Job Description

ABOUT THE ROLE

This role will involve working on some combination of the following responsibilities. Please be sure to review our social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Youtube), past events, as well as examples of our work including our newsletters, Defining Democracy narratives, & videos prior to applying!

• Working closely with the Executive Director and the development team to ensure RDI’s long-term sustainability
• Researching current and potential donors and philanthropic foundations
• Updating the long-term development strategy and expanding RDI’s development techniques
• Assisting with the planning and execution of fundraising events
• Conducting outreach to donors
• Drafting messaging for outreach including email templates, phone scripts, and social media postings
• Working with RDI’s Customer Relationship Management tool (CRM), EveryAction, to manage relationships with RDI supporters
• Programming CRM forms into our website as surveys, petitions, and sign-ups
• Regularly communicate with subscribers
• Building a community of people committed to democratic norms is a key goal of RDI, so we will be looking for someone who can help build out this community in the US and around the world through regular communications, event ideas, etc.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS OF AN IDEAL CANDIDATE

• Exceptional undergraduates, graduate students, recent grads, or those with relevant work experience are encouraged to apply
• Detail-oriented to a fault
• Strong belief in RDI’s mission and values
• Experience in the fundraising and development space along with excellent verbal and written skills
• Open-minded and excited to interact with a range of often-conflicting political worldviews
• Social, articulate, and a self-starter unafraid to take initiative
• Experience with Google Suite (especially Google Sheets), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools (especially EveryAction), and other development databases strongly preferred

Additional Information

LOGISTICS & BENEFITS  

• This is an unpaid, volunteer internship
• Academic Credit is offered upon school or departmental approval
• This internship lasts 4 months, concurrent with the Fall academic semester, and interns can choose to work either full time (40 hours/week) or part time (25+ hours/week)
• Hours are flexible and we are willing to work around your academic schedule
• An opportunity to work closely with senior organizational leadership, including the Executive Director, as well as access to members of the Board of Directors, and other individuals from RDI’s extended network
• A typical day could include spending a few hours on RDI’s brainstorming ideas for events; working on a donor outreach strategy; participating in a lunch-and-learn with a prominent political figure, a world champion poker player, or a global business leader; time spent working in RDI’s customer relationship manager; and informing RDI’s community about an upcoming event series

  We are recruiting on a rolling basis. Please email apply[at]rdi.org with a resume, brief cover letter, and short writing sample (<500 words) that is in some way relevant to development/events/community engagement. This can be a description of an event series you’d like to organize at RDI, a fundraising appeal you’ve written in the past, or something else entirely. Feel free to be creative. Please also indicate your desired hours per week and start date in your cover letter. Only complete applications will be reviewed.   The Renew Democracy Initiative is an equal-opportunity employer.