Development team to ensure accuracy, quality, and consistency with brand voice.
• Apply audience segmentation, A/B testing, and performance analysis to evaluate and improve performance.
• Craft targeted donor stewardship communications that express gratitude and demonstrate the impact of donor contributions.
• Collaborate with the Foundation Relations Manager on donor collateral and high-level donor outreach materials as needed.
• Identify and pursue professional development opportunities to stay current on fundraising and marketing communication best practices.

Please note, this job description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position, which are subject to change in order to best advance ALDF’s strategic objectives and mission.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in English, writing, communications, journalism, or a related field is preferred. In lieu of a degree, a minimum of 5 additional years of fundraising experience may be considered equivalent.
• Minimum of 5 years' professional experience writing and editing, with at least 3 years writing fundraising and advocacy communications for a nonprofit.
• Experience writing large-scale annual direct mail and digital campaigns, with a strong preference for candidates from animal welfare or legal organizations.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work independently.
• Experience developing variable content tailored to diverse donor audiences.
• Familiarity with CRMs, eCRMs, and email marketing platforms.
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams while managing a high volume of independent work.
• Demonstrated interest and experience with animal welfare issues and committed to the mission of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
• The ability to travel periodically for staff meetings and retreats (estimated 1-3 trips annually).

Benefits

• Competitive compensation with excellent benefits, including starting annual salary of $95,100 for most geographic locations. For candidates located within 25 miles of Washington D.C., Cotati, CA, and Los Angeles, starting pay is $100,105. For candidates located within 25 miles of New York City and San Francisco, starting pay is $105,110. To ensure salary equity, we do not negotiate salary outside of the published starting rate. Rate is determined by role, using set geographical factors.
• Comprehensive health care, dental, life, and vision benefits (100% employer paid).
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Dependent Care Account (DCA).
• 192 hours of PTO.
• 19 paid holidays.
• 1-month paid sabbatical after 5 years of continuous employment.
• 16 weeks paid parental leave.
• 401k plan with a maximum 5% employer contribution match after one year of employment.
• Alternative work schedules (at manager’s discretion).
• One-time remote work allowance of $750.
• Annual professional development reimbursement of up to $1,000.

Maintaining a healthy work/life balance is a core value for the Animal Legal Defense Fund.