Commensurate with experience, expertise, and other qualifying factors. AALS offers employees a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, dental insurance, free life and disability insurance for the employee, FSA, and 403B. To apply, please submit cover letter, resume to jobs@aals.org.
Required Education:
4 Year Degree
The Association of American Law Schools seeks an enthusiastic, organized, and detail-oriented team player to support the fundraising work that is essential to moving our mission and vision forward. The Development Specialist provides critical administrative and operational support for the planning and execution of AALS development programs and fundraising initiatives, working under the Director of Development and in collaboration with the Executive Director and AALS Communications, Meetings, Technology, and Finance teams.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Data Management & Administration
Support daily administrative operations for AALS development programs and fundraising initiatives.
Manage the CRM database to maintain accurate, up-to-date information on revenue, donor pipelines, sponsors, and exhibitors.
Coordinate development activities involving the Executive Director, board members, and key volunteers.
Monitor key metrics with the Development Director to assess program effectiveness and year over year performance.
Prepare accurate, ongoing reports on revenue progress and donor activity.
Donor Management and Engagement
Implement donor engagement and communication processes, including drafting direct mail and email campaigns in collaboration with Communications.
Coordinate stewardship activities, ensuring timely and compliant gift acknowledgments.
Produce donor listings for the website and program materials.
Manage thank-you calls, emails, and other donor recognition efforts.
Assist in managing funder contracts from initiation through completion.
Conduct prospect research, identify and prioritize new prospects, funders, and develop tailored engagement strategies.
Development Communications
Serve as a liaison to Communications, Meetings, and Tech teams to ensure consistent implementation of development-related content across AALS platforms and applications.
Assist with annual updates to public-facing websites, including events, Fellows, Corporate & Nonprofit Relationships, and the Law Firm Leadership Circle pages.
Manage direct marketing campaigns, donor recognition initiatives, donation reconciliation with Finance, and donor listings across web and print.
Support creation of external collateral such as the annual report, board meeting reports, and digital publications.
Support the Communication Team in other research activities.
Special Events and Meetings
Support logistical planning and execution of donor-focused in person and virtual meetings and events.
Assist with implementing Sponsor and Exhibitor Programs at the Annual Meeting, Clinical and New Law Teachers, including sending speaker confirmations and preparing presenters, as appropriate.
Ensure fulfillment of sponsor and exhibitor packages, including advertising placement and listings in digital and print materials.
Process exhibitor confirmations and invoices; distribute on-site information (shipping, AV, internet) and provide exhibitor details to registration.
Other duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS REQUIRED
Bachelor's degree required
2+ years’ experience working in nonprofit fundraising
Demonstrated ability to identify and solicit funds from corporations and individuals
Excellent written/oral communication skills
Demonstrated track record with respect to detail orientation and accuracy
Knowledge of principles, ethics and practices of successful fundraising
Ability to lead multiple long- and short-term projects simultaneously, meeting all related deadlines
Ability to plan, prioritize, coordinate, and manage own work
Ability to work unsupervised and make decisions and solve problems independently, effectively and creatively
Excellent verbal communication, interpersonal and relationship-building skills to
Effectively work with a variety of people and personalities; ability to communicate clearly in person and in writing
Proven ability to work effectively with board members, colleagues, donors and volunteers
Ability to present, inform and motivate individuals and groups about mission and service
Goal-oriented, persistent and persuasive in the contact, follow-through and completion of acquiring donor gifts
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association of 174 member and 19 fee-paid law schools. Its member schools enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers.
Founded in 1900, the mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve its many communities–local, national, and international.
AALS has the dual responsibility of serving law schools as an institutional membership organization, and individual law school faculty as their learned society. AALS offers a hybrid mix of in-person and virtual professional development opportunities. The AALS Annual Meeting, the centerpiece of yearly association activities, draws thousands of professors, deans, and administrators in early January. An Opening Plenary and Presidential Programs are among the highlights. Recent additions to the A...nnual Meeting include Discussion Groups of invited faculty on selected topics and Arc of Career programs addressing the professional careers of law faculty and administrators. To encourage and recognize excellent legal scholarship by new law teachers, AALS issues a call for scholarly papers by full-time faculty who have taught for five years or less. A committee of legal scholars selects for special recognition those authors whose papers have made the most substantial contribution to legal literature. Other legal education organizations also hold meetings or programs in conjunction with the Annual Meeting, and law schools hold receptions for graduates and friends. It is an outstanding opportunity for legal educators to connect with colleagues from other law schools and countries around matters of common interest.
Each year, the Association also hosts in-person a clinical conference, a workshop for new law teachers, and a forum for law school deans. Over the past few years AALS organized virtual webinars and conferences related to becoming a law professor, institutional advancement, and democracy. Additional virtual programs included support for adjuncts and lecturers, faculty appointment committees, and faculty candidates.
Faculty and deans also engage throughout the year via the 108 sections that present programs, provide mentoring for new faculty, and serve as a resource for discussions on important legal issues including antitrust, criminal justice, dispute resolution, education law, international law, and taxation.
AALS serves as a voice on behalf of legal education. Its website features the latest news and issues related to legal education and showcases outstanding faculty and innovative programs at law schools. In 2022, the Association launched an ongoing member school highlight series on its website that features a different law school and program at each institution. AALS also connects with the legal education community and public on social media including Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, and YouTube.
AALS conducts research on topics important to legal education. In 2018, AALS published two research reports based on a national survey conducted for the Association by Gallup to understand student views on law school: Before the JD: Undergraduate Views on Law School and Beyond the Bachelor’s: Undergraduate Perspectives on Graduate and Professional Degrees. More recently, the Association released the American Law School Dean Study in 2022 and the American Law School Faculty Study in 2024.
AALS is the only nonprofit association that is a member of both the American Council on Education and the American Council of Learned Societies, reflecting its dual mission. AALS also belongs to the Consortium of Social Science Associations, the National Humanities Alliance, and the Washington Higher Education Secretariat.
