How to apply for Funder Relations Manager

About The Center for Cultural Power

The Center for Cultural Power is a women of color, artist-led organization that uses storytelling and cultural strategy to advance racial, gender, climate, and immigration justice. It stands out for centering artists as change agents and co-creating a field of cultural strategy with movement groups. Working here means joining a values-driven team committed to trust, collaboration, care, learning, and inspiration.

About the role

As Funder Relations Manager, you will own and grow relationships with philanthropic partners, ensuring they are deeply connected to Cultural Power’s mission and impact. You will manage a portfolio of funders, lead stewardship and solicitation efforts, and collaborate with the Director of Development to align funding strategies with organizational priorities. This role is pivotal in resourcing artist-led cultural change and expanding the organization’s base of support.

A typical day

A typical day might involve drafting a grant proposal, scheduling check-in calls with current funders, updating the CRM with recent interactions, and collaborating with program staff to gather impact stories. You might also meet with the Director of Development to strategize around a new funding opportunity or prepare for an upcoming funder briefing. The pace is dynamic, balancing deadlines with relationship-building.

Who The Center for Cultural Power is looking for

• Proven experience in fundraising or development, ideally in a nonprofit arts, culture, or social justice organization, with a track record of managing funder relationships and securing grants.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex cultural strategy work into compelling narratives for diverse funders.
• Demonstrated commitment to racial, gender, climate, and immigration justice, and comfort working in a women of color, artist-led environment.
• Self-motivated and organized, able to work remotely on a Pacific time zone schedule and manage multiple deadlines with minimal supervision.

Tips for this application

• Highlight any experience you have with fundraising CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, Bloomerang) and grant management tools, as this role likely requires tracking funder interactions and deadlines.
• In your cover letter, explicitly connect your fundraising philosophy to Cultural Power’s values of trust, collaboration, care, learning, and inspiration—show how you build relationships, not just transactions.
• Demonstrate familiarity with the cultural strategy field or artist-led movements; mention specific projects or organizations you admire in this space.
• Address your ability to work on Pacific time and remotely; reassure them that you can thrive in a distributed team and are available for key meetings in PT.
• Use your resume to quantify fundraising successes (e.g., dollars raised, number of funders managed, retention rates) to show impact.

What to cover in your cover letter

['Your specific experience managing a portfolio of foundation, corporate, or individual funders, including stewardship, solicitation, and reporting.', 'How you align with Cultural Power’s mission and values, with concrete examples of your commitment to racial, gender, climate, and immigration justice.', 'Your ability to craft compelling narratives that resonate with funders and translate complex cultural strategy into accessible language.', 'Your track record of working independently in a remote setting and collaborating effectively with a team across time zones.']

Research before applying

• Explore The Center for Cultural Power’s website, especially their programs, fellowships, and recent campaigns, to understand their theory of change and impact areas.
• Research their key funders and partners (e.g., from annual reports or press releases) to get a sense of their existing funding base and potential growth areas.
• Read about the field of cultural strategy and artist-led organizing to speak fluently about the context in which Cultural Power operates.
• Look up the backgrounds of the Director of Development and other team members on LinkedIn to understand their priorities and working styles.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you approach building and maintaining relationships with funders who may not be familiar with cultural strategy or artist-led organizing?
• Describe a time you successfully stewarded a funder through a challenging situation or increased their giving. What was your strategy?
• How do you prioritize and manage a portfolio of funders with varying levels of engagement and deadlines?
• What role do you think funders play in advancing cultural power, and how would you engage them as partners rather than just donors?
• Give an example of how you’ve used data and storytelling together to make a case for support.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Submitting a generic cover letter that doesn’t mention Cultural Power’s mission or values—this role requires authentic alignment with their social justice focus.
• Failing to demonstrate remote work capability or willingness to work on Pacific time; this is a key requirement and ignoring it suggests you haven’t read the details.
• Focusing only on fundraising mechanics without showing how you build genuine relationships with funders; Cultural Power values care and collaboration, so a transactional approach would be a poor fit.