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ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW:
Since 1987, Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) has cultivated transformative experiences through story and language with readers and writers of all generations. SAL fulfills its mission through educational, public, and community programming, in person and online. Our public literary events bring the most talented and thought-provoking writers of our times to local stages. Our youth programs include Writers in the Schools (WITS) and the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program. WITS places local, professional writers in classroom residencies to inspire K-12 students to discover the power of their creative voices as they develop lifelong writing skills. Our YPL program elevates the powerful voices of local youth poets committed to community engagement, education, and equity in our region.

SAL plays a unique role in our community by using the literary arts to invest in essential community conversations that are national in scope but local in scale. We offer thoughtfully curated experiences through interdependent programs that are intergenerational in nature, bolstering both emerging and established literary artists and inviting change and new perspectives in our audience. We believe these activities are essential to continuously and courageously revitalize equity, justice, and belonging.

As a predominantly white-led organization, SAL is committed to actively working to dismantle white supremacy culture and institutional racism. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture and are committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in all areas of our work and workplace culture. SAL is an equal opportunity employer. Individuals from all cultures and communities are warmly encouraged to apply. We believe that having a board of directors, staff, interns, and volunteers with diverse backgrounds enables us to better meet our mission and we strongly encourage applications from people of color and other historically underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Strong candidates will bring a diverse set of skills, characteristics, and experiences, both professional and lived. SAL strives to mitigate inherent biases that influence hiring practices by focusing on a holistic view of potential candidates and understanding that no single candidate will offer every desired skill and characteristic. The following offers an aspirational view of the ideal candidate profile and encourage applications from candidates with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

To support SAL’s annual development plan, strategic objectives, and revenue goals, SAL is looking for a people-centered, mission-driven, goal-motivated, data savvy, reading-and-writing enthusiast to be SAL’s Donor Relations Associate. Reporting to the Development Director, the Donor Relations Associate will be responsible for coordinating SAL’s multi-faceted efforts to foster and sustain long-term, meaningful relationships with our many supporters through thoughtful cultivation of community donors, careful stewardship of all donors’ contributions, helping to engage donors in SAL’s mission and programs, and inspiring them with all that their support makes possible.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Donor Stewardship (45%)

* With the Development Director and Event & Annual Giving Manager, develop and implement an annual donor stewardship plan to increase retention of SAL donors. This includes prompt gift acknowledgement, recognition online and in print, impact reports, holiday card mailings, invitations to special events, personal calls, etc.

* Provide excellent customer service in all interactions with SAL supporters. Correspond with donors in a thoughtful and timely manner by phone and e­mail, and resolve donor inquiries and account problems.

* Coordinate the creation, distribution, and tracking of all individual and institutional donor communications, including mailings, social media, emails, and thank you calls.

* Create blog and social media posts, digital newsletter articles, news releases, recognition materials, event collateral, website content, donor emails, multimedia presentations, and other collateral as needed.

* Gather and organize quotes, stories, photos, videos, data, and audio to demonstrate SAL’s impact.

* Implement SAL’s individual and institutional donor acknowledgement processes, including tracking donor benefits fulfillment.

* Manage all corporate giving logistics and processes, including tracking secured and pending funding; drafting and securing signed sponsorship agreements; securing logos; and tracking sponsor benefit fulfillment, acknowledgement, and payment in coordination with the SAL development, finance, and program teams.

* With SAL’s Development Director and Event & Annual Giving manager, support the execution of SAL’s two major annual fundraising events – the WITS Back-to-School Fundraiser and Words Matter Benefit Gala & Auction, including registration, gift processing, and donor acknowledgement letters.

Database Management (45%)

* Maintain complete, accurate, and up-to-date records of donor contributions, events, and communications.

* Create and pull detailed donor lists and fundraising reports to track progress and performance, and support the analysis of SAL data to inform strategy.

* Coordinate workplace giving & matching gift processing, recording, and reporting.

* Track multi-year pledges, including entering pledges and tracking payments, issuing payment reminders, and mailing prompt acknowledgement letters and donor impact reports.

* Work with SAL’s finance team to ensure timely invoicing and payments of sponsorships and pledges, accurate recording of all gifts, and monthly reconciliation with SAL’s accounting system.

* Perform annual fiscal year rollover and set-up processes for development in SAL’s CRM database.

Other (10%)

* Participate in creating SAL’s annual development budget and fund development plan.

* In collaboration with the SAL team, recruit and manage development volunteers.

* Participate in and support SAL development events, public programs, and WITS programming by attending and helping to staff events, participating in on-site school visits, and supporting all collaborative organizational projects and efforts.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access

The Donor Relations Associate actively participates in SAL’s ongoing efforts to further an organizational culture that supports and reinforces our inclusion, diversity, equity & access goals. Our 2020-24 Strategic Plan and SAL’s Equity Accountability Report are available on the SAL website under “About”. This commitment and understanding should be demonstrated throughout the performance of the Donor Relations Associate’s job responsibilities and staff activities.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

* A passion for SAL’s mission and programs.

* A commitment to racial equity and social justice.

* Minimum two years of experience and a successful track record in non-profit development work.

* Aptitude and experience working with CRM databases, particularly PatronManager or another Salesforce-based system.

* Strong attention to detail with excellent follow-through

* Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines.

* Excellent written and oral communication skills.

* Exceptional interpersonal/relationship-building skills and a commitment to protecting confidential information.

* Ability to work independently and as a member of a dynamic, creative, highly collaborative team in a fast-paced, open-office environment.

* Flexible and curious with a sense of humor and calm under pressure.

* Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite required.

* Experience with social media marketing, MailChimp, Adobe Suite, and comfort with Mac OS a plus.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

* Evening/weekend hours required (typically 3 to 5 times per month, September to June).

* Openness to a dog-friendly work space.

* We anticipate that by fall, SAL will have adopted a hybrid work model including both time in the office and the opportunity for remote work. SAL policies on this will continue to evolve as informed by public health guidelines.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

This is a 40 hours/week full-time non-exempt position. Salary range is $43,000-48,000 per year (commensurate with experience and qualifications) with a robust benefits package, including:

generous paid time off, including 20 vacation days/year starting your second year (15 days in year one) as well as sick, personal, and holidays.

100% of medical, vision, and dental insurance, long-term disability, and group life insurance covered, including an Employee Assistance Program.

403(b) retirement plan pre-tax distribution with a 3% gross salary match funded by SAL;

flex time as appropriate.

hybrid/remote schedule as appropriate with a laptop and support for some home office equipment.

support and budget for professional development and growth.

HIRING PROCESS & TIMELINE:

We will begin scheduling phone interviews the week of August 16.

We will begin 45-min zoom or in-person interviews for the week of August 23.

Finalists will be invited to a second-round, two-hour interview (comprised of several shorter interviews with different teams), and we will make an offer shortly thereafter.

Ideally, the selected candidate will start bid by mid-September.

TO APPLY:

Send a resume and cover letter that tells us why this position is a good fit.

Submit applications electronically in one PDF document to salhr@lectures.org. The email subject line should be “Donor Relations Associate,” and please include your last name in the file name of your attachment.

Open until filled. For best consideration, please submit no later than August 15, 2021.

Contact Information for inquiries related to this position (email preferred):

Liz Keenan

Hiring Coordinator

salhr@lectures.org

206.621.2230 x22

https://lectures.org/opportunities/donor-relations-associate/

Opportunity Website

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Donor Relations AssociateEmploymentFTEFull TimeSALSalariedSeattle Arts & Lectures