wellspring

Wellspring Advisors Civil Society Associate Philanthropic Advisor

Wellspring Advisors advises foundations and individual clients on their charitable giving. We develop strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of methods, tactics and the programs of potential grantees; advise our clients and other funders to help maximize their impact; and work collaboratively with grantees to improve the effectiveness of their efforts.

Position Summary

Wellspring’s Civil Society program area, located in down town Washington, DC, currently focuses on non-partisan programs that register minority and other under-represented citizens to vote, provide civic education and encourage voting, while strengthening progressive advocacy organizations. We also support efforts to enforce voting rights and prevent voter suppression.

We are in the fourth year of a strategy aimed at reviving the field of voter registration, helping to build a sustainable funding base for its work, and raising the standards of effectiveness and accountability for a range of voter participation and voter education efforts linked to ongoing advocacy.

Within the next three years, our priorities will likely evolve to include a greater focus on other strategies to strengthen progressive advocacy.

We expect to create two new full-time positions. We will consider both relatively inexperienced and very experienced applicants, recognizing that they would fill these responsibilities in different ways and with different levels of supervision. The division of the work between you and other staff remains flexible so that we can take into account your strengths and interests. A significant portion of the work involves quantitative analysis. You will draft proposal summaries and memos, will advise senior staff on grant recommendations, track issues and developments within grant areas to stay abreast of needs and opportunities, and frequently participate in meetings with grantees and other funders. Depending on your experience, you will immediately or gradually take on principal responsibility for particular grantees or substantive areas.

Responsibilities

1. Research strategic needs/opportunities and assess the extent to which they are being addressed by organizations in the area.

2. Research and evaluate potential grantees and their impact.

3. Provide background and grant recommendation memos and conduct briefings.

4. Work with grantees to refine strategies, improve implementation, and encourage coordination and collaboration among groups to ensure that key strategic needs and opportunities are optimized.

5. Recommend strategies and specific grants which maximize the impact of grant dollars, whether by funding current or new grantees, helping grantees to work more strategically or effectively separately or together, or helping to spark new strategies or initiatives.

6. Review and summarize grant proposals and track proposal applications and supporting documentation.

7. Track and evaluate grantee work and outcomes. This includes reviewing and summarizing grant reports and grantee briefings, but also often includes ongoing, proactive oversight and involvement. You will work with grantees to help them develop ways to effectively track and evaluate their work.

Qualifications

1. Strong writing and math skills.

2. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferably in political science, economics, government or social sciences;

3. Aptitude for strategic analysis.

4. Interest in:

The “big picture” including strategy evaluation and development across entire grant areas;
The “middle picture” such as evaluating capacity and performance of grantees and evaluating experiments designed to test the effectiveness of voter registration, turnout and communications approaches; and
The details such as evaluating grantee financial information, previous grant history, ensuring compliance with applicable law, etc.

5. Ability to work well both independently and with supervision.

6. Strong interpersonal and communications skills.

7. Proficiency with MSOffice applications

8. An expectation to remain with the firm at least three years.

Additional assets (useful but not required):

9. Experience in some combination of organizing, policy advocacy, campaigns or voter participation work.

10. Graduate degree in Political Science or other social sciences or analytical degree.

11. Background in social science research, including comfort with experimental design and statistical analysis.

12. Experience as a funder, donor advisor, or in fundraising.

13. Law degree or experience interpreting statutes and cases.

14. Knowledge of campaign finance laws and rules.

Compensation

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Benefits: Paid health insurance, leave, 401k – all highly competitive

Equal Opportunity Employer

How to Apply

Please apply by e-mailing resume, cover letter and application form to: WellspringCS@yahoo.com

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

Application Form

Please submit your resume, cover letter and this application form.

We closely read all cover letters and resumes, so there is no need to repeat below information you have provided in those submissions. You can either supplement that information where appropriate or, if you feel your resume or cover letter by themselves appropriately answer one of the questions below, you can just indicate “AA” (for Already Answered) in the appropriate space. You can take as much space as you need to answer these questions, but we are not expecting lengthy answers. We also don’t expect that any one applicant will necessarily have all the skills or experience we hope to assemble among the positions we are filling, so you should not fear that answering “no” to some of the questions about experience would keep you from being considered. Please include a salary history in your resume or in a separate attachment.

1. Your name:

2. What are the best hours to reach you by phone? (If we should use a number other than that listed on your resume, please tell us that).

3. Why are you interested in this position? (If you feel you have already said in a cover letter all that you want to say on this subject, you may skip this question.)

4. Have you ever conducted or managed voter registration or voter turnout efforts? Other grassroots field operations? If so, (unless your resume or cover letter already makes this clear), please describe: a) your responsibilities, and b) the results you achieved.

5. Have you had experience in electoral campaigns? If so, (unless your resume or cover letter already makes this clear), please describe: a) your responsibilities in this regard, and b) the results you achieved.

6. Have you had experience in issue advocacy campaigns? If so, (unless your resume or cover letter already makes this clear), please describe: a) your responsibilities in this regard, and b) the results you achieved.

7. Describe your background in social science or other scientific research, as well as your proficiency in mathematical and statistical analysis.

8. Do you have experience as a funder, donor advisor, or in fundraising? If so, (unless your resume or cover letter already makes this clear) to what capacity?

Do you have a law degree or experience interpreting statutes and cases? If so, (unless your resume or cover letter already makes this clear) to what capacity?

Do you have knowledge of campaign finance laws and rules? If so, (unless your resume or cover letter already makes this clear) to what capacity?

If you were offered this position and accepted it, how long would you expect to stay with this firm?

12. Please indicate:

· The salary you think you should be paid if you are hired for this position:

· The minimum salary you would consider:

13. How did you hear about this opening? Please be specific, telling us who referred you or what publication or Web site listed the position.

14. Additional comments (if you choose):