Development Associate, TED Fellows Program

TED is on a mission to discover and spread ideas that spark imagination, embrace possibility and catalyze impact. Our organization is devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder and the pursuit of knowledge — without an agenda. We welcome people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world and connection with others, and we invite everyone to engage with ideas and activate them in your community.

The TED Fellows program provides opportunities to early stage innovators working across multiple disciplines in over a hundred countries. Individually and together, our 500+ Fellows are sparking future-shaping change in technology, science, health care, culture, the arts, climate and more. The TED platforms and events are a key part of fostering community and collaboration between TED Fellows, building a strong brand for the Fellows program, and providing a global platform to share the ideas of the internationally recognized Fellows community.

Position Overview:

The Development Associate will report to the program’s director, and support fundraising and partnerships for the program. 

This is a role in which you gain hands-on experience in fundraising and relationship building by supporting our development program. We are looking for someone with some experience in fundraising or relationship management who wants to learn more and apply those learnings to grow the program's fundraising capabilities.

You’ll be supporting and cultivating a community of donors, advisors, and partners who share a commitment to supporting emerging global innovators and leaders. This role requires supreme attention to detail, excellent writing, research, and organization skills, and a customer-focused mentality for high-touch relationships and event support. A wonderful opportunity for an effective, detail-oriented, self-starter.

Responsibilities: 

Writing and Research

• Drafting, reviewing, and copy-editing correspondence and collateral for key stakeholders and their teams

• Researching prospective donors, advisors, and partners for the program

• Developing high-touch communications and collateral for the TED Fellows community, including newsletters and mass mailings

• Researching and collating articles to inform pipeline of vetted prospective donors, advisors and partners 

• Compiling dossiers to reflect values alignment and flag reputational risks or concerns 

• Excellent communication skills and strong customer-service focus

Event and Meeting Support + Network Cultivation

• Facilitating planning and scheduling meetings + events for key donor, advisor, and partner activities and gatherings

• Cultivating and nurturing relationships with individuals that support and strengthen the TED Fellows network

• Manage Director's calendar and events for donor, advisor and partner meetings, and network cultivation 

• Tracking invitation RSVPs and event preferences 

• Compiling prep, briefing and pitch materials for potential donors, advisors, and partners

• Providing onsite event support as needed 

• Supporting Director on meeting and event preparations, follow-up, and tracking

Information Management

• Build out a system for organizing and tracking key donor and partner communications and engagement preferences, as well as comms calendar

• Ideating, executing, and improving on systems that support partner data

• Maintaining data to ensure a secure and centralized hub for relationship management

• Exporting relevant reports and analytics; informing and implementing improvements to the overall relationship management system.

• Sharing relevant donor community updates across the Fellows team and collaborating with other verticals and TED teams as needed

• Work with Senior Program Manager and Director to create and distribute Fellows end of year Impact Report to donors, VIPs, and the community.

• 3-5 years work experience

• Experience in nonprofit sector, network-building, customer service, or fundraising

• Demonstrated ability to handle confidential and sensitive information in a professional and ethical manner.

• Strong document management and quality control capabilities

• Attention to detail; able to catch errors or inconsistencies 

• Excellent written communication skills: ability to write clearly, succinctly, and aligned to the target audience. 

• Research; experience generating background briefs and materials against a rubric or criteria 

•  Organization; finds joy in categorizing, sorting, and organizing data and information

• Ability to travel as needed

Desired Personal Characteristics

• Ability to pivot and prioritize projects based on urgency; Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment

• Creative problem solving skills, finding solutions to nascent and nuanced relationship management tools and functions - including finding and trying new tech solutions. Ability to think creatively about alternative solutions, as well as funding and partnership models.

• Self-motivated, able to work without direct guidance, particularly in remote environments. 

• Reputation for integrity and good judgment; models ethics and builds trust 

• Eager to learn and grow in the role and excited to join a dynamic, evolving team

• Thrives in a work environment with both independent and collaborative work 

• Motivated by contributing to a social impact initiative and supporting a dynamic network of emerging and established innovators 

This is a full-time temporary role based in New York and offers the possibility of becoming permanent after three to four months. Remote work flexibility is available, depending on the candidate's qualifications.

Salary Range: $80-90K USD, commensurate with experience.

TED Conferences LLC is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We invite all qualified candidates to apply online with their resume.