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COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

Organization: Boys & Girls Club of Newark
Location: Newark, NJ, United States
Eligible Citizenship: All Non-US Citizens
Application Code: US03-Int
Job Function: Advocacy, Communications, Development / Fundraising / Grant-Writing
Issue Area: Child Health, Youth

About

The Boys & Girls Club of Newark (BGCN) provides thousands of children in Newark and its surrounding community with a safe place to establish healthy habits, develop academic skills, and learn to make positive life choices—all aimed at helping them realize their full potential. We’re not just here after school and over the summer. We’re here for their whole future.
BGCN’s team of dedicated Youth Development Specialists are focused on serving over 1,000 of the city’s youth annually—especially those who are considered “at-risk” and under resourced. In addition to our afterschool and summer programs, children have access to our READY Family Wellness Center, a behavioral health center aimed at addressing or stabilizing crisis situations, as well as free dental and eye care facilities.
BGCN is a not-for-profit organization with nearly 80 years of service in Newark, NJ. 

Position Overview

The Boys & Girls Club of Newark (NJ) seeks a highly-motivated and detail-oriented Communications and Development Coordinator with a can-do attitude; this is a unique opportunity to creatively and strategically support an innovative organization committed to building equity and opportunity for Newark’s children. 
The Communications and Development Coordinator will be responsible for articulating, crafting, and capturing BGCN’s narrative in addition to supporting the Fundraising Department with regular outreach and communication to donors, and database management.  This position also has a strong advocacy component–ensuring that we have regular outreach and presence in the local community. The coordinator will work closely with the Director of Development to create content across all digital platforms, and will create a broader and deeper understanding of our programmatic impact.
This is a position for someone who is interested in gaining hands-on experience at a small, community-based organization. While the fellow will not exclusively be working on public health issues, s/he will leave the placement with a robust body of work to show and critical experience in communications for the non-profit sector.
This position is comprised of three main responsibilities:
  • 35% of your time will be spent on a number of communications projects. You will be the primary lead on communications strategy and implementation with a strong emphasis on writing, graphic design, photography, as well as social media
  • 35% of your time will be spent with the Development Department undertaking day-to-day acknowledgment of donors and managing the donor database
  • 30% of your time will be focused on ensuring that the broader community stays engaged and remains informed about our work. This is direct outreach to community stakeholders such as parents, teenagers, and the local schools to ensure they utilize the Clubhouse as a resource

Responsibilities

  • Oversee and provide engaging content for all of BGCN’s traditional and social media networks: newsletters, eBlasts, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
  • Update the content for our Wordpress-based website
  • Create unique graphic designs for abovementioned content
  • Help create content for all of BGCN’s fundraising campaigns including but not limited to Annual Campaign and Evening of the Stars Gala
  • Support the Development Department with day to day functions, such as thank you letters to donors, database entry for donations and gifts
  • Manage and maintain the donor database (Bloomerang.org)
  • Creatively message the impact of BGCN’s core programming around: healthy lifestyles, academic success, and good citizenship
  • Explore and execute new storytelling strategies and opportunities that will expand BGCN’s message and base
  • Plan and implement regular and direct outreach events such as enrollment drives, educational workshops and community dinners to mobilize our local community, including parents, schools and other community based organizations and residents of Newark

Desired Skills and Experience

Items indicated with an asterisk (*) are required
 
  • Bachelor’s degree*
  • Superior verbal, written communication, and storytelling skills*
  • Detailed-oriented and strong organizational skills*
  • Strong graphic design skills*
  • Comfortable with creating and executing high-level communications strategy*
  • Outgoing personality and comfortable communicating with a number of stakeholders*
  • High proficiency with editing and updating websites*
  • Experience managing social media campaigns*
  • Ability to work in an uncertain environment and sometimes perform tasks that are not explicitly part of the job description*
  • Likes to take on a challenge and is naturally curious about sharing a narrative*
  • Team builder and player
  • Resourceful, flexible, and works with a sense of urgency in a fast paced environment
  • Passion for children’s causes and feels comfortable in an environment with children
  • Familiarity with CRM databases
  • Degree or background in communications and/or marketing
  • Strong analytical, business judgment, and problem-solving skills
  • Client facing–someone who has dealt with customers, donors, constituents
  • Solid professional trajectory, and is eager to work with a community based organization

Fellowship Logistics

During the fellowship year, all fellows are provided with:
  • A pre-tax living stipend of $1100/month
  • Housing and utilities
  • Health insurance
  • A professional development grant of $600
  • An award of $1500 upon successful completion of the fellowship year
  • Travel costs covered to and from placement site, training and retreats
Living and Working in the US: Fellows are provided with basic housing and a utilities stipend during the fellowship year. GHC coordinates housing for fellows placed in the United States in shared apartments or houses that meet GHC's safety standards. Housing arrangements are assigned prior to departure from Training Institute. Fellows at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark will be housed in Newark, New Jersey, an urban city in the northeastern United States.
To apply to this position click here: http://ghcorps.org/fellows/apply-to-be-a-fellow/application/