Apply by January 24 to help bring home the bacon for our growing publication.
Tone Madison is seeking a Fundraising and Finance Director—a newly created position—to take charge of our efforts to raise money and keep building a strong independent media resource for our community. Here’s everything you need to know about the position and how to apply.
Application Deadline: midnight on Tuesday, January 24
To apply, email [email protected] and include 1) your resume, 2) any relevant links or work samples you feel are relevant to your qualifications for this job and 3) a few sentences introducing yourself. No formal cover letter is needed.
BIPOC, women, members of the LGBTQ community, and other members of underrepresented communities in the journalism field are strongly encouraged to apply.
Position Details
- 10-15 hours/week
- Compensation: $16/hour paid biweekly
- Reports to Publisher
- Remote, but must be based in Madison, WI
- Starts February 2023
Position Summary
The Fundraising and Finance Director will secure revenue for Tone Madison across three key areas: reader donations (including major gifts), sponsorships (from local businesses and nonprofits), and grants. These revenue streams pay for Tone Madison’s fiercely independent, reader-supported coverage of culture and politics in Madison.
The ideal candidate for this position will understand the complex challenges that small media outlets face and the myriad efforts across independent media to experiment with new business models. A commitment to local media, and to the boundaries that safeguard editorial independence, is an absolute must.
This work will take place within a remote but highly collaborative environment. Tone Madison is a worker-owned cooperative, which means its core staff (including the Fundraising and Finance Director, once on-boarded) collectively own it and participate in key decision-making, financial oversight, and accountability processes. The Fundraising and Finance Director will also work closely with staff at Indiegraf Media, a company that provides direct technical support to Tone Madison and other small publishers. (We are in the midst of a two-year Indiegraf program aimed at growing our audience and revenue.)
The goal for this position will be to ensure Tone Madison’s short-term cash flow and long-term sustainability. We are a small media outlet, but with a strong audience and a committed base of donors and sponsors. A capable Fundraising and Finance Director will be able to build on this foundation so that Tone Madison can support its staff and remain an enduring presence in our community.
Responsibilities
- Work with other staff members to develop long-term strategies for financial sustainability
- Develop annual fundraising plan in collaboration with Tone Madison editorial staff and our partners at Indiegraf Media
- Plan and execute major spring and year-end fundraising campaigns, and three to five mini-campaigns in between, with support from editorial staff and our partners at Indiegraf Media
- Develop and pursue sponsor leads
- Maintain relationships with existing sponsors
- Cultivate major donors
- Plan and coordinate events
- Seek and apply for relevant grants, in collaboration with editorial staff
- Delegate fundraising tasks to other staff/Co-op members as needed
- Track donation and sponsorship revenue
- Participate in monitoring the cooperative’s finances, in collaboration with fellow co-op members, our bookkeeper, and our accountant
- Enforcing internal rules that bar funders from influencing editorial decisions
- Ensure balanced development of revenue streams
- Creating and sharing reports on sponsorship performance
Limitations on Responsibilities
- Fundraising and Finance Director will not be expected to do all the writing and graphic design work to support campaigns; Publisher will ensure Fundraising and Finance Director has adequate support for these elements
- Fundraising and Finance Director will not be responsible for hosting events without adequate support, and will not be responsible for unreasonable amounts of night and weekend events
- Fundraising and Finance Director will be asked to take the lead on writing grants, but will not be expected to write grants without the participation, feedback, and writing/editing support of editorial staff
- Fundraising and Finance Director will not be expected to work on revenue-generating ideas outside the scope of this position description
- Our contract for bookkeeping services covers monitoring and logging financial transactions; this will not be the responsibility of the Fundraising and Finance Director
Skills & Qualifications
- Grant writing
- Event planning
- Managing relationships with sponsors and donors
Supervisors’ Responsibilities
- Provide prompt feedback on short-turnaround and long-turnaround story ideas.
- Assist Fundraising and Finance Director in developing relationships with funders.
- Ensure Fundraising and Finance Director has full and prompt access to necessary fundraising tools and financial information.
- Be open to new ideas and feedback.
- Respectful, supportive, and professional communication at all times.
- Re-assigning Fundraising and Finance Director duties if the workload becomes unmanageable.
