Remote Non Profit Program Director Jobs in Chicago, IL

Director of Membership & Fundraising

???? Remote (U.S.-based) | ???? Full-Time | ???? $150,000 annually 

About COURIER

COURIER is the fastest growing values-driven local news network in America. Across 20 state newsrooms and a national bureau, we've earned the trust of over 10.5M subscribers and reach more than 150M Americans weekly with factual, compelling, and shareable storytelling, from viral social videos to must-read newsletters and podcasts, delivered where audiences already spend their time online.

Our journalism is funded in part by the people who read it. Tens of thousands of grassroots supporters across all 50 states already keep our reporters in the field. This role is about turning that base into something bigger: a durable, diversified membership program that sits alongside advertising and grants as a core pillar of COURIER's revenue.

COURIER Newsroom is committed to building an inclusive workplace that values diverse perspectives and lived experiences. We strongly encourage women, people of color, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ+ candidates, and those from all backgrounds to apply. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to break down barriers and ensure every team member feels seen, heard, and supported.

The Role

COURIER is seeking a Director of Membership & Fundraising who will build a national membership program and grow it in tandem with our existing grassroots fundraising work. This is a builder's role: you will define what COURIER membership is, design the strategy and mechanics that bring it to life, and then run the day-to-day delivery, while continuing to scale email, SMS, and other grassroots fundraising channels that already exist.

This is a role for a true entrepreneur who wants their work to matter. You'll have full ownership to build something new, setting the strategy, standing up the infrastructure, and proving out a diversified revenue line rather than optimizing an established one. It's all in service of growing the audience and resources behind values-driven, local journalism that holds power accountable and serves communities the traditional media landscape too often overlooks.

This role will report to the Chief Revenue Officer, and will partner closely with senior leadership, including regular exposure to editorial and revenue leadership across the network. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Build the membership program from the ground up. Define what COURIER membership means to a reader, design the value proposition, membership tiers, and benefits structure, and stand up the systems needed to launch and scale it as a new, diversified revenue stream.
• Own the strategy and the delivery. You will set the membership and fundraising strategy and also execute it day to day, writing fundraising and membership messages, building campaigns, and shipping content across email, SMS, and other owned channels.
• Grow and steward the grassroots fundraising program. Manage and expand COURIER's existing donor file across email, SMS, peer-to-peer, and social, and convert one-time donors into recurring members and sustainers.
• Design the recurring giving and membership funnel. Building the path that moves a supporter from their first gift to becoming a lasting member, grouping supporters based on how they engage so you can tailor outreach to them, and creating distinct plans for keeping new, established, and at-risk recurring donors engaged over time.
• Work cross-functionally across local and national newsrooms. Partner with both national and local newsrooms to identify opportunities where membership and fundraising can support local coverage, editorial franchises, and national coverage moments. 
• Identify new collaboration opportunities. Proactively find and pitch ways that membership and fundraising can support, and be supported by, newsroom initiatives, partnerships, and other revenue lines across the network.
• Manage acquisition strategy. Oversee list growth across data vendors, Meta, and organic channels, and manage the process for bringing new supporter data into our systems so it's accurate, properly organized, and ready to be used to build members.
• Own reporting and performance. In partnership with our data team, build the dashboards and reporting cadence that track membership growth, retention, and fundraising performance, and use that data to set the testing agenda.
• Manage and grow the supporting team. Work closely with the contractor supporting the program today to identify growth opportunities, and help define the hiring plan and processes needed to scale the team as membership and fundraising grow.

Ideal Candidate:

• Has 5+ years of experience in membership, grassroots, or online fundraising — political, advocacy, nonprofit, or media.
• Has built or substantially grown a membership, recurring giving, or reader revenue program from an early stage
• A true self-starter, comfortable defining strategy and then executing it directly without the support of a large team.
• Has hands-on experience with fundraising or membership platforms and CRMs (e.g., ActBlue, ActionKit, Braze, Sailthru, or similar); comfort with both political fundraising and reader-revenue mechanics is a strong plus.
• Strong, persuasive writer who can produce fundraising and membership copy that converts.
• Data-driven and fluent in reporting tools and Excel/Sheets, with a track record of using data to inform strategy and drive decisions.
• Can operate cross-functionally in an ambiguous, fully remote, fast-changing environment, building relationships with newsroom and revenue leaders across a decentralized network.
• Energized by a mission-driven environment where fundraising and journalism work hand in hand.

Courier Newsroom offers the following benefits:

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), 11 paid holidays a year
• An Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Full suite of health benefits
• $500 home office reimbursement
• 401k
• Flexible working arrangements

Courier Newsroom is an equal opportunity employer. Women, people of color, those with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly urged to apply. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical conditions.