Development Associate 🔥
About NAF:
NAF is a national network of education, business, and community leaders who work together to ensure high school students are college, career, and future ready. NAF’s educational design ignites students’ passion for learning and gives businesses the opportunity to shape America’s future workforce by transforming the learning environment to include STEM infused industry-specific curricula and work-based learning experiences, including internships.
Since 1980, NAF has been partnering with high-need communities to improve outcomes for students by implementing NAF academies – small learning communities within existing high schools. NAF has grown from one NAF Academy of Finance in New York City to hundreds of academies across the country focusing on growing industries including: finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. During the 2020-2021 school year, over 117,000 students attended 619 NAF academies across 37 states, plus DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. In 2020, NAF academies reported 99% of seniors graduated with 87% of graduates planning to go to college.
Summary:
The Development Associate plays an important role on NAF’s growing Institutional Advancement team, which is responsible for raising the funds to sustain our programs nationwide. The Associate supports staff in developing and submitting grant proposals and reports, stewarding existing corporate and foundation partners, and identifying and cultivating new prospects. The Associate also oversees a range of departmental operations, which include processing incoming gifts and filing state charitable registrations. As a member of a deadline-driven, high-performing team, the Development Associate will leverage excellent communication and organizational skills and confidently liaise with NAF stakeholders at all levels.
This role has historically been based at NAF’s headquarters in New York City. However, we will consider candidates from other geographies, as all NAF staff are working remotely until further notice.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Writing & Research (50%)
- In collaboration with Institutional Advancement colleagues and teams throughout NAF, develop and write grant proposals, concept papers, letters of inquiry and pitch decks
- Solicit program updates from NAF staff and partners and write comprehensive reports
- Prepare briefings and collateral materials to support NAF leadership in meetings with funders and prospects
- Draft gift acknowledgment letters
- Perform weekly prospect research, identifying funders aligned with NAF’s mission and presenting findings to the Institutional Advancement team
Grant Team Operations (20%)
- Manage grants calendar, inputting deadlines, identifying requirements and ensuring proposal and report development is initiated in a timely manner
- Manage logistics for grant application packages: compile attachments, gather impact data, input boilerplate responses and manage online submissions
Development Operations (30%)
- Create invoices, process incoming gifts and maintain Raiser’s Edge donor database
- Coordinate annual employee giving campaign
- Compile and edit bi-weekly departmental updates
- Maintain NAF’s profile on charity platforms (e.g. Charity Navigator)
- File NAF’s annual state charitable registrations
- Manage departmental subscriptions and payments
- Assist in developing mailing lists for appeals and events
- Manage department subscriptions and payments; maintain NAF’s profile on Charity Platforms and process State Registrations
Experience:
- 1-2 years’ work experience (nonprofit/fundraising environment is ideal)
- Writing and editing experience in a professional setting
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Commitment to advancing educational equity
- Desire to learn and build fundraising skills
- Strong organizational skills
- Superior writing, editing and communication skills
- Confidence building relationships and liaising with stakeholders at all levels
- Ability to take initiative and tackle novel subjects/projects
- Ability to juggle competing deadlines and pivot as necessary
- Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Proficiency with donor databases is helpful
- Knowledge of the New York City/US philanthropic landscape is extremely helpful
- Knowledge of the US education sector and trends in career education is extremely helpful