The Friends Committee on National Legislation seeks a creative, self-starter with 3 to 5 years of experience either in development or grassroots advocacy to identify, cultivate, track and grow our network of individual grasstops and grassroots volunteer advocates who are building personal relationships with members of Congress and senior Hill staff.

The Grasstops Advocacy Manager will be a central contact point to help FCNL strategically grow our grasstops work at FCNL by identifying, cultivating, and activating individual volunteers who have or can develop strong, personal relationships with members of Congress. This manager will also help staff identify other individuals in particular districts and states who could be willing to advocate beyond email on short term lobbying priorities. The Grasstops Advocacy Manager position requires an individual who is outgoing, persistent, personable, organized, and determined.

The candidate must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, be extremely well organized, comfortable making cold-calls, and able to manage-up. This position will include significant time working with very busy individuals who need clear, short, efficient communications in order to engage.

The successful candidate will be someone who has experience developing advocacy strategies and is able to clearly articulate goals and the impact of a grasstop contacting a member of Congress. The manager must be someone who is careful about the context in which different individuals work, good at listening and adapting their work, and strategic in the use of their time and the time of others. This position reports to the Associate General Secretary for Strategic Advocacy.

The Organization

FCNL lobbies from a basis of spiritual and ethical purpose and seeks to change government policy and practice for the better. We play a key role in lobbying initiatives on Capitol Hill that focus on social and economic justice, peace, stewardship of the environment, and good government. FCNL’s team of lobbyists have extensive connections and conduct focused legislative campaigns on the following priorities: peacebuilding, nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation; curtailing endless war; criminal justice sentencing reform, immigration reform, refugees, solutions to climate change, gun violence prevention, economic justice and Native American issues.

Our dedicated grassroots network brings constituent perspectives into congressional offices—both here in Washington at two major lobbying events each year and in local district offices throughout the year. We inform and educate our network through our newsletter and collateral materials and activate our grassroots network through a robust web site, email, and social media outreach.

Our national network includes people from many different faiths and backgrounds who are activists and donors. We are dedicated to growing the network with particular emphasis on effective relationship-building as a path to policy change. In the past 3 years, we’ve increased the number of in-person lobby visits from our constituents by 50%. Headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, FCNL is governed by a General Committee of 190 Quakers from across the country and employs a staff of 48, including 20 registered lobbyists.

FCNL has brought Quaker values to bear on national policy throughout our 78-year history through congressional testimony, Capitol Hill visits, grassroots lobbying, and educational initiatives. Our strategic direction in the coming years is to create a bigger presence for FCNL—through media and marketing, as well as through our vibrant network of activists.

Key Priorities & Responsibilities

• Manage and grow FCNL’s network of grasstops volunteer lobbyists around the country;
• Identify potential grasstops volunteer advocates in key congressional districts, cultivate these individuals to make a lobbying ask with a member of Congress for FCNL and develop a system to steward these individuals so that they continue to work to advance FCNL’s lobbying goals;
• Manage a portfolio of Grasstop Advocates, ensuring that they are maintaining regular contact with FCNL and with members of Congress;
• Draft briefing memos, correspondence, and edit written media for grasstops advocates and Senior Leadership staff who interface with grasstops
• Work with Development Team to identify and steward grasstops involvement from FCNL major donors
• Cultivate individuals in key states and districts who could become grasstops volunteer lobbyists both directly and by pursuing leads from FCNL’s strategic advocacy, communications, development, and lobbying teams as well as from major FCNL events such as Spring Lobby Weekend and Annual Meeting;
• Track FCNL grasstops activity in Quorum and Raiser’s Edge, and provide regular reporting to senior staff within the organization;
• Support FCNL senior leadership to maintain relationships with key grasstops contacts, track those relationships, and provide timely support for follow-up, including draft emails, briefing sheets, and scheduling of contacts;
• Develop a transparent system that allows FCNL staff to easily identify where FCNL has grasstops volunteer lobbyists and a process for ensuring that decisions about priorities for advocacy are quickly made;
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Familiarity and comfortability working in interfaith settings, working and writing for faith voices
• A strong writer who can quickly synthesize complex information and boil it down to 2 or 3 paragraphs; Ability to work with a team remotely and provide timely, accurate reports;
• A detail-oriented person who has three or more years of experience either with data systems to track major gift donors or with systems to organize individuals around the country for advocacy;
• Experience building relationships with advocates for a non-profit organization;
• Ability to work well with people at all levels of the organization and with individual volunteers around the country;
• Demonstrated ability to work independently;
• Self-starter, who is great on the phone, willing to make cold calls, and has an appreciation for clear communication for busy people;
• Agreement with FCNL’s policy positions and understanding of a faith-based perspective toward lobbying.

Benefits

Salary starts at $65,000 and is negotiable based on skills and experience, and in relation to other similarly sized non-profits in the Washington, D.C. market. Robust benefits package includes health, dental, vision, life, short- and long-term disability, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, generous retirement plan contribution, paid time off plus holidays, parental leave, and more.

This position can either be in the office or 100% remote. There is a strong preference for someone who is based in Washington, D.C. or has significant experience in the federal advocacy world. The employee will work with the supervisor to determine the in-office or telework arrangement. There may be times when the employee is required to come into the office for meetings, events or to complete special projects. When conditions permit, some travel within the United States will be required

FCNL is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability status, genetic information, military service, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.