Development and Donor Communications Coordinator

The Organization

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (GLI) is the nation’s leading American history organization dedicated to K–12 education. The Institute’s mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources. Since its founding in 1994, GLI has created powerful and meaningful ways to teach and learn history. Focusing on primary sources, the Institute offers teacher seminars, online courses, exhibitions, digital materials, and print publications that enable students of all ages and backgrounds to study the nation’s past.

The Institute brings the work of today’s leading historians into classrooms and homes worldwide. Through public events, publications, posters, videos, exhibitions, essays, and a dedicated website rich in primary sources, GLI brings every period of American history to life. Diverse education programs, including the acclaimed Hamilton Education Program, provide opportunities to explore five centuries of American history. The Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School network comprises 14 million students and 97,000 educators from 36,000 schools worldwide.

The Role

Are you interested in building a career in development and joining a highly collaborative team that offers opportunities for you to engage in all aspects of fundraising? Are you passionate about fueling a mission-driven organization focused on American history education and civic engagement?

We are currently seeking a dynamic Development and Donor Communications Coordinator, reporting to the Associate Director of Development, to support donor engagement, development operations, prospect research, and cultivation events. As an integral member of GLI’s development team, the Coordinator role will provide critical support to individual giving strategy and will have significant room for growth in the future.

The ideal candidate will have strong communications, project management, and collaboration skills and take pride in impeccable attention to detail.

The Development and Donor Communications Coordinator will be joining GLI at a dynamic time as we continue to enhance and expand our nonpartisan K–12 and public programming in response to the urgent needs of the moment.

This role will be based in New York City and currently requires working in person at least one day per week in GLI’s midtown office.

Position Overview

The Development and Donor Communications Coordinator will help sustain and enhance critical fundraising and donor communications activities. This includes individual donor cultivation and broad-reaching donor communications through our primary outreach channels, working with our development and marketing teams on email distribution to prospects and donors.

Specific responsibilities will include

Donor Engagement and Donor Communication Support (40%)

• Support the Associate Director of Development in developing and implementing a comprehensive donor communications plan, incorporating strategies centered on formal appeals, special events, and stewardship and cultivation touchpoints
• Support the Associate Director of Development and other team members in drafting and designing donor communications materials, including formal appeal letters, one-pagers, and pitch decks
• Create, distribute, and track fundraising deliverables like donor thank you and tax acknowledgement letters, invoices, and grant paperwork
• Update Salesforce with donor correspondence and donation-related documents and contact data, and lead weekly and quarterly income reconciliation with the Finance Department
• Support mailings and campaigns by coordinating the list-building, design, and printing of direct mail pieces with the mailhouse

Individual and Institutional Prospect and Donor Research to Support Moves Management (30%)

• Support development team senior leaders in identifying donors and prospects for research, informing priorities for the prospective and current donor pipeline, and framing recommended cultivation priorities and engagement strategies in key decision-making meetings
• Research individual and institutional prospects and donors using data sources like Salesforce, WealthEngine, and Candid’s Foundation Directory
• Prepare detailed prospect and donor research briefings

VIP Cultivation Events (30%)

• Support the Events Coordinator in managing the smooth execution of both exclusive VIP and large-scale events to maximize donor cultivation, providing support with invitation list generation and mailings, RSVP management, donation tracking, event collateral creation, and day-of event management

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Commitment to GLI’s mission and enthusiasm for engaging external audiences in the mission
• Outstanding project, time management, and problem-solving skills with a strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to drive projects forward independently
• Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Team oriented with a desire to participate in creating a strong team culture
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and the ability to proactively ask for assistance with prioritization if project deliverables conflict
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines
• Experience using a database (Salesforce experience is a plus)
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Suite applications
• Interest in learning about fundraising and developing database expertise
• Ability to occasionally provide events logistics support after traditional business hours