1. Job Title: Development Assistant
Organization: The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis
www.loft.org
The Loft Literary Center is the country’s leading nonprofit literary center, offering 400 creative
writing classes a year for youth and adults in Open Book, in community settings and increasingly
online. The Loft also supports writers and readers through grants, mentorships, writing studios,
regular readings and spoken word series, and a wealth of resources about craft and the writing
life on its website.
The award-winning Loft Literary Center is renowned for the quality of its programming and its
service to the community. Loft staff members enjoy a flexible and enjoyable workplace, health
and other benefits, and the company of dedicated and creative colleagues. The Loft was awarded
the 2009 American Psychological Association’s “Best Practices” Award which recognized the
Loft’s “innovative workplace practice that fosters work-life balance.”
The Loft currently has a full time staff of 16 with an annual operating budget of just over $2
million.
Position Purpose: The Development Assistant facilitates an efficient, smooth-running, and
effective fundraising and relationship-building effort through administrative support and
participation in the development of fundraising and stewardship strategies. The position is part of
a four-person team responsible for raising approximately 60% of the Loft’s annual budget in
contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and the government.
The Assistant’s primary tasks are development operations and gift processing. The position
includes significant data entry of gifts and pledges, follow-up processing, and generating thank
you letters, tracking deadlines, maintaining accurate and accessible records, and preparing
reports for development staff. In addition, this position provides executive assistance to the
development team including the Loft’s Executive Director.
Primary Responsibilities:
 Implement monthly renewal requests.
 Support new member campaigns.
 Enter, maintain, and update all development records in the database.
 Prepare acknowledgement letters and other correspondence as needed.
 Communicate with board members and donors (by phone, e-mail, and mail) as necessary.
 Assist with planning and implementation of cultivation and fundraising events.
 Assist with writing, compiling, and filing of grant proposals.
 Provide clerical and secretarial support to the Executive Director and members of the
Development team as needed.
 Prepare for board and executive committee meetings by assembling packets.
 Manage hospitality and clean-up for board meetings and other key meetings.
 Serve as back-up for basic finance tasks and reception.

2. Job Requirements:
 Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
 High degree of proficiency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint
 Experience with an e-mail marketing program (such as Constant Contact) and a sales or
development database (such as Salesforce, Common Ground, or Raiser’s Edge)
 Experience with data entry and analysis
 Excellent writing and editing skills
 A record of exceptional attention to detail
 Comfort with a wide variety of constituents
 Strong research skills
 Self-directed
 Ability to multitask and work under pressure
 A record of outstanding customer service
 Ability to work independently but also well in teams
 A positive, forward-looking, and curious approach
The ideal candidate will also have:
 Fearlessness with technology
 A sense of humor
 An exhibited passion for mission-driven nonprofit organizations
 A love of creative writing and reading. Knowledge of the local and national literary scene
a plus.
Hours: The position is full-time, hourly, non-exempt and reports to the Deputy Development
Director. Some evening and weekend time will be expected. A standard full time week is 36
hours over four days, generally 8:30 to 5:30 but with some flexibility. The Loft offices are closed
on Mondays.
Compensation: $12 per hour (non-negotiable) plus a full package of benefits.
To Apply: Please e-mail your cover letter, resumé, and three confidential references with contact
information as an MS Word or PDF attachment to jobs@loft.org by 5 p.m. on September 29,
2011. Due to the expected number of applicants, we request that you do not call to check on your
status. You will get a confirmation by e-mail to let you know that your application was received.
Hiring Process: We will contact candidates quickly and conduct first interviews between
October 4–7. An offer will be made to the finalist by October 12. This position will start no later
than November 1.
The Loft is an equal opportunity employer.