ABOUT THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS
Founded in 1934, the Academy of American Poets is the nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry with supporters in all fifty states. Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.
The organization annually awards a total of $1.25 million to more than 200 poets at various stages of their careers. The organization also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; established and organizes National Poetry Month each April; publishes the popular Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides award-winning resources to K–12 educators, including the Teach This Poem series; hosts an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition working to promote the value poets bring to our culture. Taken together, the Academy reaches more than 2 million individuals each month.
In addition to its mission, the Academy staff is guided by the organization’s values, which include anti-racism, collaboration, diversity, equity, inclusion, innovation, and leadership.
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Chief Roles and Responsibilities:
Reporting to the President & Executive Director, the Director of Development will oversee all aspects of fundraising, including major gifts, institutional giving, membership, annual appeals, special events, government grants, online appeals, and grants reporting. The position oversees the daily work of a full-time Manager and a Coordinator and works closely with the Board of Directors, the President and Executive Director, senior staff, donors, members, and other stakeholders of the Academy.
Duties include:
- Coordinating the Board’s Development Committee
- Overseeing fundraising strategy and management of the Development department, which includes a Manager, a Coordinator, and two consultants
- Executing the annual Board appeal
- With Executive Director, stewarding foundation, individual, and corporate donors
- Overseeing the annual membership program calendar
- Overseeing management of the donor database, entry, and acknowledgement workflow
- Ensuring excellent stewardship of all members and online donors by membership and development staff
- Coordinating the design and production of new membership premiums, brochures, and other collateral materials as needed
- Overseeing the membership staff in ensuring benefit fulfillment
- Working with staff to ensure donor acknowledgement
- Coordinating direct mail and online membership campaigns, including working with consultants and 15+ vendors
- Overseeing production of monthly financial reports and performing analysis to identify trends and suggest improvements or tests
- Working with finance staff to reconcile membership and revenue contributed on a regular basis, as well as manage the department’s budget
- Overseeing online donor-facing web pages on Poets.org and developing and testing strategies for improving conversions from Poem-a-Day to membership
- Managing the renewal and upgrade strategy for online donors
- Liaising with membership copywriters to create appeal and acquisition letters
- Managing membership and fundraising communications on Poets.org pages
- Overseeing the development and production of a membership newsletter and Benefactor newsletter
- Creating compelling emails, donation pages, and social media promotions
- Utilizing file segmentation and testing to better target offers for increased response and retention rates
- Encouraging online audiences to consider making a gift through targeted messaging
- Creating and coordinating social media promotions for membership and development-related events
- Coordinating the annual fundraising gala including design, promotion, and execution of event
- Overseeing the promotion of planned giving on Poets.org, American Poets magazine, and through special mailings
- Assisting with grants research, grants proposals preparation, and grants reporting
- Managing the Amazon Literary Partnership and other regranting initiatives, as well as any new regranting funds, along with President & Executive Director, and assisting in data reporting for these and all grants
- Assisting President & Executive Director with grant proposal preparation, research, and writing
Commitments & Competencies:
- 12+ years of nonprofit fundraising experience, including individual giving
- Advanced knowledge of popular CRMs, with Raiser's Edge experience required
- Proven track record of success in organizing special events
- Commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and collaboration
- Commitment to providing excellent customer service
- Commitment to excellence in database administration
- Strong written and oral communications skills, including the ability to communicate with empathy with staff, community members, and funders
- Attention to details
- Able to balance multiple constituencies
- Able to manage multiple projects
- Able to work independently and be self-directed, as well as part of a team
- A passion for poetry, literature, and the arts, a plus
Compensation:
The remuneration for this position is between $110,000 and $130,000 per annum based on experience.
Benefits:
Health insurance, life insurance, long-term disability, paid time off (in year one: 10 vacation days, 5 sick days, 3 personal days, a season break, 12 holidays), and 403b Savings Plan (with employer match after two years).
To Apply:
To apply for the Director of Development position at the Academy of American Poets, send your cover letter and résumé to the VP of Finance & Administration, Len Ejiogu <[email protected]>.
DEVELOPMENT & MEMBERSHIP MANAGER
Chief Roles and Responsibilities:
The Development & Membership Manager is a full-time position that reports to the Director of Development. This position works closely with fundraising staff to execute the organization’s fundraising efforts, which include a membership program, online appeals, special events, and other revenue generating initiatives. This position also oversees the daily work of a full-time Development & Membership Coordinator.
Duties include:
- Monitoring and executing annual membership program calendar
- Managing donor database and ensuring payments are logged on a weekly basis
- Processing renewals, acknowledgements, special appeals, and premiums along with Coordinator
- Ensuring excellent stewardship of all members and online donors
- Coordinating direct mail and online membership campaigns, including drafting messaging and working with consultants
- Assisting with creating and coordinating social media promotions for membership and development-related events
- Utilizing file segmentation and testing to better target offers for increased response and retention rates
- Producing monthly financial reports and other reports as needed
- Liaising with finance staff to reconcile revenue on a regular basis, and on audit preparations in collaboration with Coordinator
- Coordinating the design and production of new membership premiums, brochures, and other collateral materials as needed
- Managing development-related house ads for Poets.org and American Poets magazine
- Managing membership and fundraising communications on Poets.org pages
- Creating compelling emails, donation pages, and social media promotions
- Helping lead all aspects of fundraising events
- Assist with grants research, proposal preparation, and grant reporting
- Assisting with the promotion of planned giving on Poets.org, in American Poets magazine, and through special mailings
Commitments & Competencies:
- 5+ years of nonprofit fundraising experience
- Proficiency with Raiser's Edge
- Proven track record of success in helping to organize special events and work with donors
- Commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and collaboration
- Commitment to providing excellent customer service
- Commitment to excellence in database administration
- Strong written and oral communications skills, including the ability to communicate with empathy with staff, community members, and funders
- Attention to details
- Able to balance multiple constituencies
- Able to manage multiple projects
- Able to work independently and be self-directed, as well as part of a team
- A passion for poetry, literature, and the arts, a plus
Compensation:
The remuneration for this position is between $55,000 and $65,000 per annum based on experience.
Benefits:
Health insurance, life insurance, long-term disability, paid time off (in year one: 10 vacation days, 5 sick days, 3 personal days, a season break, 12 holidays), and 403b Savings Plan (with employer match after two years).
To Apply:
To apply for the Development & Membership Manager position at the Academy of American Poets, send your cover letter and résumé to the VP of Finance & Administration, Len Ejiogu <[email protected]>.
ASSOCIATE CONTENT EDITOR & PRODUCER
Chief Roles and Responsibilities:
The Associate Content Editor & Producer is a full-time position that reports to the Senior Director of Digital Engagement & Content. This position is responsible for producing and maintaining content for the Academy of American Poets, primarily on the award-winning website Poets.org, with particular emphasis on Poem-a-Day, but also including American Poets magazine.
Duties include:
- Producing content that supports the organization’s mission and messages, and serves its audiences: readers of poetry, educators, poets, and the organization’s members
- Assisting the guest editors of Poem-a-Day, ensuring the daily publication of the series, in coordination with senior staff
- Copyediting Poem-a-Day content, producing files for syndication, ensuring production of audio files, and delivering files to syndication partners in coordination with the Content Associate
- Managing archive of contracts for Poem-a-Day
- Managing tagging of poems and content on Poets.org
- Adding poems beyond Poem-a-Day to Poets.org on a monthly basis
- Producing and editing biographies, resource pages, and special features as assigned
- Managing permissions requests for content on Poets.org and, as needed, in American Poets
- Managing the maintenance and organization of the physical and digital archive
- Collaborating with senior staff and content team, and participating in cross-organizational efforts on the planning and development of new features and content
- Producing and editing other digital assets for Poets.org as needed
- Contributing to the editing, writing, and production of American Poets, as assigned
- Contributing to the promotion of content via social media platforms
- Monitoring analytics and user engagement, as well as social media feedback, and producing monthly metrics reports
- Providing customer service to Poets.org users as needed
- Helping to ensure that all content is accurate, up-to-date, and adheres to the organization’s standards of excellence, editorial style, and guidelines
Commitments & Competencies:
- 3+ years professional work experience in producing content for an online publication
- Demonstrated and impeccable writing and editing skills
- Solid understanding of the basics of online publishing best practices and SEO
- Facility working with social media platforms, especially Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram
- Experience working with content management systems; Drupal experience a plus
- Strong image-editing experience, knowledge of Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite
- Strong organizational skills; ability to multitask and prioritize time and workload
- Experience working in a deadline-driven environment
- Commitment to anti-racism, diversity, inclusivity, and collaboration
- Strong written and oral communications skills, including the ability to communicate with empathy with staff and community members
- Attention to details
- Able to balance multiple constituencies
- Able to manage multiple projects
- Able to work independently and be self-directed, as well as part of a team
- A thorough knowledge of contemporary poetry is essential
Compensation:
The remuneration for this position is between $40,000 and $47,000 per annum based on experience.
Benefits:
Health insurance, life insurance, long-term disability, paid time off (in year one: 10 vacation days, 5 sick days, 3 personal days, a season break, 12 holidays), and 403b Savings Plan (with employer match after two years).
To Apply:
To apply for the Associate Content Editor & Producer position at the Academy of American Poets, send your cover letter and résumé to the VP of Finance & Administration, Len Ejiogu <[email protected]>.