Development Assistant, Alumni and Major Gifts

Northwestern University; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 50,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid schedule

Job summary

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago seeks a Development Assistant to support alumni relations and major gifts fundraising. The role focuses on administrative tasks, document preparation, and CRM maintenance, with a proactive, detail‑oriented approach.

The position requires strong organizational skills, excellent written and verbal communication, and proficiency in Microsoft Office. Hybrid work arrangements and dynamic team collaboration are available.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience with nonprofit or educational development fundraising.
• CRM experience, especially Salesforce/OnBase, is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate alumni relations, engagement and major gifts fundraising administrative tasks.
• Prepare visit materials and donor communications for major gift officers.
• Manage calendars, travel, meetings and event logistics for the team.
• Maintain and update donor records, reports and materials in the CRM/database.
• Support budget tracking, invoices and expense reconciliation.
• Assist with event planning, invitations, RSVPs and donor briefings.

Skills

Microsoft Office

Written communication

Verbal communication

Scheduling & travel logistics

Organization & time management

Presentations & report creation

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

Salesforce

OnBase

Job description

Please include a cover letter for full consideration.

This position is within Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, based on Northwestern's Chicago campus. Hybrid schedule available.

Target hiring range for this position will be between $50,000-54,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Job Summary

The Development Assistant, Alumni and Major Gifts coordinates administrative processes and prioritizes, directs and responds to business matters involving administrative functions associated with the Feinberg School of Medicine's Alumni Relations team, including alumni engagement and alumni major gifts fundraising. The Development Assistant supports the team's administrative efforts, creating and maintaining documents, spreadsheets, databases, meetings/schedules, special events, etc., and alerting their supervisor of critical issues and upcoming events.

As an integral member of the Feinberg Alumni Relations group, this position requires someone who stays one step ahead of administrative duties, is proactive and willing to take ownership of projects, and has excellent skills in the areas of organization, time management, interpersonal communication, writing, proofing and editing, as well as the Microsoft Office suite of applications. The Development Assistant must be detail focused, while also comfortable in a fast-paced environment, taking and executing last-minute requests as they occur and performing general clerical duties.

Principal Accountabilities

Collaboration - 10%

• Collaborates with internal department partners and University partners in implementing and expanding existing relationships to accomplish strategic goals.
• Collaborative work includes:
  • Interaction with senior leadership, donors and alumni.
  • Serving as a liaison with major gift officers both within Feinberg and in Northwestern University's central Alumni Relations and Development (ARD) department; prepares visit materials for their use.
  • Participation in team meetings, brainstorming new ideas, and offering solutions to improve current processes.

Prospects and Gifts - 30%

• Independently responds to and composes correspondence to prospects, donors, alumni, etc.
  • Creates and maintains standard spreadsheets and/or databases.
  • Provides key prospect management support to include gift tracking, entering proposals, prospect updates and changes in the university's constituent database.
• Assists with and disseminates research; identifies prospective donors.
• Prepares queries, reports, statistics, tables, charts, etc. based on information compiled from various sources; determines format, elements, etc.
  • Prepares and modifies documents, including correspondence, reports, emails, agendas, briefing documents, letters, proposals, etc. for both internal and external (alumni) distribution.
  • Compiles executive event briefings on donors/attendees.
  • Maintains and updates documents that are used on donor visits.
• Alerts supervisor of potential donor situations with information obtained through the course of communication.

Volunteers - 5%

• Recruits, coordinates, organizes and/or supervises volunteers and/or associated activities.
• Communicates with volunteers, and acts as a liaison between volunteers, the department, and/or the University.

Events - 15%

• Organizes and coordinates events.
  • Duties related to events include (but are not limited to): managing invitations, RSVPs, and related lists, and aforementioned responsibilities such as letter writing, reports, briefing documents, name tags, itineraries, etc.
  • Responsible for making phone calls to encourage and confirm event attendance, take event RSVPs and facilitate general alumni engagement.
• Creates timelines.
• Collects agenda items and background materials.
• Creates registrant profiles.
• Coordinates complex itineraries involving domestic and/or international travel, etc.
• Prepares event, conference and/or meeting budgets.
• Verifies invoices and expense reports.
• Reconciles to budget.

Administration - 30%

• Manages supervisors' and/or department calendars, including travel.
  • Schedules and coordinates meetings, appointments and travel arrangements.
• CRM management inclusive of data entry (contact reports) and constituent record management (updates, changes, etc.)
• Maintains event and team web pages, as well as crowdfunding initiatives as needed.
• General clerical duties include answering, screening, and transferring inbound phone calls, supporting direct marketing mailings and digital outreach, and communicating with vendors.

Budget - 10%

• Approves appropriate expenses, purchases and reimbursements per budget.
• Maintains budget records.
• Prepares forms.
• Verifies appropriateness and accuracy of charges.
• Processes and reconciles expenses, accounting transfers, and/or appropriation changes.

Supervisory - as needed

• May provide work direction to part-time or temporary employees.
• Completes other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Successful completion of a full four-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent, or two years equivalent experience in nonprofit or educational development (fundraising/advancement) function.
• Experience working with a complex relational database/CRM is required; Salesforce and OnBase experience preferred.

Minimum Competencies

• Expert competency with the Microsoft Office suite, especially Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Strong abilities in the following areas:
  • Written and verbal communication
  • Scheduling and travel logistics
  • Organization/time management
  • Presentations and report compilation

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in business, accounting or marketing.
• Work experience in nonprofit or educational development (fundraising/advancement).
• Experience in a high-touch customer service environment.
• Experience in healthcare and/or higher education.
• Writing and proofreading skills.
• Independent self-starter with exceptional attention to detail.

Preferred Competencies

• Writing and proofreading skills.
• Independent self-starter with exceptional attention to detail.

Requires occasional attendance at meetings and events outside of normal office hours (i.e., evenings, weekends, etc.). May be called upon to provide own transportation to local meetings or events.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.