Project Manager, Engagement and Stewardship, Individual Philanthropy

This is a hybrid position that requires 8 days per month in the office. You can be based in our office in Washington DC. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position. To be eligible for this position, you must be a resident of DC, Maryland or Virginia at the start of employment.

The Project Manager for Engagement and Stewardship is a key member of the Individual Philanthropy team and is responsible for translating strategy into actionable plans and supporting cross-functional collaboration.

With a strong understanding of project management, this role brings structure, coordination, and accountability to complex, interconnected fundraising workstreams -ensuring events and projects stay on track, stakeholders are aligned, and timelines and deliverables are met.

In this role, you are both a hands-on implementer and a thoughtful delegator. Your day-to-day work involves event and project planning and execution, budget and list management, team and cross-departmental coordination, meeting facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, and risk management.

You will partner closely with senior team leadership to support annual strategies, emerging initiatives and the Campaign for People, Nature and Climate.

Events & Experiences (50% time)

• Manage event and experience planning for the Individual Philanthropy team, delivering approximately three bespoke, high-touch convenings annually (e.g. intimate dinners and fireside gatherings) in priority markets such as New York, Aspen, Los Angeles, London. Oversee full lifecycle planning-from calendar and timeline development through venue sourcing and negotiation, guest management, travel logistics, onsite execution, and post-event reporting.

• Collaborate with the Senior Advisor for Impact Philanthropy and Campaign Manager to identify, pilot and refine new engagement opportunities.

• Manage cross-functional planning and deliverables for events and initiatives, ensuring communications, stewardship, logistics, and engagement are coordinated, collaborative and completed on schedule.

• Provide direction and guidance to colleagues assisting with events and maintain effective communication with teams and stakeholders.

• Propose and implement new ideas to improve the event planning and execution process. After events, support the team with analyzing event metrics, and adapt future event strategies by conducting postmortem assessments, and review.

• Develop and maintain an event and engagement calendar aligned with donor solicitation and stewardship cycles and that leverages key institutional moments.

• Plan agenda, staff meeting, take and circulate notes for semi-monthly, cross-sector Development Engagement and Events meetings.

• Support outreach and communication for events, including drafting personalized invitations or emails to accompany one-to-many formal event intentions, as needed.

Donor Communications and Stewardship (25%)

• Coordinate and manage workflows that support donor and prospect engagement, including stewardship reporting and communications.

• Develop and maintain communication and stewardship calendars that align with donor solicitation and stewardship cycles and leverage key institutional moments.

• Provide light touch project management for communications materials, including production, review and distribution to one-to-some and one-to-one individual philanthropy audiences.

• Attend institutional Comms meetings, help set agendas, take and distribute minutes.

• Support cost and budget tracking and production timelines for communication and stewardship products.

Project Management, Team Planning & Coordination (25% time)

• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, workbacks, and dependencies across multiple workstreams, collaborating with stakeholders on implementation.

• Track progress against milestones, identify bottlenecks, and help resolve issues to keep projects on schedule.

• Serve as central point of coordination between fundraising, communications, events, and campaign workstreams, ensuring clear communication and flow of information across and between teams throughout the lifecycle of each project.

• Facilitate regular check-ins, status updates and planning meetings to ensure alignment and accountability, particularly across events and Campaign workstreams.

• Manage lists and list review and development for stewardship, events and engagement.

• In collaboration with the Director for Individual Philanthropy Services, establish and refine project management tools, templates, and processes to improve efficiency and clarity.

• Manage the documentation of workflows, timelines, and learnings to support continuous improvement and scalability of fundraising efforts.

• Support the development of annual workplans and team retreats and team training.

What you will need:

• Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent required

• Experience: You have a minimum of 5+ years full-time relevant work experience

  • Proven project management and organizational skills; able to develop a strategic work plan, deliver on milestones, lead complex projects, and take ideas from conception to execution.

  • Successful track record of planning, management and executing highly personalized events in intimate settings.

  • Experience handling multiple projects, setting priorities, problem-solving and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced and complex environment.

  • Experience working with or within fundraising/nonprofit organization.

  • Experience with budgets and contracts.

  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across teams, and effectively and diplomatically with external stakeholders.

  • Experience with both collaborative and independent work.

  • Experience with and knowledge of Microsoft Office 365, Asana, or other project management and event management tools.

• Languages: Proficiency in verbal and written English

• Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization.

Potential Salary: US salary range is between 84,000 and 95,000 USD. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:

Please submit a resume with a cover letter by March 29.Applicants mustapply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of applications from qualified candidates.

About Us: World Resources Institute works to improve people's lives, protect and restore nature and stabilize the climate. As an independent research organization, we leverage our data, expertise and global reach to influence policy and catalyse change across systems like food, land and water; energy; and cities. Our 2,000+ staff work on the ground in more than a dozen focus countries and with partners in over 50 nations.

Our mission and values: WRI's mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Independence, Integrity, Impact, Partnership and Care.

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission including equal opportunities in employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, caste, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status.

Our People team carefully reviews all applications.