How to apply for Development & Communications Manager

About Northwest Community Bail Fund

The Northwest Community Bail Fund (NCBF) is a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to ending cash bail and pretrial detention in Washington State, directly freeing individuals and advocating for systemic change. Working there means joining a small, mission-driven team where your fundraising and communications efforts directly fuel both immediate liberation and long-term policy reform. The remote-first culture, rooted in Snohomish, King, or Pierce Counties, offers flexibility while keeping you connected to the communities most affected by the carceral system.

About the role

As the Development & Communications Manager, you will own the strategy and execution of NCBF’s fundraising and public messaging—from cultivating donors and running campaigns to managing social media, newsletters, and media relations. This role is the backbone of NCBF’s sustainability and visibility, requiring you to balance data-driven development operations with ethical, community-centered storytelling. Your work will directly enable NCBF to post bail, support impacted individuals, and shift public narratives around pretrial justice.

A typical day

A typical day might involve drafting a donor appeal email, updating the donor database, and then hopping on a call with volunteer social media team members to plan a storytelling campaign. Later, you might coordinate with a local media outlet on a press release about a bailout milestone, while also preparing for an upcoming fundraising event. The work is dynamic, balancing behind-the-scenes operations with public-facing communications, all in service of ending cash bail.

Who Northwest Community Bail Fund is looking for

• Proven fundraising success across individual giving, major gifts, and digital campaigns, with experience managing donor databases and gift processing.
• Skilled communicator who can craft compelling narratives for diverse audiences—donors, media, volunteers, and directly impacted community members—while centering consent, dignity, and safety.
• Experience leading and coordinating volunteers, especially in fundraising or social media/storytelling teams, with a collaborative and trauma-informed approach.
• Deep commitment to abolition, decarceration, or bail reform, and familiarity with the political and social landscape of Washington State’s Snohomish, King, or Pierce Counties.

Tips for this application

• Highlight specific fundraising results (e.g., dollars raised, donor retention rates, campaign metrics) in your resume and cover letter—NCBF needs to see you can sustain and grow their budget.
• Show your understanding of ethical storytelling: mention how you’ve centered consent, dignity, and directly impacted voices in past communications work, not just general marketing.
• Demonstrate local ties to Snohomish, King, or Pierce Counties—whether through residence, volunteer work, or community partnerships—since the role is remote but geographically rooted.
• Address the dual nature of the role explicitly: provide examples of how you’ve successfully juggled development operations (data, donor stewardship) and communications (content creation, media) simultaneously.
• In your cover letter, connect your personal or professional experience to NCBF’s mission of ending cash bail—show you understand the urgency and the community-led nature of the work.

What to cover in your cover letter

In your cover letter, emphasize: (1) your hands-on experience running fundraising campaigns end-to-end, including donor cultivation and database management; (2) a concrete example of ethical, community-centered storytelling you’ve led, especially involving directly impacted people; (3) your ability to manage volunteers and cross-functional teams in a remote setting; and (4) your specific connection to Washington State and passion for ending pretrial detention. Avoid generic statements—tie each point to NCBF’s mission and the communities they serve.

Research before applying

• Read NCBF’s annual reports, blog posts, and social media to understand their tone, past campaigns, and the stories they highlight—note how they center impacted voices.
• Research the current state of cash bail and pretrial detention in Washington State, including recent legislation and local advocacy efforts in Snohomish, King, and Pierce Counties.
• Look into NCBF’s donor base and fundraising history (e.g., via Guidestar, their website, or social media) to identify gaps and opportunities you could address in the role.
• Follow other bail funds and abolitionist organizations nationally to understand best practices in development and communications within this space.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you design an annual fundraising strategy for NCBF that balances immediate bail needs with long-term sustainability?
• Describe a time you handled a communications crisis or sensitive story involving directly impacted individuals—how did you ensure consent and dignity?
• What metrics do you use to evaluate the success of donor stewardship and communications campaigns, and how would you apply them at NCBF?
• How would you lead and motivate volunteer teams (fundraising and social media/story) in a remote, mission-driven environment?
• Can you share an example of a partnership you built with a media outlet or community organization to amplify a cause? What was the outcome?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using generic, corporate fundraising language that ignores the grassroots, community-led nature of NCBF—avoid terms like 'donor acquisition funnel' without connecting them to mission.
• Failing to acknowledge the ethical complexities of storytelling in a bail fund context; never suggest using impacted individuals’ stories without explicit consent and agency.
• Treating the remote aspect as a reason to ignore local context—NCBF serves specific Washington counties, so not demonstrating local knowledge or ties is a major misstep.