Philanthropy Coordinator

Contact Email: [email protected]

Post Date: 06.21.21

Job Type: Full-time

Office Location: Washington, DC

Department: Development

Job Description: 

The Philanthropy Coordinator provides confidential assistance to the Development team at Food & Water Watch on our overall fundraising strategy which touches on issues such as budgeting and donor relations.  The Philanthropy Coordinator also supports Food & Water Watch’s fundraising efforts by delivering exemplary customer service to donors and supporters, as well as providing operations support for the Development Department. This position ensures that Food & Water Watch’s members have all of their questions answered and their development-related needs met. The Philanthropy Coordinator helps with database management for the Development Department to ensure that all fundraising efforts and resulting donations are appropriately tracked and that information is accurate. The Philanthropy Coordinator is on-hand to complete regular in-person tasks, including check processing and in-house mailings.

This position will report directly to the Managing Director of Philanthropy and work closely with Membership Director. This position is based in the Washington, DC area. The candidate must be available to work in the DC office once per week during the current operating status and full-time when Food & Water Watch resumes regular in-person work.  

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Administrative Support:

  • Perform some administrative responsibilities including taking notes during privileged and confidential donor and development strategy meetings.
  • Participate in the development of strategies to advance fundraising goals; interact with current and potential donors.
  • Maintain and respect sensitive, private and confidential information related to grant recommendations, grantees, donors, advisors, and foundations.
  • Liaison with the Leadership Team to develop fundraising strategies and plans for significant organizational decisions and programs (this work will regularly pertain to sensitive and confidential organizational issues related to program strategy, staffing, budgeting, fundraising, donor communication, and organizational/leadership strategies).
  • Provide confidential advice and guidance to the Executive Director, Managing Directors and Leadership Team related to donor engagement.
  • Provide confidential administrative support and guidance to organizational leaders (particularly related to donor, fundraising, activities).
  • Handle sensitive information in a confidential manner.

Member Services

  • Promptly respond to all Development-related phone calls, voicemails, physical mail, and emails
  • Serve as primary responder for donor requests, including updating credit card numbers, canceling gifts, removal from mailing list, etc. 
  • Update contact, recognition, and mailing preferences for donors in donor database
  • Notify donors about issues with their donations such as check errors, IRA requests to the wrong fund, donations from corporate accounts, declined credit cards, etc.
  • Manage matching gift notifications and requests
  • Upload donation records from third-party giving platforms
  • Identify errors and alert the appropriate staff members
  • Follow procedures to ensure data integrity and the security of financial information

Direct Response

  • Process acknowledgement letters for mail caging firm to mail
  • Review donation processing and gift entry from the caging firm for errors and answer any questions they have about donation processing; ensure special deliveries from the caging firm are routed to the appropriate staff member
  • Maintain business rules concerning check processing, acknowledgments, and other work that falls under the scope of Development
  • Coordinate with FWW staff and relevant third-party vendors to ensure timely and accurate processing of data relating to direct response campaigns

Development Operations Support

  • Development Operations Support: Alert major gift officers when major gifts are received; support on tracking in database
  • Regularly prepare lists of donors for cultivation efforts
  • Clean mailing lists by removing duplicate names and people without complete addresses 
  • Manage and update information for charity rating sites
  • Handle in-house check processing, including scanning checks, creating a check log, notifying appropriate staff
  • Assist Salesforce support staff for Development Team-related work when needed
  • Assist with documentation for external grant awards
  • Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

  • Education: Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience required
  • Excellent interpersonal, writing and verbal skills are required
  • Passion for the mechanics of fundraising and building a culture of philanthropy
  • Approach interactions with donors and supporters with a customer-service mindset
  • Ability to work well with a wide range of people, under pressure in a fast-paced environment
  • Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously with close attention to detail
  • Good computer skills are required, including strong proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and Google Docs
  • Experience with Salesforce or similar database, or a demonstrated capacity to learn new technology quickly and effectively
  • Strong interest in and commitment to promoting the goals of Food & Water Watch

To perform this job successfully, the person in this position has a high degree of contact with senior management and staff researchers; a high degree of contact with other FWW/FWA staff; and a high degreeof contact with members and supporters.

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.                                                  

Education/Experience: Bachelor’s Degree (BA, BS, etc.) or equivalent experience and a minimum of 1 – 3 years of fundraising experience in a relevant field or program.

Computer Skills: An individual should be able to work in a computerized environment and have adequate knowledge of word processing, email, internet and spreadsheet software; in particular have coursework or certification in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point and proficiency with all other Microsoft Office products.

Compensation: Annualized at $40,000-$48,200, dependent upon experience and based on labor market.

Click here to apply. Please include your resume, cover letter and three professional references to be considered.

We will review your application and if we feel that your knowledge, skills and abilities are potentially a good match for our organization, we will be in contact with you. Please include a Cover Letter with your submission. Position open until filled. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Food & Water Watch strives for a diverse work environment and encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and individuals with disabilities to apply.

Help us fix our broken systems and stand up against corporate control. Submit your résumé today!

apply

Smithfield Lied to the Public at the Expense of Workers’ Lives, New Lawsuit Alleges

Categories

Food System

Last week, the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch, represented by Public Justice, filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against Smithfield Foods, alleging that the multinational meat processing company repeatedly lied to consumers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so it could protect its bottom line—at the expense of its workers’ lives.

Throughout the pandemic, Smithfield mounted an aggressive public relations campaign based on two claims: that the company was protecting workers at its facilities from COVID-19, and that meat shortages were coming if processing plants were forced to close. Today’s lawsuit alleges that both claims were lies.

“Corporations like Smithfield routinely choose profit over people. The company utterly failed to protect its workers as the coronavirus spread like wildfire throughout its meat processing facilities, and its fearmongering about meat shortages was designed to exploit consumer panic and boost sales. Smithfield put workers’ lives at risk all in the name of corporate greed and turned already notoriously dangerous workplaces into deadly ones,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, the advocacy organization bringing the case on behalf of consumers and the general public.

COVID-19 laid bare the industry’s chronic worker abuse. Throughout the crisis, meatpacking workers, who are mostly people of color, have been experiencing massive COVID-19 outbreaks in their communities. More than 58,000 meatpacking workers have contracted COVID-19, and 293 have died.

“Smithfield led a coordinated campaign to tell consumers it was protecting workers—but in reality, it wasn’t. Smithfield also scared consumers into thinking national meat shortages were near—but that wasn’t true either. District of Columbia consumers have a right to truthful information and they should hold companies accountable when they lie to protect their business and brand— especially when those lies come at the enormous expense of workers’ lives,” said Randy Chen, Staff Attorney at Public Justice, who is part of the legal team in this lawsuit.

To assuage consumer concerns about worker safety, Smithfield said that it was aggressively protecting meatpacking workers. Through advertisements, social media, and website disclosures, the company claimed it was implementing a host of measures to protect workers from COVID-19—including providing personal protective equipment, relaxing leave policies, and partnering with state and local health departments.

In reality, these statements were not true. Workers were in fact gravely endangered, and Smithfield slaughterhouses repeatedly emerged as epicenters for COVID-19 outbreaks. Over 3,200 Smithfield employees have contracted COVID-19. According to both workers and government safety regulators, Smithfield was not providing the safety measures it had promised. Smithfield even undermined the efforts of government officials to protect worker safety by failing to report COVID-19 cases among its workforce and stonewalling efforts to keep workers safe.

In addition, Smithfield stoked consumer fear about an impending national meat shortage. This had the effect of driving up demand for Smithfield’s products, as panicked consumers rushed grocery stores to stockpile meat.

But this too was misleading, because meat shortages were never on the horizon. Quite the opposite: while Smithfield was telling Americans that the sky was falling, it was dramatically increasing its foreign pork exports to record high levels. Billions of pounds of meat were held in freezer warehouses throughout the country – more than enough meat to keep grocery stores stocked for months even if production were to drop off.

A copy of the lawsuit is available here.

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The Public Justice Food Project is the only legal project in the country that is focused solely on dismantling the structures that enable the consolidation of corporate power and extractive practices in our food system and supporting a vision of animal agriculture that is regenerative, humane, and owned by independent farmers.

Food & Water Watch mobilizes people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water and climate problems of our time. We use grassroots organizing, public education, research, policy analysis, and litigation to protect people’s health, communities and democracy from the growing destructive power of powerful economic interests.

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Iowa Supreme Court Rules Against Iowa Citizens in Right to Clean Water Lawsuit

Categories

Food System

For Immediate Release

Des Moines, IA — Today, the Iowa Supreme Court split and ruled 4-3 against the plaintiffs in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch v. State of Iowa regarding a lawsuit against the State of Iowa for failing to protect the public use of the Raccoon River. The lawsuit focuses on a well-known water crisis in Des Moines and Polk County: the polluted Raccoon River.

For years, industrial agriculture within the watershed has contaminated the Raccoon River with toxic levels of nitrates, landing it on this year’s Most Endangered Rivers list. And, this year is the third in a row where the Des Moines area has experienced algae blooms in its waterways due to that unabated runoff. Just this week, the Des Moines Water Works asked residents of the capital city to ration water consumption, given the water crisis.

The lawsuit was filed by Food & Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, who are represented in the action by Food & Water Watch, Public Justice, Roxanne Conlin & Associates, and Channing Dutton, of Lawyer, Lawyer, Dutton & Drake LLP.

Motivated by concern for the Raccoon River, whose watershed provides drinking water to 500,000 Iowans in the greater Des Moines area, the groups sued the State of Iowa in March of 2019 for failing to protect the public’s use of the river. In September 2019, Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson denied the State’s request to dismiss the case. The State appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, and today the Court’s four-Justice majority decided that a favorable decision would not remedy the harm from pollution in the river and that the case raised political questions that the legislature, not the courts, should resolve. As a result, although the Court recognized that the case seeks to address “a real environmental problem,” the lawsuit will not proceed and unabated agricultural water pollution will continue to pollute the Raccoon River.

The groups’ suit relied on the Iowa Constitution and the Public Trust Doctrine, which require the state to protect Iowans’ right to use and enjoy Iowa’s lakes and rivers.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch issued a joint statement:

“Iowans have the right to clean water. According to the Public Trust Doctrine, which has been Iowa law since Iowa became a state, it is the State’s duty to protect that right. The legislature failed to protect Iowans’ right to clean water as provided by the Iowa Constitution. The Iowa Supreme Court has decided that a favorable decision in our case would not remedy the harm from pollution in the Raccoon River and that the lawsuit raised political questions that the legislature, not the courts, should resolve. Until further action is taken, industrial agricultural runoff will continue to pollute the river unimpeded, and Iowans’ right to clean water will remain a right without a remedy. We speak for many people across the state of Iowa when we say that we are deeply disappointed.”

Despite the Court’s split 4-3 decision, Iowa’s water is worth fighting for. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Food & Water Watch, and partners across the state will continue harnessing the grassroots power that brought us here today to seek real, actionable solutions to Iowa’s water crisis.

We are considering all options moving forward, and absolutely believe that all Iowans have a right to clean water — and that the state has a duty to protect that right. The fight for clean water in Iowa is far from over.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]

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New ‘Bipartisan’ Infrastructure Plan is a Privatization-Promoting Disaster

Categories

Clean Water

Media reports indicate that a group of Senators is pushing a bipartisan infrastructure ‘compromise’ that is much smaller than the initial White House proposal. The plan would rely heavily on privatization schemes that will undermine public control and prove to be costly for households and small businesses. 

In response, Food & Water Watch Public Water for All Director Mary Grant released the following statement: 

“This Senate compromise package would pile further burdens on communities struggling to recover from the COVID pandemic. It promotes privatization and so-called ‘public-private partnerships’ instead of making public investments in publicly-owned infrastructure. This package does not provide adequate funding to rebuild and repair our country’s infrastructure; it is nothing more than an outrageously expensive way to borrow funds, with the ultimate bill paid back by households and local businesses in the form of higher rates. 

“Communities across the country have been ripped off by public-private schemes that enrich corporations and Wall Street investors. The most sensible infrastructure solution is to provide robust public funding for publicly-owned projects, which would discourage price-gouging by corporate interests, protect public control over these precious assets, and save everyone money. The most comprehensive funding solution on the table is the WATER Act (HR1352, S916), which would provide $35 billion a year to fully fund the state revolving funds and other programs at the level that is needed.

“This deal is a disaster in the making, and it must be rejected.”

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Ahead of Key Mariner East 2 Pipeline Hearing, New Report Highlights Grave Harms of Natural Gas Liquids Buildout

Categories

Climate and Energy

Chester Co. – Just ahead of a critical state DEP public hearing tonight on a proposed reroute of the disaster-plagued Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline, a new report from the advocacy group Food & Water Watch was released  highlighting the numerous harms and hazards associated with the buildout of the natural gas liquids industry in Pennsylvania and across the country. Many of the hazards detailed in the report have been exemplified in the ill-fated ongoing construction of ME2.

Among the key findings of the report:

  • The natural gas glut is fueling increased NGL exports and more unnecessary petrochemical and plastics facilities;
  • The cheap oversupply of NGLs has led to an infrastructure buildout frenzy, especially in wet gas-rich areas like Pennsylvania and Appalachia;
  • NGLs and NGL infrastructure are notoriously dangerous to public health and safety;
  • Petrochemical plants are disproportionately sited in or near low-income communities and communities of color. 

“The Mariner East 2 pipeline is a prime example of the unacceptable, potentially catastrophic harms that natural gas liquids infrastructure can and often do levy on the frontline communities that are faced with the most direct impacts of this industry. Leaks of natural gas liquids often go undetected because sulfur-based odorants aren’t added to pipelines. This means that extremely flammable natural gas liquids can be exceptionally dangerous and lead to explosions, fire and even death. As our research shows, the hazardous impacts of this industry are not limited to the communities where infrastructure is sited. Natural gas liquids buildout results in petrochemical harms, plastics pollution and fossil fuel-driven climate chaos that impacts the entire world.”

– Alison Grass, research director at Food & Water Watch

The proposal under consideration in the Pennsylvania DEP hearing tonight was made by Sunoco, the pipeline owner, as it seeks to avoid a costly reroute directive made by the DEP. Sonoco was forced to halt construction near Marsh Creek Lake and reroute the pipeline path after a serious spill during construction last August contaminated the lake with thousands of gallons of toxic drilling sludge. Sunoco’s alternative proposal for the required reroute would take the pipeline ever closer to the lake than the original path.

Contact: Seth Gladstone – [email protected]

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Stop Fracked Gas Exports Temporary Organizer

Contact Email: [email protected]

Post Date: 06.16.21

Job Type: Seasonal

Office Location: Work Remotely

Department: Organizing

Job Description: 

The Stop Fracked Gas Exports Campaign Organizer will report to the NJ State Director and will work with other national organizing staff, regional field staff, and policy/research staff to support FWW’s campaign to stop a proposed LNG Export terminal on the Delaware River. The person in this role will be expected to engage in some in-person events in Southern New Jersey.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Work with our NJ organizing team to organize a public education and outreach campaign in the communities near Gibbstown and directly along the most likely LNG transport routes through South Jersey.
  • Organize impacted residents in Gloucester, Camden, Burlington and Mercer Counties to lobby their elected officials, with a goal of passing at least 12 municipal resolutions in opposition to the Gibbstown Logistics Center and LNG transports.
  • Work with our NJ organizing team to earn public statements of opposition to the project from at least five state legislators.
  • Organize directly impacted residents and activists to “bird-dog” the Governor at high profile public campaign events, applying increased pressure and earning media coverage to hold the Governor accountable to stop the project.
  • Work with our NJ organizing team to hold at least one large public education event serving at least 100 directly impacted residents in Gibbstown and along the transport route.
  • Speak at public events, forums, and other venues, and serves as a representative of Food & Water Action/Watch to the public and the media.
  • Build the capacity and leadership of volunteers and allied grassroots organizations by offering training and organizing support.
  • Maintain familiarity with this issue, and FWW’s suite of digital organizing tools, including the database.
  • Respond to information and support requests from activists, coalition members, and media.
  • Participate and/or develop non-partisan electoral strategies and tactics for either/both Food and Water Watch (c3) and Food and Water Action (c4).
  • Participate in membership recruitment and fundraising for Food & Water Action/Watch.
  • Support Our Culture of Philanthropy: Demonstrate an understanding of the essential role of our members and supporters, and consistently serve as an ambassador for FWW/FWA and our work. Participate in or attend events and other activities as appropriate that are organized for our supporters and donors. Be cognizant of fundraising opportunities and share contacts and information that will help build and sustain FWW/FWA.
  • Carry out other projects as assigned.

To perform this job successfully, the person in this position is expected to have a complete understanding of FWW’s Strategic Organizing model, FWW’s policy positions and legislative goals, and an ability to balance multiple strategic priorities simultaneously. The Stop Fracked Gas Exports Campaign Organizer will be expected to work closely with volunteers and allied organizations to ensure campaigns are moving forward to achieve programmatic goals.                                                                   

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.                                                                                            

Education/Experience: Bachelor’s Degree or combination of relevant education and experience. One or more years of full-time experience organizing at FWW or elsewhere. Experience leading a successful organizing campaign. Clear demonstration of ability to develop effective organizing strategies and guiding others to develop effective organizing strategies.

Computer Skills: An individual should be able to work in a computerized environment and have adequate knowledge of word processing, email, internet and spreadsheet software; in particular have coursework or certification in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point and proficiency with all other Microsoft Office products.

Compensation: Annualized at $40,000-$42,500, dependent upon experience and based on labor market.

Click here to apply. Please include your resume, cover letter and three professional references to be considered.

We will review your application and if we feel that your knowledge, skills and abilities are potentially a good match for our organization, we will be in contact with you. Please include a Cover Letter with your submission. Position open until filled. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Food & Water Watch strives for a diverse work environment and encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and individuals with disabilities to apply.

Help us fix our broken systems and stand up against corporate control. Submit your résumé today!

apply

Oil and Gas Industry Used 3 Billion Gallons of Water That Could Have Supplied California Households During Newsom’s Term

Categories

Climate and Energy

For Immediate Release

Sacramento, CA — After examining the use of water by the oil and gas industry during Gavin Newsom’s tenure as governor, Food & Water Watch research has found that on Newsom’s watch the industry used more than 3 billion gallons of freshwater for drilling operations that could have been diverted for household use. 

“Fossil fuel extraction not only hastens climate change and endangers the lives of frontline communities,” said Alexandra Nagy, director of Food & Water Watch’s California campaigns. “It also takes water from Californians struggling through one of the hottest and driest droughts on record. Regions like the San Joaquin Valley are bracing for a dry summer that will leave many without drinking water, a devastating prospect for a predominantly rural, Latinx region already suffering from decades of pollution from factory farms. Based on the recommendations provided by the state to Californians for water usage in a drought, the freshwater used by the oil and gas industry during Newsom’s term could have provided everyone in Ventura with more than a year’s worth of water.”

Some oil and gas companies routinely inject drilling wastewater into freshwater aquifers, rendering their water supply undrinkable. One study estimated that groundwater in the Central Valley Aquifer has the potential to decrease by 21 trillion gallons in the next 30 years without significant management and policy changes. Governor Newsom has set the date for phasing out oil drilling in 2045. The research also notes that as greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel extraction rise and fuel climate change, California will continue to see drier droughts and more widespread wildfires. Should the average temperature increase by 1 degree Fahrenheit, water supplies from the State Water and Central Valley Projects are expected to decrease by 4%. 

“This is not a problem to be solved decades from now,” Nagy added. “20 years is too late for the communities on the frontlines going thirsty because the fossil fuel industry is sucking up their freshwater and leaving polluted aquifers in its wake. Governor Newsom must end all fossil fuel extraction not only for the sake of our climate, but also for the sake of Californians who depend on water resources that are already dwindling. Our state will burn and our rivers and aquifers will dry up unless Gov. Newsom displays the climate leadership he has long claimed to prioritize: ban oil drilling and all fossil fuel extraction now.”

Contact: Jessica Gable, [email protected], (202) 683-2478

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Washington, DC

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Unbelievable: We Subsidize The Very Fossil Fuels That Are Ruining Our Planet

Categories

Climate and Energy

by Mark Schlosberg

As climate change accelerates, the science is clear that we need to move off fossil fuels in the next decade if we hope to avoid runaway climate chaos. It is critical that Congress pass a robust infrastructure package that invests in renewable energy, but in order to facilitate a rapid transition off oil, gas, and coal, the package must also include provisions that halt current massive subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. We simply cannot afford to keep subsidizing an industry that is poisoning our climate and communities — congress must pass the End Polluter Welfare Act either as a stand alone measure or as part of Biden’s infrastructure package.

Handouts Help Fossil Fuel Corporations Expand Their Footprint

The federal government currently provides about  $15 billion in direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry each year in the form of tax breaks, loans and loan guarantees, research and development and aid for dirty energy projects abroad.  These corporate handouts are driving an unprecedented expansion of U.S. fossil fuel development – over the next 10 years, the U.S. is on track to account for 60 percent of global growth in oil and gas production — and every dollar the federal government spends to support dirty energy makes it more difficult to achieve the 100% renewable energy future we need to avoid climate chaos. 

Some examples of the special tax breaks that oil and gas companies receive include:

  • Deduction of costs for new drilling: Oil and gas companies can deduct the majority of costs associated with drilling new wells. Eliminating this tax break would save $13.3 billion over 10 years
  • Deduction of royalties paid as foreign tax:  U.S. companies that pay royalties for leases abroad are allowed to deduct that cost as a foreign tax. In 2009 Exxon Mobil paid zero federal income taxes, in large part by taking advantage of this tax break. 
  • Percentage depletion: Companies are typically allowed to deduct depreciation of certain assets over time, but fossil fuel companies are able to deduct a set percentage from their taxable income that is not related to the capital costs. This can allow deductions that exceed the total capital costs. Eliminating percentage depletion would secure $12.9 billion over a 10 year period. 

Our Tax Dollars Fund Loans For Their Research Into Perpetuating Dirty Energy

In addition these fossil fuel corporations also receive assistance and support for research, development and deployment of their projects through the Department of Energy, including $8 billion in loans for fossil fuel projects to avoid the release of or to sequester carbon and $2.66 billion for research and development projects between 2001 – 2017, 91% of which went to coal projects. 

As a candidate, President Biden promised to end subsidies for the fossil fuel industry and recently the American Petroleum Institute testified that fossil fuel corporations wanted to be treated like any other industry. It’s time for Congress to do just that and end special subsidies, both direct and indirect, for fossil fuels. Congress can fulfill this promise by passing the End Polluter Welfare Act. 

More people need to know about this.

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