Philanthropy Specialist

Description

Working at the Vermont Community Foundation

For more than 35 years, the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) has served Vermont families through philanthropy and building stronger communities. Our mission—Better Together: inspiring giving and bringing together people and resources to make a difference in Vermont—provides the bedrock for our workplace culture. Our employees are passionate about making a difference every day. We approach our work with curiosity, respect, and integrity and believe in collaboration, equity, and diversity. When you join our team, your work will matter.

Position Overview

At a pivotal time for strengthening Vermont’s communities, the VCF is working to inspire meaningful philanthropic investment across the state. The Philanthropy Specialist supports the Philanthropy team in asset development, stewardship, and administrative functions. This role is well-suited for a strong administrator with excellent organizational skills, a passion for customer service, and a talent for detail-oriented multitasking. Responsibilities include administrative office duties, such as answering phones, responding to emails, coordinating mailings, scheduling meetings, as well as development-related duties including planning events (on-site and virtual), drafting communication materials, capturing notes, and tracking follow-up tasks. This position also requires strong technology skills to use our systems for data entry and reporting. This is a great role for someone who is detail-oriented and enjoys working collaboratively across a wide variety of responsibilities while also exercising independence.

This position reports directly to the Director of Donor Impact and will work closely with the philanthropic advising team.

Essential Functions

Responsibilities will include:

• Provide customer service for donors and fundholders (in partnership with the Donor Impact Specialist), including answering questions, triaging inquiries from a wide range of customers—including high-net-worth clients—and providing support and troubleshooting for the VCF donor portal
• Provide administrative support, including pulling donor, fundraising, and gift reports; organizing and ordering collateral and physical materials; opening and sorting mail; capturing meeting minutes; logging contact notes with donors and prospects; and tracking outreach and engagement activities (e.g. appeal recipients, event attendance, etc.)
• Serve as a superuser of our donor database by maintaining accurate, high-quality customer data (donors, fundholders, prospects, etc.) through data entry, validation, error identification, reporting, and ongoing improvements within VCF’s Salesforce CRM system to support stewardship, communications, and reporting
• Work closely with the philanthropic advising team on asset development and fundraising activities, including preparing donor stewardship materials, scheduling fundraising appeals, coordinating proposals and grant reports, and assisting with quarterly newsletters and emails
• Provide logistical support for small events, including professional advisor gatherings, house parties, and council meetings, by working with donors, councils, and fundholders; sending and tracking invitations and responses, coordinating with venues, providing logistical support, representing VCF, and engaging participants
• Conduct research and analysis on nonprofits to support grant opportunities and on fundholders to support engagement and prospecting efforts
• Provide backup support and cross-training in gift processing and fund administration as part of an integrated support team
  
  

Requirements

Qualifications:

Our organization’s culture is designed to inspire and empower employees to do their best work every day and we are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and positive workplace. In keeping with our core values, we are seeking team players who bring the skills and qualifications listed below and who value collaboration, diverse perspectives, and community.

• Solid organizational skills and a problem-solving mindset, with the ability to manage competing priorities, balance workload effectively, and escalate appropriately
• Strong technology skills and experience with customer data administration
• Interest in and aptitude for data analytics and research
• Demonstrated ability to provide excellent customer service
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, along with the ability to represent the Foundation and its supporting organizations with community members, other foundations, donors, grantees, and other organizations
• Demonstrated qualities of a collaborative team player who is ready to pitch in during any all-hands-on-deck moments
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and manage responsiblities proactively
• Professional integrity, discretion, and respect for confidentiality
• Enthusiasm for emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools that enhance research, strategy, and donor communications
  
  

Experience & Education

• Minimum of three years of administrative, development, or client service experience.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in nonprofit management, communications, business, public administration, or a related field
  
  

Location: Hybrid; on-site at our Middlebury office 2-3 days/week and some travel around the state to various events as needed.