Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

Employment

The Forward is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, citizenship status, color, race, national origin, disability, disability status, gender, pregnancy status or lactation accommodations, gender identity, sexual orientation, domestic violence victim status, marital, partnership or familial status, religion, creed, prior arrest or conviction record according to applicable law, veteran or military status, or genetic characteristics.

The Forward has a commitment to diversity both in the workplace and in its reporting and is looking for employees and perspectives from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.


Deputy Director of Development

 

The Forward is seeking a motivated, resourceful and detail-oriented Deputy Director of Development to join our intrepid development team. The Deputy Director of Development will be a key partner in shaping the future of our growing development department, focused on major gifts $5,000+ from both institutions and individuals.

The Forward has experienced enormous transitions and growth over the past several years and the development team is focused on escalating our work to the next level. With a new team, new systems and a sharper focus, the team will continue the trajectory which has grown our contributed revenue by 80% in the last 4 years.

The Deputy Director of Development will report to the VP of Development and will be a thought partner on refining systems, producing fundraiser events, and ensuring that every major donor and prospect has a specific plan of action.

The Deputy Director of Development (SDM) will supervise and lead several aspects of our major donor program, including fundraising events, prospecting and stewardship. The SDM will ensure that our department is consistently tracking our progress, analyzing results and most effectively using our resources.

Additionally, the Deputy Director of Development will be responsible for managing the Institutional Grants program including research and identification of a robust list of prospective funders, overseeing all reports and proposals and maintenance of the calendar to meet deadlines.

As a key leader of the development practice, the Deputy Director will supervise internal and external staff and resources. They will collaborate across departments and oversee junior staff and contractors to ensure all goals are met.

This individual will join a legacy organization with a strong brand and deep loyalties that has undergone an incredible transformation to an all-digital media outlet serving the Jewish community in a variety of ways. Founded in 1897, the Forward is the leading voice in American Jewish journalism and a platform for civil discourse on issues that divide us. We are an independent, reader-supported nonprofit 501(c)(3) that sees journalism as a public service and pillar of our democracy. While we began as a socialist Yiddish newspaper, our only ideology now is that of inquiry, and we aim to serve the full Jewish community.

2023 has been a pivotal year for the Forward and its development practice, as we are nearing completion of our first major capital campaign and have launched a renewed events program post-covid. This role will contribute to the expanded growth of this critical operation.

Position Responsibilities:

Major Donor Prospecting, Cultivation, and Stewardship

  • Partner with VP of Development to create strategies and execute tactics for major donor prospecting, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship;
  • In conjunction with the development and data teams, ensure all donor data is up-to-date, processes are optimized and refined in order to achieve results.
  • Use donor data and report creation and analysis to build a pipeline of prospects who are capable of making major gifts;
  • Create metrics and a reporting system to track development team progress;
  • Implement a rigorous moves management program with individual projections and frequent touch points to deepen donor engagement, with an emphasis on upgrading donors and securing multi-year commitments;
  • Support the CEO, Board, and staff with their portfolios, moves management, communications, solicitations;
  • Manage the legacy program including cultivating legacy prospects, partnering with marketing on outreach, and stewarding the Abraham Cahan Legacy Society members
  • Work effectively with the development team to foster a culture of philanthropy organization-wide;
  • Build relationships with all internal departments to ensure that we gather information and translate data and facts into compelling stories for stakeholders.

Institutional Fundraising

  • Develop and execute the Forward’s annual and long-term institutional fundraising plan, which includes a robust moves management program to achieve and maintain foundation support and advance relationships.
  • Understand the Forward’s mission, programs, and goals to effectively explore and pursue new funding opportunities from a broad range of prospects;
  • Oversee relevant research to identify grant opportunities and cultivation plans for prospective funders;
  • Manage the grants’ calendar and ensure the timely submission of all proposals and reports;
  • Oversee junior staff and/or grants writers to create letters of inquiry, concept papers, grant proposals, and other requests for institutional funding;
  • Coordinate with the finance team to prepare for funders all necessary budgets and financial statements;

Event Management

  • Oversee logistics for fundraising and friendraising events, largely in-person but also virtual, in various cities across the country.
  • Manage invitation and attendee lists, as well as follow up and subsequent cultivation of attendees

Supervision

  • Supervise junior staff members to assist in these projects, including preparing donor profiles and other prospecting and cultivation activities, and ensuring donor data is accurate, updated and valuable analysis is conducted.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

  • At least 5 years of nonprofit fundraising experience
  • Supervisory experience preferred
  • Demonstrated knowledge of best practices in foundation and major gift fundraising, including donor research, cultivation, and stewardship.
  • Superior written and verbal communication skills
  • Well-organized, detail-oriented multi-tasker who thrives in a fast-paced, bias-towards-action environment.
  • Effective organizational, time, and project management skills with a nimbleness to shift between projects as needs evolve;
  • Ability to seize opportunities, set strategic goals, manage multiple time-sensitive projects simultaneously, and thrive in both an independent and team-driven environment.
  • A sophisticated understanding of the Jewish community’s philanthropic landscape in the US.
  • Proficient knowledge of computers and office related systems, including donor management databases, preferably SalesForce, and wealth screening software, preferably donorsearch.
  • Passion for The Forward’s mission of independent Jewish journalism and connection across generations and the diverse Jewish communities.
  • Ability to work occasional nights and weekends for events and to travel up to 20% within the US
    Able to work collaboratively with colleagues, and actively listen and willing to brainstorm and generate ideas with the team.

Compensation:
Salary for this position is $85,000 – $95,000 depending on experience. All employees are offered a full benefits package including health, dental, vision and life insurance; paid time off, including Jewish holidays; 401k with a matching after one year of service; Pre-tax commuter benefits, flexible spending account, short and long-term disability and life insurance.

Location:
The position is based in our New York office. Remote work is possible, highly preferable to be able to commute to NY office 2-3x week.

To apply:
Please submit your resume and a cover letter detailing your interest in this position and relevant experience to  [email protected], subject line: Deputy Director of Development.

The Forward is an independent, reader-supported nonprofit committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in our coverage, staffing and culture. The Forward is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability or genetic information or any other status protected by law.


Opinion Editor

 

Are you a thinker who inhales news and instinctively questions its impact on our diverse and distressed communities? Do you love a good debate? Want to drive, shape and host the conversations American Jews need to have and hear right now?

Then you might be the next Opinion editor of the Forward.

It’s never been more essential to nurture a platform for civil discourse on all that divides us. Expanding that platform and the audiences it engages is core to the mission and future of the Forward, the nation’s leading Jewish journalism outlet. We seek an innovative, digital-savvy leader to build on our 127-year legacy at this most challenging moment in both the Jewish world and the journalism industry.

The ideal candidates will have at least five years of journalism experience and a clear track record of distinctive work. They’ll possess broad interests and connections, a competitive drive and a collaborative spirit. They’ll be self-starters equally comfortable with strategic planning and day-to-day doing who can juggle multiple projects and pivot to respond to news and reader needs.

Candidates should be conversant across platforms and committed to fairness, have high expectations for themselves and others, and obsess about the audience. Interest in the Israel-Hamas war and antisemitism storylines is a must, expertise in those arenas a plus.

Founded as a Yiddish, socialist broadsheet in 1897, the Forward taught generations of Jewish immigrants how to be American. We now publish mainly in English, are fully digital and free of ideology, committed to showcasing and interrogating the complete range of opinion and experience relevant to American Jews.

During these tumultuous times and all the time, the Forward provides clarity amid the chaos of disinformation and polarizing discussion. Our opinion report aims to provoke insights, not outrage, and to help readers understand and contribute to the challenging conversations unfolding online, at work, on campus and at the dinner table.

The Forward removed its paywall in December to become a membership organization, and our profile and audience has grown significantly since Oct. 7. We are an independent nonprofit committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our coverage, staffing and culture. This is a senior leadership role, reporting to the Editor-in-Chief, with a salary range of $80,000 and $110,000 depending on experience, and generous benefits.

Please send a resume, one-page pitch for the job and five relevant clips to [email protected], subject line: Opinion Editor.


Internship Opportunity: Digital Reporting and Writing

The Forward is seeking one or more beginning journalists passionate about digital and audience — and the Jewish world — for paid internships reporting and writing news items. The interns will work up to 29 hours a week for $15 an hour. The initial term is 10 weeks but the internship may be extended for up to a year. We accept rolling applications for this position, but are currently seeking a candidate to start immediately.

This is a fast-paced, reader-facing job in which interns will report, write and publish frequently on a broad range of subjects. We need people with experience at campus or other publications who know how to navigate the Internet and social media; have great story instincts and editorial judgment; move quickly and write clearly, with solid grasp of style and grammar rules; can juggle (projects, not projectiles); and work well in groups.

The intern will:

  • Report and write stories across sections, including breaking news on politics, culture and more
  • Scour the Jewish internet for news, conversation, opportunities and ideas
  • Support colleagues reporting and writing stories
  • Quickly source appropriate photos or other art
  • Use social-media and other platforms to develop a robust readership for items
  • Use audience tools and analyze traffic patterns to help optimize story selection and framing to meet reader needs

The ideal candidates will be equally interested in news from Israel and Hollywood; about politics and antisemitism. They will have a keen eye for what makes a story resonate for Jewish readers and know how to apply a sophisticated — or sometimes sassy — Jewish lens to the world. The interns should have sufficient Jewish background to be able to give stories proper context, but curiosity and commitment can go a long way to fill any gaps. They must work well under pressure and in collaboration with colleagues, and be eager to grow and be responsive to editors’ feedback. The goals are to file consistently clean copy; to be creative and flexible about format, medium and approach; to channel the Forward’s brand while developing individual voice; and to use audience tools like SEO to maximize impact of each piece.

Successful interns frequently graduate into yearlong fellowships and staff positions; we seek people who are pro-active, committed equally to our mission and to their own development.

To apply, please send a resume, five clips, a one-pager explaining why you want the gig, plus contact information for at least two references to [email protected]. Subject line: Digital reporting and writing internship.


Freelance Pitches

About The Forward:

The Forward is American Jewry’s essential, independent news organization, delivering incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews with rigorous, unbiased reporting and balanced, thoughtful commentary on news, politics, arts and culture that are acclaimed in the news industry. The Forward produces enlightening and entertaining multimedia content in English and Yiddish through a variety of newspapers, websites, blogs, videos, podcasts, e-books and apps.

Founded in 1897, the Forward has the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup. It occupies a unique position of independence as a nonprofit news organization, beholden to no institution, denomination or political faction.

Seeking Freelance Pitches:

We will consider trend stories, series, multimedia and video projects. Feel free to pitch profiles if the subject has agreed to give you excellent access. Do look in the news section of our website to see what we’re interested in, but don’t be limited by that. We’re eager to see proposals from communities of color as well as from Sephardi, Mizrahi, Russian and Bukharin communities.

We are looking for news and news features; not analysis, background, interpretation or explainers. We will consider historical pieces only if the story is brand-new and really compelling.

Compensation:

Compensation will be highly competitive for the right pitch. The Forward is an equal opportunity employer. All individuals are entitled to equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, genetic information, medical condition, veteran status, or any other class protected under federal, state, or local laws.

To apply:

To apply, please send detailed proposals including a list of sources to be interviewed, length range, proposed fee and deadline to [email protected].

The Forward Association, Inc., is an equal opportunity employer.


About the Forward

The Forward delivers incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews. Its rigorous reporting and balanced commentary on politics, arts and culture have won numerous awards year after year, including repeated recognition by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily, the Forward soon became the most widely read Jewish newspaper anywhere, with a larger circulation in the 1920s than the New York Times. It chronicled the events that affected a population of immigrants eager to take their place in American life, and published regional editions around the country before any other newspaper.

The English Forward was launched as a weekly in 1990. Its perspective on world and national news, and its unparalleled coverage of Jewish arts and culture, have made it the most influential nationwide Jewish media outlet today. Millions of readers visit forward.com each month for award-winning news, thoughtful commentary, and captivating videos. And close to 100,000 Facebook friends and subscribers receive e-newsletters that highlight the latest stories in news and culture, food and feminism, as well as the best in Jewish opinion.

The Forward has always been a not-for-profit association and is supported by the contributions of its readers.

 

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.