Development Associate

The Institution

Founded in 1841, Fordham Preparatory School is a Catholic Jesuit college preparatory school for young men located on the Rose Hill Bronx campus adjacent to Fordham University in New York City. With approximately 950 students enrolled in grades 9-12, Fordham Prep draws young men of diverse backgrounds from throughout the boroughs of New York City and its surrounding suburbs. Fordham Prep’s mission is to form leaders committed to faith, scholarship, and service through a college preparatory education in the Catholic Jesuit tradition. 

Our Alumni

Fordham Prep’s Alumni number more than 11,300 and excel in varied professional fields, many have assumed leadership positions in the arts, commerce, law, medicine, government and military service, education, non-profit organizations and ministry throughout the world.  While there are Prep Alumni throughout the United States and the world, the majority live in the greater NYC metro-area, giving the Prep great opportunities for engagement.  Benefactors of Fordham Prep ensure the success of the mission.  On an annual basis, Fordham Prep enjoys approximately $6 million in charitable support from over 2700 donors. Gifts primarily support financial aid & scholarships for families of demonstrated need who could otherwise not afford a Catholic Jesuit secondary education, as well as for school operations and major capital projects to allow the school to pursue excellence and continuous improvement in all areas.

The Position

Fordham Prep seeks a full-time development associate to join the Engagement, Development &

Communications (EDC) team. The successful candidate will: work with EDC to oversee all aspects of Gift Processing, Gift Acknowledgement, Pledge Management and Donor Services areas for the Prep as well as ensuring best practices are followed in maintaining donor records, pledge agreements and ensuring the accuracy of donor and gift information entered into the Raiser’s Edge (RE) database.  The candidate is responsible for research and reports on financial, biographical, and philanthropic information for donors, alumni, parents and friends of the Prep, and identifying and recommending potential prospects in support of Major Gift, Annual Fund and Corporate and Foundation level giving.  The candidate will run lists, generate reports and respond to queries from donors, the Finance Department and EDC Staff, as directed. The role will report to the Assistant Director of Development & Data Analytics

Description of Duties and Responsibilities:

• Oversee the daily work of gifts processing, ensuring pledges and gifts to the Prep are processed according to industry standards & IRS guidelines, and recorded on a timely basis;
• Responsible for instituting best-practices in the process of entering cash, check, credit card (online and one-off and recurring) fundraising gifts and pledges;

• Manage the multi-year pledge pipeline, from writing and processing agreements to sending annual reminders, and properly acknowledging payments;
• Write, produce and process unique and engaging acknowledgments and receipts for all gifts;
• Assist with the annual stewardship process for Major Donors and Scholarship Benefactors;
• Write reports to enable the rating and assignment of new prospects;
• Run queries and exports to create documents, spreadsheets, timelines, and mailing lists;
• Provide briefing materials to the President, Vice President, Trustees, staff and other high-level officials for events, dinners, and other interactions with important donors;
• Create gift and analytical reports for the EDC team and Board of Trustees;
• Produce clean and organized donor lists for Honor Rolls and the Annual Report on Giving;
• Create and code new funds in RE in line with the Finance Department coding system. Reconcile and run reports for Finance on all transactions;
• Create data implantation and clean-up procedures to ensure data integrity;
• Update and maintain pertinent data (giving, event, biographical, etc.) on records in RE;
• Research existing and potential prospects;
• Review news & online sources to identify new prospects, report on items of interest to staff;
• Assist with fundraising and event opportunities, where appropriate and requested, may include weekends and evenings as needed;
• Self-starter who is able to work independently, but eager to be a team player, willing to assist where needed and eager to be involved in the life of the school;
• Capable of working with sensitive information with complete confidentiality;
• Additional responsibilities as warranted.

Additionally, all Fordham Prep faculty & staff, as Ignatian educators, are expected to demonstrate involvement in the larger school community, i.e., participating in retreats, attending programs/events, possibly moderating a club, and supporting formation programs in our Catholic, Jesuit tradition. Participation in Ignatian formation programs for new faculty and staff is required.

Other Considerations

The candidate will be eager to learn the role and adapt with a goal of gaining more professional latitude and taking on larger responsibilities within the office.  A high degree of initiative is expected along with strong organizational skills and the ability to identify and construct solutions. Strong consideration will be given to candidates who demonstrate skills in planning, multi-tasking, and communication, as well as a clear ability to coordinate across rapidly changing deadlines and with multiple offices and external constituents. Additionally, personal initiative, interpersonal relations, salesmanship, persistence and patience are keys to successful candidates. Excellent written and verbal communications skills and an ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously (working both independently and as a member of a team) are expected. A familiarity with The Raiser’s Edge and monday.com software programs is a plus but not required. Additionally, experience with the Microsoft Office Suite, with a particular emphasis on Excel and Mail Merge functionality is a plus but not required. 

Education & Experience

A Bachelor’s degree is required. At least two years of prior work experience. Special consideration will be given to those with direct gift process and stewardship experience as well as fundraising, event or project management, or a related field will be strongly considered.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Review of applications and interviews will take place immediately; the position will be filled shortly thereafter. Please email a letter stating personal interest, a comprehensive resume, and the names and phone numbers of at least two references (who will not be contacted until later in the interview process) to the attention Ryan Fink ’10, Assistant Director of Development & Data Analytics, at:

employment@fordhamprep.org

Fordham Preparatory School is an EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer). This is a 12-month full-time role with all staff benefits, including medical, retirement, and tuition remission at Fordham Preparatory School and Fordham University.