Annual Giving Specialist

Caltech is a world‑renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community.

The purpose of Advancement and Alumni Relations (AAR) is to foster a thriving and engaged community of support for Caltech. By strengthening and nurturing the community of people who share and support the Institute's mission and values, AAR ensures the Institute receives the necessary resources to achieve our aspirations and advocate for excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship in perpetuity.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Annual Giving Programs, the Annual Giving Specialist acts as the central operations hub for the Caltech Fund. The Specialist supports overall business activities across the entire annual giving team, providing administrative support to the Executive Director and fundraisers in addition to program and communications support to the integrated marketing and annual giving team. Duties include schedule management, budget reconciliation, simple research and donor list management, donor stewardship communications, marketing and creative campaign support, and basic project management.

The ideal candidate is a fast learner with high energy and a proactive attitude, comfortable managing and prioritizing a variety of interlocking responsibilities that cross administrative, operations, and communications duties.

• Provides administrative support to the Executive Director and annual fundraisers, including scheduling, technical support, donor visit and calendar management, and management of expense reports and other reporting or documentation needs.
• Administers the day‑to‑day activities of the Caltech Fund staff, coordinating gift agreement documents, filing contact reports, producing simple proposal and briefing documents, and supporting campus visits.
• Provides communications support to the Annual Giving Director and the integrated marketing team for mailing list or vendor handling for direct mail, email marketing support, basic project management, and publishing updates to social media and the Caltech Fund website at the direction of the content manager.
• Serves as both the internal and external point of contact for the Caltech Fund, independently addressing, directing, or resolving donor and partner inquiries via email, phone, and in‑person interactions using in‑depth knowledge of AAR processes and utmost professionalism. This includes proper handling of sensitive and confidential information.
• Conceptualizes and plans multi‑step donor engagement projects, including stewardship communications and event plans, with minimal supervision.
• Acts as liaison with campus peers and volunteers, especially students, faculty, and staff who act as signatories on fundraising letters or as subjects of compelling fundraising stories. This includes management of our online story library and student features.
• Serves as the team's content manager for AAR's intranet, the "Nucleus," and updates team pages and announcements on behalf of the Caltech Fund.
• Updates team publication and appeal record libraries, organizes branded team promotional items, maintains office supply and paper stock, and monitors and distributes department mail, email, and voicemails to the appropriate parties.
• Acts as liaison with other departments and offices within AAR and the Institute.

• Prepares and analyzes the stewardship report to segment, customize, and send acknowledgment letters, postcards, and ad‑hoc donor stewardship communications.
• Partners with the integrated marketing team to improve messaging, design, and format for acknowledgment letters, creative stewardship, and digital donor engagement.
• Manages operational tasks related to the Caltech Fund Catalyst gift club, including managing member statuses in our database of record, sending welcome letters and materials, and overseeing automated stewardship communications and…