Development Coordinator

Children’s Rights is seeking a full-time Development Coordinator with a start date in the summer of 2026.

Children’s Rights is a 30+-year-old national nonprofit organization based in New York City that uses civil rights impact litigation, policy expertise, and public education to hold governments accountable for keeping all kids safe and healthy. Our work addresses a range of historical and emerging social justice issues impacting children. Recent legal and advocacy campaigns have targeted the unnecessary placement of youth in dangerous congregate care facilities, the lack of mental health services for Medicaid-eligible children, the unjust treatment of immigrant children and families held in federal custody, the pervasive practice of administering powerful and dangerous psychotropic drugs to children in the foster system without adequate oversight, the unnecessary and devastating separation of Black children from their families, systemic discrimination against LGBTQ youth in custodial settings, and the grave outcomes for older youth “aging” out of systems.

The Development team helps fuel Children’s Rights’ mission by securing the resources needed to advance our advocacy on behalf of children and families. Through support from individual donors, foundations, and the organization’s annual Benefit, the team raises critical funding to sustain and grow our impact. The Development Coordinator plays an integral role across all areas of fundraising, helping to manage donor engagement and stewardship, foundation research and grant writing, special events, and day-to-day development operations.

Duties/Responsibilities:

Prospect Research & Development

• Conduct research to identify, cultivate, and evaluate fundraising prospects, including individual donors and foundations.
• Research foundations, including family foundations and community foundations, to assess alignment, funding opportunities, and application requirements.
• Produce clear and well-documented summaries of research findings and prospect analysis.

Donor Cultivation, Stewardship & Engagement

• Manage a portfolio of direct response, mid-level, and emerging donors to cultivate and sustain long-term relationships.
• Engage donors through cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation activities that strengthen engagement and retention.
• Support personalized outreach to donors, including appreciation communications and impact updates to direct response, mid-level, and monthly supporters.
• Make funding requests to prospects and donors as appropriate.

Communications & Grant Support

• Draft external communications, including email solicitations and donor-facing messaging.
• Draft smaller grant proposals and applications and support larger proposals in collaboration with the lead grant writer and program staff.
• Attend meetings with Advocacy and program staff to deepen understanding of programmatic work and strengthen the translation of impact into grant proposals and donor communications.
• Ability to learn, understand, and clearly communicate complex systemic issues in a variety of formats tailored to different funders and audiences.

Fundraising Campaigns & Events

• Coordinate fundraising campaigns, including donor appeals, board outreach initiatives, and gala and special event appeals.
• Manage invitation lists, outreach tracking systems, and donor follow-up processes.
• Support sponsorship relationships, including donor engagement and tracking sponsorship for the Benefit event.
• Coordinate logistics for cultivation activities and special events, both in-person and virtual.
• Oversee event materials, creative deliverables, and related planning needs.

Development Operations & Systems

• Provide in-office support for development mailings, administrative tasks, and event preparation.
• Maintain and update internal fundraising records, ensuring data accuracy and integrity.
• Track development team outreach and pipeline activity, including donor follow-up and engagement, to support fundraising strategy and reporting.
• Coordinate with external vendors to ensure completion of nonprofit state registration filings.
• Collaborate closely with colleagues across the development team and the broader organization to support overall departmental priorities.

Experience and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience and 2 to 4 years’ experience in fundraising.
• Experience with prospect research tools and fundraising databases is preferred, i.e., Raiser’s Edge or similar CRM, iWave, Kindsight.
• Proficiency with standard business software, including Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel).
• Must be able to work occasional special events (including evenings) as needed and additional hours during peak times as required.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, adaptable, and committed to excellence. They will thrive in a collaborative, mission-centered culture, bringing a strong belief in the work of Children’s Rights and a passion for advancing it through fundraising. The successful candidate will need to be an effective communicator, able to manage multiple priorities, and embrace new challenges.

The Development Coordinator will report to the Chief Development Officer and will work in partnership with their colleagues in development, the Executive Director, the communications team, and the program staff.

Salary/Benefits: The annual salary range is $66,300 to $75,000, commensurate with experience. Children’s Rights offers an excellent benefits package, including generous PTO, medical, dental, flex spending accounts, and a 401(k) retirement plan.

Physical and Travel Requirements: Prolonged periods remaining stationary at a desk and working on a computer. Occasional travel for coalition meetings and events may be required.

Location: Hybrid work environment. Children’s Rights is based in New York City, and the candidate must be in the office two days per week, with occasional additional days as needed for events and fundraising campaigns.

How to Apply

The preferred application deadline is July 3, 2026; however, the position will remain open until filled with the ideal candidate. Please submit your cover letter of interest, resume, and one writing sample via https://childrensrights.bamboohr.com/careers/104?source=aWQ9Ng%3D%3D. Candidates whose applications advance to the final stages should also be prepared to complete an on-site writing exercise.

Due to the high volume of submissions, only applicants of interest will be contacted. No phone calls, please.

Children’s Rights is an equal employment opportunity employer, and women, people of color, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities, and people with unique lived experience or diverse professional or personal backgrounds and perspectives, are encouraged to apply.

Children’s Rights offers an excellent benefits package, including generous PTO, medical, dental, flex spending accounts, and a 401(k) retirement plan.