Alumni Relations and Development Associate

Alumni Relations and Development Associate

All Campus

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. 

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 event. 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. 

Salary Range: $55,000 - $70,000

Our Mission
The school is an independent, coeducational day school dedicated to providing an excellent instructional program for children with language-based learning disabilities. The multisensory curriculum is designed for students of average to superior intelligence who can benefit from the unique educational experience provided. Through direct instruction in small class settings, a trained staff assists students to improve their language skills. Academic success, combined with opportunities for social and emotional growth, enables students to understand their learning styles, build confidence, and develop self-advocacy skills. Windward is committed to helping students achieve their full potential in preparation for a successful return to the mainstream educational environment.  To meet these goals, the school provides ongoing training to its faculty based on the most current research and also shares its expertise with the parent body, other educators, and the broader community.

Our Vision
A world where every child with a language-based learning disability is empowered to achieve unlimited success.