Donor Engagement Coordinator

Organization Overview

As America approaches its 250th birthday, growing polarization threatens our national unity, democracy, and security. We can’t afford to wait—we must address this divisiveness now. To chart a peaceful path forward, we need citizens who are well-informed, productively engaged, and committed to democracy. Today’s 14-24-year-olds urgently need the civic knowledge and skills to solve the complex challenges our country faces. Yet, the institutions where they learn, work, and live are not fully equipped to provide them with the tools they need to become effective, collaborative citizens.

The mission of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars (“Citizens & Scholars”) is to cultivate talent, ideas, and networks that develop young people as effective, lifelong citizens. Our vision is a strong American democracy and a flourishing civil society where all people can thrive. We collaborate with leaders in higher education, business, and philanthropy to transform colleges, workplaces, and communities into hubs for civic development. In each of these spaces, we develop and implement programs that equip young people with the civic skills needed to address the divisive issues facing our country. Our offerings include co-designed programs, digital products, convenings, trainings, fellowships, and coalition networks – all with clear success metrics to measure real progress.

For the past 80 years, Citizens & Scholars has prepared leaders and engaged networks of people and organizations to meet urgent education challenges, helping to shape an informed, productively engaged, and committed citizenry. Formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, we have forged stronger connections between K–12 and higher education and provided early funding for the work of 16 Nobel Laureates, 21 Pulitzer Prize winners, 27 Presidential and National Medalists, 44 MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipients, and more than 100 college presidents.

Today, under the leadership of its President, Rajiv Vinnakota, Citizens & Scholars is uniting the organization's legacy with a commitment to launch new civic learning ventures in and beyond education, building unlikely alliances to reimagine and recenter citizen development for young people.

Position Overview

The Donor Engagement Coordinator will support the development department’s efforts to steward, inform, and inspire the organization’s philanthropic contributors, ensuring that these individuals and institutions understand the meaningful impact of their charitable giving to Citizens & Scholars and how private support allows us to carry out our mission and work.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, this individual will be a trusted and essential colleague on the Development team with strong knowledge of the organization’s programs and activities and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with both annual and major donors. The ideal candidate will possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the ability to interact successfully across the organization’s team and projects with a wide variety of stakeholders, helping to nurture some of Citizens & Scholars’ most important relationships.

This role, like all roles at Citizens & Scholars, is based out of our Princeton, NJ headquarters, and will require occasional visits to the Princeton office. However, most time will be spent working remotely, and the ideal candidate will be a self-starter who is comfortable working in a remote work environment.

Essence of the Position

• Cultivate and Nurture Relationships: The successful candidate will understand the importance of a relationship-based approach to nonprofit fundraising, working in close partnership with the Chief Development Officer and Development team to ensure that all contributors feel valued and understand the impact of their giving. Your success will flow from your ability to understand the organization’s programs and initiatives and convey the impact of philanthropic contributions to our supporters.
• Brand Ambassador: The successful candidate will produce materials and communications to help create the best possible giving experience for our financial supporters. As you become more knowledgeable about our projects and initiatives, you’ll develop a valuable perspective on how external stakeholders think about us, what value they attach to our brand, and what their greatest interests are. This, in turn, will help you communicate effectively about our work.

Primary Responsibilities

• Track and develop key grant and stewardship reports for the organization’s major supporters, working closely with both major gift and program officers to gather appropriate source documents, write initial drafts, and submit reports according to agreed-upon timelines.
• Working in close partnership with the Chief Development Officer and the Communications team, maintain and grow a robust donor stewardship program, including the creation of key donor communications, such as newsletters; the coordination of regular calls and handwritten notes to contributors; and the drafting and updating of the organization’s gift acknowledgement letters, including new, customized templates.
• In coordination with the Communications team, plan and produce compelling video content for use in fundraising work, including customized donor stewardship and institutional storytelling pieces.
• Support an evolving, tailored special events strategy, including intimate “Salon” dinners for early stage giving prospects, donor webinars, and virtual events; develop and design visually compelling invitation strategies; serve as a primary point of contact for prospective guests; and conduct event follow-up as needed.
• Using the department’s constituent relationship management (CRM) software system, proactively create, manage, and track activity with major contributors, including but not limited to reporting deadlines, action steps, relationships, and other key information.
• Design and execute regular donor surveys and other forms of impact reporting to ensure that all financial supporters are provided with opportunities to stay informed of and involved with the organization’s work.
• Serve as a highly active partner to the Development team, providing support, advice, and expertise that enables the team to achieve its goals in a highly collaborative environment.
• Contribute to the development and consistent use of fundraising systems and policies, aligned with established best practices in the field.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree is required.
• A minimum of five years of experience working in a nonprofit fund development setting, or commensurate experience, is required.
• Superior written communication skills and the ability to compellingly articulate what is inspiring about our work and why it is critical to an effective, working democracy.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and strong at prioritization and time management. Proven ability to multi-task in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial setting.
• Technological proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and new media. Experience using Raiser's Edge and/or other fundraising software is preferred.
• Ability to travel to Princeton, NJ between two and four times annually.

Attributes

• Mission-oriented and outcomes-driven. You are committed to and hold a strong belief in the mission of Citizens & Scholars. You know that the future of the organization relies on your achieving your goals. This responsibility excites you.
• Strong task management and execution skills. You are strategic, thoughtful, and resourceful. You collaborate with colleagues to advance stakeholder relationships to maximize the benefit to the organization and the individual. You share information, coordinate effectively, and carry out responsibilities effectively and efficiently.
• Highly relationship oriented. You support relationships across all levels of the organization and with a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
• Judgment. You can make decisions with the data available; you are also able to understand when it is necessary to have help or insights in advance of making a decision.
• Strong communicator. You possess exceptional written communication skills. You write clearly and succinctly and easily adjust to different communication settings and styles.

Our Core Values

• We are constantly learning and improving. We test and refine new ideas and learn from our mistakes. We dare to question old solutions. We seek opportunities to collaborate with our diverse team; different backgrounds, skill sets, and thinking styles give us valuable new perspectives. We share knowledge and insights with each other to help us grow as individuals and as an organization.
• We value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for all. We believe that we are stronger for our differences, and we acknowledge, respect, and appreciate them. We actively work with and learn from everyone—across all demographics, backgrounds, ideologies, and geographies. We identify areas where we differ and, for the good of the organization and each other, we explore and engage with differing perspectives.
• We are gracious and grateful in all that we do. We invest in our relationships with warmth and a sense of humor. We express gratitude to all our colleagues and stakeholders. While we strive for excellence, we recognize that no one is perfect. We give others the benefit of the doubt and act with kindness and integrity.
• We are attentive and intentional. We are aware of the needs of the world and those around us so that our work has a real impact. Our work is mission-driven and we know the “whys”—both large and small—behind what we do. Recognizing that details matter, we are equally committed to quality.