Development Associate

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is one of the leading national civil rights legal organizations, with the principal mission of fighting racial discrimination faced by African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. The Lawyers’ Committee was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity – work that continues to be vital today.

The Lawyers’ Committee seeks a dedicated and highly-motivated Development Associate to help support the Development Department. The Development Associate will work closely with Development, Project and Accounting staff to offer administrative support. The Development Associate handles a variety of tasks related to institutional, corporate and individual giving, including foundation prospect research, drafting donor-centered communications and administrative support. Additionally, this position holds the primary responsibility for the administration and use of the organization’s donor database, accurately recording gift transactions, continuously expanding and improving constituent data. The Development Associate generates gift acknowledgments, appeal lists and campaign reports and performs other functions in support of Development operations.

This is a full-time position based in Washington, DC. The Development Associate will work under the supervision of the Director of Development.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

Fundraising

·      Manipulate constituent data to produce segmented recipient lists for targeted solicitations;

·      Proactively mine donor data and keep current with emerging trends;

·      Work with the Development Team to seek creative connections between our programs, staff and events to engage prospects and donors; and

·      Demonstrate customer-focused orientation by anticipating and exceeding the needs of our individual donors, Board members and external constituents. 

Database Administration

·      Oversee the daily operation of a relational development database, including recording gift transactions;

·      Continuously support revenue generation through, data cleansing, querying/reporting, list management and analysis; and

·      Ensure the accuracy and integrity of gift and constituent data and reporting; Output includes generating gift receipts, campaign reporting and financial reporting.

Gift and Donor Data Entry

·      Record revenue received from various sources including online and offline credit card transactions, gifts of stock, wire transfers and checks received in-house;

·      Generate and distribute gift summary reports;

·      Prepare timely and accurate gift acknowledgments;

·      Process changes of address and researches bad addresses and other updates to constituent records;

·      Conduct biographical, financial and philanthropic research on individuals and/or institutional prospects and donors; and

·      Assist in other Development initiatives and activities: including annual Gala and special events, Foundation, Major Gifts, Firm/Corporate, Direct Marketing and other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements and Competencies:

• Deep commitment to the advancement of racial justice and civil rights;
• Preference will be given to applicants with Development experience, such as knowledge of fundraising principles and basic gift accounting practices and proficiency with Raiser's Edge or comparable relational donor database with an aptitude for using information systems in support of development operations;
• A Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education, training and experience from which comparable skills can be acquired;
• Discretion with sensitive, confidential and proprietary information;
• Accuracy and attention to detail in written work and during data entry;
• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Power-Point, Access and especially Excel) to produce reports and correspondence for stakeholders;
• Strong organizational, analytical and planning skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks and competing deadlines; and
• Must be able to work occasional special events as needed, and additional hours during peak times as required.