Development and Special Events Associate
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT – April 2024
Development and Special Events Associate
The Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) is seeking to hire a full-time Development and Special Events Associate to support our fundraising efforts and coordinate special events to engage our supporters and raise awareness about our mission.
About SCHR
The Southern Center for Human Rights is working for equality, dignity, and justice for people impacted by the criminal legal system in the Deep South. SCHR fights for a world free from mass incarceration, the death penalty, the criminalization of poverty, and racial injustice.
Over our forty-seven-year history, SCHR has litigated precedent-setting cases in the South, in hostile climates, against all odds. SCHR has forced county and state governments to make significant improvements in prisons and jails to reduce overcrowding, provide adequate medical and mental health care, and abate violence and abuse. We have argued and won five death penalty cases at the US Supreme Court, four of which challenged profound race discrimination in capital trials. Our combined litigation and policy advocacy helped bring about the creation of a statewide public defender system in Georgia. For more information about SCHR, see our website at www.schr.org.
About the Position
We are seeking a passionate and dedicated Development and Special Events Associate to join our team. The successful candidate will play a key role in managing our donor database and gift acknowledgment process, coordinating special events to bolster support for our mission, and supporting other development efforts as needed.
SCHR’s $4.9 million annual budget supports multi-faceted legal advocacy campaigns to challenge abuses within the criminal legal system throughout the Deep South. Our revenue stream comes from a mix of foundation grants, individual and corporate contributions, special events, fellowships, and investment income. SCHR neither solicits nor receives government funding. We typically host four in-person fundraisers per year, which take place in Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C.
The Development and Special Events Associate reports to the Development Director and works closely with the Administrative Team, in particular the Marketing Director, Communications Director, Finance Directors, and Executive Director.
We seek someone with a deep and authentic commitment to the inherent dignity of our clients and our mission to create a world free from mass incarceration, the death penalty, the criminalization of poverty, and racial injustice. This is an opportunity to create systemic change working in an organization where we all give 100% in an environment that tends to be high stakes, high energy and does not conform to traditional 9 to 5 schedules. Achieving our bold mission often requires weeknight or weekend hours and a can-do attitude while we also strive to support our staff in maintaining their resiliency through our benefits package and positive, passionate work environment.
Key Responsibilities
Individual Giving and Donor Database Management
- Assist with sending appeals, acknowledgments, gift statements, and other donor communications
- Assist in the development and implementation of donor stewardship and cultivation strategies, including wealth screenings
- Manage database entry and integrity: data entry, event attendance/sponsorships, gift receipt and processing, gift acknowledgments, donor research, donation reports, and records
- Plan and execute an annual calendar of data maintenance tasks including deceased record finders and address scrub
- Assist in the monthly reconciling of donor database and financial accounting systems
Special Event Coordination
- Help coordinate four annual special events in Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC
- Identify new prospective event supporters
- Manage event logistics, including timelines, vendor relationships and contracts, volunteer responsibilities, and participant engagement
- Coordinate with key volunteers and event committees to elevate event experiences for our guests
Other Responsibilities
- Provide support for foundation relations activities, including foundation prospecting, grant proposals, and grant reports
- Support other development tasks, including major donor cultivation and stewardship, planned giving campaigns, annual appeals, and other campaigns
Qualifications & Experience
SCHR seeks applicants who are highly motivated, detail-oriented, well-organized, communicate well with others, have strong writing skills, and have a deep commitment to SCHR’s work. The candidate should be both a strong team player and able to work independently. The ideal candidate is someone who has prior employment or volunteer experience with under-served communities. The candidate should also have a willingness to venture into new situations and tenacity in seeking new opportunities for donor engagement. People with direct personal or familial experience with the criminal legal system are deeply encouraged to apply.
The ideal candidate will have:
- Professional experience in development and/or administrative assistance
- Experience with donor databases, preferably Every Action or Salsa CRM
- Prior experience working with special events
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with a passion for building relationships with donors, allies, and the public
- High-level knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite
- Dedication to uprooting anti-Black racism and working to advance SCHR’s commitment to antiracism
- Engagement in social justice community, familiarity with issues in the criminal legal system, and a passion to embrace SCHR’s work and mission
- Familiarity with legal work, law firms, and the metro Atlanta philanthropic community is a plus
Commitment & Compensation
SCHR seeks a commitment of at least three years. Salary is commensurate with experience, within SCHR’s modest, public interest salary range of $50,000-$60,000. SCHR offers an excellent, 100% premium-paid benefits package including medical, dental, vision care, and life insurance. Additional benefits include modest stipends for transportation and wellness, access to a flexible spending account, and childcare assistance (if eligible).
This position is in-person at our Atlanta office. Our office maintains a hybrid schedule, with staff required to be in-person three days of the week (absent travel, illness, or other excused absences), and flexibility to work remotely the remaining two days. Accordingly, all applicants should be willing to live in the Atlanta area.
TO APPLY
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Those who are interested are encouraged to apply immediately. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Email [email protected] with the following:
- Statement in the subject line of the e-mail that you are applying for the Development and Special Events Associate position;
- Letter of interest;
- Resume;
- Writing sample (e.g., an article for a blog, academic paper, policy brief or whatever shows your style and voice).
The Southern Center for Human Rights is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, which welcomes qualified applicants of all races, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, abilities, nationalities, military status, as well as those who have been system-involved.