Tails is hiring a Fundraising Lead

Tails, a portable operating system that protects against surveillance and censorship, is looking for a Fundraising Lead to help us develop and grow our fundraising initiatives.

We are looking for a gifted communicator who can tell the story of Tails to a wide variety of current and future donors. You'll take the lead on all fundraising efforts from strategy through to execution, and play a key role in ensuring the financial health and sustainability of the project. This role will work closely with our core teams to connect our technical and product strategy to funding opportunities.

We already have experience raising a yearly budget of around $400k from small donors, public grants, and private foundations. But our team is growing and we are creating a new role to make this growth sustainable. You will have the autonomy to further develop and rethink in depth how Tails funds its work.

About Tails

Tails is made by the Tor Project.

The mission of Tails is to empower people worldwide by giving out an operating system that protects from surveillance and censorship.

About this position

You will be part of the Fundraising team and work with 3 other Tails workers who have covered our fundraising work until now. We want you to take over most of their work within 12 months. You will be responsible to self-organize your work and time with the project's priorities in mind.

You will also be part of the Tails Board. The Board is in charge of maintaining not only an operating system but also the good health of the project as a whole. Together, we continuously discuss and improve organizational and strategic aspects of the project.

Key responsibilities

Funding strategy and infrastructure:

Develop and execute on annual fundraising plans that support Tails' strategic plan and goals.
Research and pursue funding opportunities that map to our roadmaps and project ideas.
Track and report on data for fundraising and grants, work with our Accounting team to produce budgets and revenue forecasting.
Improve our fundraising infrastructure, toolchain, and processes.

Right now our setup is pretty basic, for example, we don't have a CRM.

Grants writing and management:

Take the lead on writing grant proposals in coordination with relevant internal stakeholders and manage the submission process.

We applied successfully to grants upto to $200k, but feel the need to target bigger public grants.
Be the point of contact with funders for ongoing grants, manage the reporting calendar and paperwork, and collaborate with internal teams to prepare reports.

Donor relationship management:

Recruit, cultivate, and steward both small and major donors.

We already have a list of past donors, but we don't have a good donor recognition and stewardship program or real experience with major donors.
Act as the lead on all donation campaigns.

We have been doing end-of-year fundraisers since 2017, but thought about doing other crowfunding campaigns for specific features.
Own direct communication with donors, be comfortable talking to donors from a variety of backgrounds and contexts, online and in person.
Attend, and maybe organize, public and private events on behalf of Tails.
Maintain and administer our donor database.

Qualifications

If you are part of a group that is under-represented in tech, we particularly encourage you to apply. We acknowledge that our community is not as diverse and equitable as we would like it to be. We understand that we are part of the problem. We want the Tails project to become more equitable.
You can commit 15–25 hours per week on a long-term basis. The exact scope of your responsibilities will depend on how much you work within this range.
Experience fundraising and grant writing in a nonprofit setting.
Experience with setting strategic funding targets and developing plans for execution.
Proven success in donor relationship management.
Experience participating in groups that value transparency, autonomy, and horizontal decision-making.
Solid understanding of basic fundraising principles.
Good verbal and written communication skills in English.
Self-organized, systematic, able to set priorities and manage timelines.
Conceptual understanding of software development work.
Enthusiastic about our mission and values, motivated by social impact.
Some experience working fully remote, primarily with asynchronous communication.
You can work comfortably at least 3 hours during the peak of Tails activities: between 10:00 and 17:00 CEST/CET.

Compensation and benefits

Pay scale is 30–70 k€ per year for 15–25 hours a week, including medical coverage.

The exact number depends solely on:

How much time you work
Your tax situation
Cost of medical coverage

On top of this, Tails pays for:

Exceptional health expenses not covered by your policy
Computer equipment
Travel expenses to work events

How to apply

Send an email to fundraising@tails.net.

Include as much of the following information as you want. All items are optional:

CV

Feel free to share anything about your identity that will help us constructively consider your application. Legal name, gender, or photo are optional.
Cover letter
- Explain us why you would like to work at Tails. We are particularly curious why online privacy is important to you.
- Links to other contributions to free software, GitHub, or GitLab accounts
- Links to your personal website, portfolio, or sample work
- Your stories about participating in groups that value transparency, autonomy, and horizontal decision-making. What is/has been your role in such groups?
References