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, we will ensure 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. These duties include but are not limited to 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 for this role will be a fast learner with high energy and a proactive attitude, who is 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 but not limited to 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, applying thorough internal knowledge in coordinating the daily activities of the department including managing gift agreement documents, filing contact reports, producing simple proposal and briefing documents, and supporting campus visits.
• Provides communications support to Annual Giving Director and the integrated marketing team for marketing and communications projects, including but not limited to 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, which includes independently addressing, directing, or resolving donor and partner inquiries via email, phone, and in‑person interactions using in‑depth knowledge of AAR processes and the utmost professionalism. This includes proper handling of information of sensitive and confidential nature.
• 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 the 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 to AAR 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 acknowledgement letters, postcards, and ad hoc donor stewardship communications.
• Partner with the integrated marketing team to improve messaging, design, and format for acknowledgement letters, creative stewardship,…