Advancement Associate, St. James School

Posted by St. James School on July 10, 2017

Founded in 2011, St. James School is a unique faith-based middle school in the Episcopal tradition, serving under-resourced students from the Allegheny-West neighborhood of North Philadelphia. The school serves students and families who are most in need, providing a full scholarship to every student. Students benefit from small class sizes, an extended day, robust art and music programs, extensive social-emotional support, and a comprehensive High School Placement and Graduate Support Program.

Position Purpose:
The Advancement Associate is a crucial member of the school’s busy advancement team, which is embarking on a multi-million dollar campaign focused on capital and endowment this fall, in addition to raising over $2 million for our operating budget annually. Reporting to the Director of Advancement, the Advancement Associate will work closely with the rest of the Advancement Office (Advancement Manager, part-time Database Assistant, and part-time Grant Writer), as well as the Head of School, the Director of Marketing and the Board of Directors, to help implement the school’s Advancement Plan; assisting in securing necessary funding for operations/ special projects; and providing administrative and day-to-day support for the office.

The successful candidate will be extraordinarily detail-oriented, obsessively organized, and analytical. He/she should enjoy researching and finding connections between funders, managing and making sense of complicated data, finding patterns, and thrive on developing new solutions to ensure we are doing the best job possible using our database to store donor information and communicate with our stakeholders. Excel wizards, please apply

Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with Advancement Team to develop and implement strategies for donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship (including: corporations, foundations, churches, and individuals).
• Conducts prospect research; shares key findings with team; assists in developing strategy for donor outreach.
• Serves as first-point-of-contact for donor customer service.
• Works with Business Manager to ensure all revenue is accurately recorded; prepares reports twice per week of all donations to prepare for bank deposits.
• Serves leadership role during annual audit; ensuring auditors receive all requested details and reports related to revenue
• Inputs all cash, in-kind, and other types of gifts into database (GiftWorks)
• Records contact information, notes, and other important details for donors, volunteers, prospects and others in database
• Ensures the accuracy of all information maintained in database
• Researches, coordinates and recommends changes to database software or set-up
• Serves as office manager of Advancement Office, ensuring office is properly stocked with supplies and needed materials. Maintains all Advancement Office electronic and paper files.
• Recruits, trains, and supervises Advancement Office volunteers to assist with mailings and other relevant projects
• Trains and supervises student ambassadors with tasks like thank you letters and calls to donors
• Maintains up-to-date, accurate email subscriber lists
• Collaborates with Director of Advancement on donor communications, especially thank you letters
• Ensures all donors are thanked appropriately and in a timely way (Goal: 3 business days max).
• Manages donor mailings, including assembling contact lists
• Assists in organizing and executing fundraising events, including collaborating with volunteer committees and vendors, assembling invitation and guest lists, and providing day-of support
• Acts as an ambassador for the school, giving tours and providing information to prospective and current volunteers and donors
• Attends and serves on Advancement Committee and event committees
• Works with Director of Marketing, Advertising and Design to customize materials for prospects and donors
• Works with Advancement Director to ensure donors of all levels receive recognition throughout the year – ex: thank you phone calls, mailings, gifts, etc.
• Provides assistance with student programming/ school operations as needed (ex: lunch duty, assist in the planning of schoolwide non-fundraising events, etc.).
• Based on the candidate’s interest and experience, responsibilities may also include:
• Analyzing and compiling metrics related to student achievement to present to donors
• Managing social media presence
• Writing articles about St. James programs/events for the website
• Taking a leadership role in the launch of a new giving society focused on young professionals
• Other Duties as Assigned

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• 2 or more years of relevant professional experience – non-profit, education, or faith-based organization experience is especially helpful
• At least 1 year of experience working with a CRM database (ex: GiftWorks, Raiser’s Edge, SalesForce, etc.)
• Extraordinary organizational skills
• Eagle eye for detail
• Strong technology skills, proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
• Passion for the St. James School mission
• Strong customer service skills, an ability to be donor-centered
• Ability to prioritize many competing tasks, develop efficient systems for follow-up
• Ability to communicate and interact effectively with multiple constituencies
• Strong work ethic
• Ability to work occasional nights and weekends
• Excellent written, communication and presentation skills
• Initiative, tenacity, and reliability
• Enthusiasm and a sense of humor
• Knowledge of the Episcopal Church is a plus
• Candidates of color are especially encouraged to apply

HOW TO APPLY

amccole@stjamesphila.org

To apply, please submit a resume, thoughtful cover letter and salary requirements via email with the subject line “Advancement Associate” to Angela McCole, Director of Advancement: amccole@stjamesphila.org.

https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit-job/a7145a74d210463ab192459be4620626-advancement-associate-st-james-school-philadelphia-philadelphia