Development and External Affairs Specialist

Job Purpose/Summary

The Development and External Affairs Specialist provides critical support to the Development and External Affairs departments. Reporting to the Chief External Affairs Officer and working closely with the Chief Development Officer, this position plays a key role in donor and stakeholder engagement through the management of donor and stakeholder tracking, data and communications. Additionally, this position will provide support to special events in fundraising and engagement including our annual gala, press conferences, school site visits, Day at the Legislature, Impact Briefings and more. The final piece of this role includes providing administrative support in donor and stakeholder relations including supporting Board of Director Subcommittee work, stakeholder research, liaising with affiliate and school leaders to support special initiatives and managing engagement opportunities calendars to support organizational engagement strategies. The right candidate is self-motivated and excels at prioritizing multiple projects. To successfully fulfill this role, the specialist should be highly detail oriented with a critical degree of accuracy regarding data entry. This role requires heavy computer and office-based responsibilities. A candidate with an eye towards efficiency and inter-department collaboration will excel.

Duties and Responsibilities

Relationship Data Management, Tracking and Communications

• Manage data entry and donor records, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and consistency for inputting data into donor software and accounting systems.
• Responsible for inputting gifts for CIS State Office (both monetary and in-kind) into Customer Resource Management Software (CRM).
• Produce Thank You Letters and Tax Acknowledgements in a timely manner for CIS State Office.
• Liaise with Communities In Schools of Nevada’s three (3) affiliate representatives on affiliate gift entry (monetary and in-kind), thank you and acknowledgements letters.
• Responsible for ensuring all Tax Acknowledgement and Thank You Letters are recorded and stored in Customer Resource Management Software (CRM).
• Assist the Finance Department with third-party platform gift reconciliation and audit requests.
• Design and produce accurate queries, exports, reports, and lists for mailings, newsletters, event invitations.
• Assist with generating donor pledges and invoices for specific events and campaigns, as needed.
• Manage calendar of communications for elected officials and staff relationships at the local, state and federal government levels.
• Manage database of elected officials and staff relationships at the local, state and federal government levels.

External Affairs Support and Research

• Take notes and manage necessary follow-up communications from meetings with elected and appointed officials.
• Prepare agendas and meeting materials for project check-ins with the Chief External Affairs Officer to collaborate on planning and execution of department initiatives.
• Schedule, record attendance, and take minutes at the Board of Director’s government affairs committee meetings, which occur quarterly at a minimum.
• Maintain a database of relevant coalitions and committees on which the state office and regional affiliates have representation—and convene internal staff quarterly to review status of external engagements.
• Maintain and publish a list of Title I and CIS schools by relevant jurisdictions to communicate district-specific information to elected officials.
• Develop and monitor public meeting calendar and agendas in each affiliate and at state level to ensure CIS participation in relevant meetings.
• Liaise with Affiliate Points of Contact on school-based engagement opportunities and distribute information to State Development and Engagement Team.

Special Events:

• Support special events including fundraising, program and awareness events, including pre and post event data imports, project management, and attendance tracking.
• Support fundraising tools which include attendance and setup for site visits, community events and special initiative events led by the State Office.
• Record and track event data and constituent event information, including event goals, in-kind resource donations, event registration and results.
• Assist with tracking costs of events, programs and campaigns.
• Support planning team responsible for the biennial Communities In Schools of Nevada Day at the State Legislature.
• Support planning school visits, including event logistics in partnership with affiliate leadership to host elected and appointed officials on CIS partner campuses.

Other:

• Serve as primary administrative support for Chief External Affairs Officer and Chief Development Officer
• Manage Development Department and External Affairs project calendar, tracking deadlines and ensuring efficiency across the team.
• Provide departmental administrative support, that may include documenting donor notes, assisting with event administrative support and other sensitive/confidential information.
• Provide research support on strategic external affairs initiatives.

Qualifications and Competencies

• 1-3 years of related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience; Associate degree preferred.
• 1-3 years of applicable database and CRM experience; hands-on experience with Donor Perfect, NetSuite, OneCause products or similar donor databases preferred.
• Knowledge and understanding of fundraising, charitable giving and donor relations principles preferred.
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and internal customer relations skills.
• Proficiency in utilizing Microsoft Office365, especially Excel.
• High level of discretion, professionalism, and confidentiality required.
• Demonstrated ability to work pro-actively both as a team member and independently with minimal supervision within a time-sensitive, participatory environment.
• Must be able to pass criminal background check and drug testing required.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

• Work environment is indoors and climate controlled. Occasionally, exposed to outdoor weather conditions.
• Moderate noise levels as found in an open-office setting.
• Use of own automobile.