Development Associate

Job Description

Job Description

About The O’Neill

The National Medal of the Arts and Two-Time Tony Award Winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is the country’s preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the stage. 

From its 11-acre campus in Waterford, Connecticut, the O’Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and thousands more emerging artists. O’Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, The Young Playwrights Festival, and the National Theater Institute, which offers six credit-earning undergraduate training programs.

The O’Neill is committed to diversifying the future of the American theater through the stories we tell, the artists telling those stories, the staff supporting our work, and the audiences in our theaters. We strive to cultivate a healthy and diverse community that recognizes the value of each individual and helps foster safety, civility, and respect for all people.

Development Associate 

Reports to: Development Manager

Department: Development

Compensation: $38,000-$40,000/year

Start Date: ASAP

The Development Associate is a full-time early career position that will report directly to the Development Manager and work closely with the Director of Development and Marketing team to develop, execute, and support plans to maximize contributed revenue. The Associate will also play a central role in maintaining a highly accurate and effective database of supporters, alumni, and friends of the O’Neill. Duties involve development-related administration of membership programs, assisting with overall cultivation and stewardship of supporters, and performing a key operations role in the Development Department.

Responsibilities Include:

-Assist with the creation, implementation, and management of development plans for individual membership campaigns, and contribute to the development and implementation of new engagement opportunities for current and prospective donors.

-Responsible for gift processing, acknowledgments, and pledge billing, ensuring timely and accurate acknowledgement of all gifts and associated incentives where applicable.

-Maintain a working knowledge of the Patron Manager database; update and record addresses, donor attributes, and other database management as needed. Be the primary internal point of contact for the O’Neill’s database, with responsibility for its accuracy, cleanliness, and continuity of the data. Maintain standard operating procedure documentation for development processes and data.

-Maintain donation reports and reconcile with those from the Business Office monthly; act as the Development Office liaison with Salesforce/Patron Manager, including implementing Salesforce feature updates. 

-Create and develop relationships with O’Neill donors and in the broader community, acting as a friendly and hospitable public facing presence to the O’Neill’s overall community engagement efforts. Provide honest, professional communications and customer service to donors and guests regarding all development inquiries.

-Assist with the creation of content and coordinate the distribution of the O’Neill’s various digital and direct mail fundraising appeals. Prepare data for each appeal ensuring accuracy and integrity.

-Create, maintain, and execute queries and reports that track fundraising progress. Mine, manipulate, and merge data from nonconforming data sets.

-Conduct prospect research to support prospect/donor visits and cultivation. 

-Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

-1-2 years’ experience in an office setting. Experience in fundraising or fundraising operations adjacent desired.
-Excellent customer service skills and ability to interact with a broad spectrum of O’Neill patrons at various giving levels
-Experience with CRM or database systems strongly desired, with a preference for experience with Salesforce/PatronManager

-Advanced expertise with Excel and HTML a plus
-Exceptional attention to detail
-Superior writing and organizational skills
-Sense of humor
-Ability to work independently, with minimal oversight or supervision
-Ability to meaningfully collaborate and generate ideas

-Ability to juggle multiple projects at once and prioritize accordingly
-Comfortable taking initiative
-Positive, friendly, and approachable

-Passion for theater and knowledge of the theatre landscape

Applicants should submit a cover letter, a work resume and contact information for at least two references. Applicants should name all attached files with this format “Last Name, First Name-Document.”

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is committed to be an equal-opportunity employer. The O’Neill aims to foster a diverse culture that is inclusive of race, ethnicity, culture, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, national origin, veteran status, socioeconomic class, religion, professional status, and the intersections thereof. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.