Advancement Specialist (Membership)

Come join a dedicated and creative team at an exceptional time for the Smithsonian, an institution with a bold vision for the future: to build a better tomorrow for all. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and the institution’s leadership are launching a campaign to support this vision. The Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future will secure funds for all Smithsonian museums and centers as the institution reimagines its mission to find solutions for collective challenges in a rapidly changing world. The campaign will provide a foundation for critical research to ensure people and nature thrive together, build unparalleled education programs with families and partners, collect the world’s most precious objects, document the present while reflecting on the past, and reimagine the visitor experience both in-person and online. We are bringing the Smithsonian off the National Mall and across the country through dynamic programming and affiliate partnerships, creating access for all. The Smithsonian is also developing two new museums—the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum. These museums will share the experiences and perspectives of Latinos and women across history and deepen our shared understanding of what it means to be American.

The National Portrait Gallery was authorized and founded by Congress in 1962 with the mission to acquire and display portraits of "men and women who have made significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the people of the United States." Today, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery attracts over 2 million visitors onsite and 4 million online and continues to narrate the multi-faceted and ever-changing story of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts, and new media, the Portrait Gallery presents poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives form our national identity.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) seeks an enthusiastic and detail-focused Advancement Specialist to provide support to the Advancement team and assist and coordinate all aspects of NPG donor relations, communication, and events and major gifts stewardship including:

• Plans, manages and executes special events for donor stewardship and cultivation
• Coordinates and attends meetings associated with events, coordinating directly with vendors and donors up until the conclusion of events.
• Prepares correspondence, reports and materials needed for donor engagement, solicitation and stewardship in consultation with supervisor.
• Assists with annual giving program to prepare donor communications including solicitations, renewals, and acknowledgements; tracks and reports on annual giving; manages direct mail appeals; create compelling marketing materials and coordinates membership events.
• Contributes to development of metrics and other measurements to evaluate success of advancement efforts by tracking and evaluating data, and preparing analysis that require graphs and charts for use.
• Manages, prepares and tracks approval of gift agreements and other gift-related documentation; composes correspondence and reports for stewardship of major donors.
• Knowledge of fundraising strategies, principles and techniques for promoting the organization’s programs and developing prospects into donors.
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with people having different interests.
• Skill in gathering, evaluating, and interpreting complex fundraising data.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants, who wish to qualify based on education completed outside the United States, must be deemed equivalent to higher education programs of U.S. Institutions by an organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. This documentation is the responsibility of the applicant and should be included as part of your application package.

Any false statement in your application may result in rejection of your application and may also result in termination after employment begins.