Job Title:  Alumni Relations and Development Associate

Division: Development

Reports to:  Associate Director of Development (W)/ Major Gifts Officer (M)

Location: Westchester (3 days a week) Manhattan (2 days per week).

Status: Full-time, non-exempt. Eligible for benefits.

Range: $55,000 - $70,000

Summary:

The Windward School seeks an Alumni Relations and Development Associate who will serve as a member of the Advancement team. This individual’s primary responsibility will be to work closely with development and marketing and communications teams to continue to build a dynamic alumni program, foster meaningful connections and highlight our alumni success stories. In addition, this role will support meaningful donor cultivation and stewardship.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Development

• Work with the associate director of development for advancement services to ensure alumni records are maintained and accurate in Raiser’s Edge.
• Act as primary liaison between alumni and the school, staying in contact and sending correspondence to alums in response to milestone events.
• Develop opportunities for alumni engagement and volunteerism including membership in the Alumni Ambassadors program. Attend and lead meetings, take minutes, create community, and ensure accountability for those involved.
• Develop a culture of philanthropy within the alumni ranks and invite alumni and alumni parents continued participation in the Windward Fund.
• Oversee the class gift of the graduating class, and election of class agents by working with Student Council.
• Identify alumni donor prospects for fundraising initiatives and share with colleagues.
• Facilitate networking/career advancement opportunities for young alums.
• Research where Windward alumni are living and working and coordinate school/on-location visits for the head of school and other members of senior leadership and promote interactions via social media.
• Oversee metrics pertaining to Windward alumni and produce reports and analytical data that can help quantify Windward’s value proposition.
• Provide administrative support to the major gifts officer to include donor research, meeting preparation and tracking of donor contact reports.

Events

• Organize an annual Homecoming Mobilize class agents to ensure participation and attendance from most recent classes and over time, build the event and have segmented offerings targeting specific class years.
• Host an annual event for high-school alums and alumni parents with guest speaker on helping students with LBLDs navigate the college admissions process.
• Organize Dream Big, an annual event for current students featuring a notable alum speaker. Oversee the logistics and pre- and post-promotion of the event.
• Work closely with the outplacement team and collaborate with them on events, panels, and school visits.
• Play a role in outplacing student events (graduation or transition ceremonies) sharing information about the alumni program and arranging parting gifts centered on school spirit.
• Arrange alumni drop-in days at Westchester and Manhattan campuses and encourage participation from the academic division and teachers to be available to meet and greet with returning students.

Marketing and Communications

• Support transition to an online alumni portal (forthcoming) and maintain information and data on an ongoing basis.
• Send mailers to alumni and invite submissions of class notes either online or through USPS. Create write-ups for online and print publications.
• Create a dynamic online social media presence for alumni, creating social media strategy that nestles within the school’s broader strategy.
• Interview alumni and write alumni stories and features.
• Collect impact content, quotes, pictures and other archive material for use in marketing and communications initiatives
• Keep alumni pages (web, portal, etc) current, accurate and compelling to encourage repeat visits.
• Oversee the annual College placement data screening and use outputs to create marketing stats for use by the team.

Skills and Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience in areas of development, marketing and communications. alumni relations, and/or other non-profit, events, and community-building work.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in social media platforms and knowledge of leveraging them for community building and brand recognition.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Experience with Raiser’s Edge (RE / or donor database), a plus but not required.
• Strong problem-solving skills and sound judgment.
• Ability to work both as part of a team and independently to accomplish departmental and individual goals.
• Demonstrated alignment with The Windward School’s Mission and Values and commitment to our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging principles.
• Must have flexibility to travel between campuses.
• The role will require attending some evening and weekend events.

About The Windward School

Independent School for Students with Language-Based Learning Disabilities

Connections working at The Windward School