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Senior Writer, Advancement Communications
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Job Summary
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) seeks a Senior Writer, Advancement Communications to join Institutional Advancement.
The Senior Writer, Advancement Communications, plays a key role in crafting compelling content that supports philanthropic goals and engagement efforts at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Rooted in RISD’s creative culture, this role calls for an exceptional writer who can blend strategic thinking with imaginative storytelling to effectively communicate the impact of art and design education. Reporting to the Executive Director of Advancement Communications within Institutional Advancement (IA), the Senior Writer collaborates with colleagues across fundraising, donor relations, and alumni and family relations to develop a wide range of high-quality materials. These include major gift opportunities, cases for support, stewardship reporting, annual giving materials, fundraising collateral and more. The Senior Writer will also contribute to key IA publications, including the RISD Alumni + Friends Magazine.
The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, collaborative, and deadline-driven. The Senior Writer brings strong writing and editorial skills, a clear and adaptable voice and an understanding of how to tailor messages to diverse audiences.
The successful candidate will thrive in a campus environment that is committed to advancing the principles of social equity and inclusion, environmental and climate justice, and equal access to resources and opportunities.
Essential Functions:
- Develop a strong understanding of RISD’s strategic priorities across the college, museum, and institution-wide initiatives, and translate them into clear, audience-specific content for a variety of communication channels.
- Work with fundraisers and senior leadership to develop materials that effectively convey the need for philanthropic support and demonstrate the impact of giving.
- Write and produce cohesive, high-quality content that supports IA’s goals. This includes, but is not limited to, stewardship reports, donor acknowledgements, solicitations, fundraising collateral, gift announcements, and talking points, etc.
- Edit and proofread a wide range of IA communications and materials prepared for external audiences to ensure clarity, consistency and accuracy.
- Collaborate closely with colleagues across IA to strategize, develop, and implement content that supports fundraising and engagement goals. Identify opportunities to tell meaningful stories that highlight donor impact and build compelling cases for support.
Required Knowledge/Skills/Experience
- Bachelor’s degree with at least 5-7 years of relevant experience in donor relations or philanthropy communications.
- Must be a superb writer, editor, proofreader and researcher: fast, creative, curious, detail-oriented and versatile
- Experience in creative writing at all gift levels in a nonprofit setting, higher ed preferred.
- Ability to gather and synthesize large quantities of information, organize ideas and turn institutional objectives and messages into compelling cases for philanthropic support and engagement.
- Flexibility and ability to receive edits and adjust work, incorporating feedback
- Ability to produce high-quality work in a timely manner, adhering to deadlines while managing and prioritizing multiple projects.
- Demonstrated ability to engage as a positive team member who establishes productive relationships, demonstrates respect and facilitates understanding by considering and integrating diverse viewpoints; ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
- Occasional travel or event attendance, sometimes outside of regular business hours, to learn about fundraising priorities.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Relevant experience and knowledge of higher education fundraising and methods of institutional advancement and fundraising.
- Knowledge of current and evolving advancement communications concepts, as well as shifting donor relations practices.
- Experience with annual giving and direct response marketing.
Union:
No
Work Schedule:
35 hours per week; 12 months per year
Employment Status:
Full-time; Exempt; Regular
Grade:
540EX
Work Modality
Hybrid Eligible
Documents Needed to Apply:
- Resume (Required)
- Cover Letter (Required)
- Please submit two writing samples as either a PDF or Word Doc that demonstrate your ability to communicate with philanthropic audiences:
A donor-facing piece (e.g., solicitation, stewardship report excerpt, gift announcement, case-for-support section), approximately 300–600 words.- A narrative or storytelling piece that highlights impact (e.g., donor profile, student story, program feature), approximately 500–900 words.
Samples may be previously published or created in a professional context. If submitting a newly created sample, it should be a short piece written for a higher-education, arts, or mission-driven nonprofit context. The sample does not need to be RISD-specific. Applicants may choose a comparable institution or organization. Please redact any confidential information.
If you have any questions about the format of your submission, please reach out to humres@risd.edu.
Salary Grade Structure
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please upload all required documents.
The successful candidate will be required to meet our pre-employment background screening requirements.
RISD recognizes diversity and inclusivity as fundamental to its learning community and integral to an art and design education. We welcome candidates whose experience has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to diversity and excellence. RISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.
For internal use only - Job Family:
Marketing - Media
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