GIFT Internship Program

Applications for our 2007-2008 program are now closed.
Please consider applying next year. In the meantime, click on Fundraising Action Trainings to register today for an upcoming grassroots fundraising workshop!

We invite you to spend six months in a hands-on internship, learning how to raise money for a community organization working for social justice.

GIFT interns are trained in fundraising principles and techniques, explore the context of progressive movement work and the relationship between fundraising and social justice, and then begin their placement spending 20 hours a week in a local community organization.

Interns receive a stipend of $12.50 per hour for the 23 weeks of the internship, attend two intensive GIFT fundraising trainings, receive extensive support from GIFT staff and each other through skill-share conference calls and check-ins, and work individually with a GIFT mentor in their region. Placement organizations benefit from having a part-time individual that is trained and supported by GIFT focused on building their grassroots fundraising program.

Internship Goals
The GIFT Internship Program was created to increase the number of people of color who are professional fundraisers, strengthen the grassroots fundraising skills of social justice organizations, provide a sense of autonomy and ownership to community-based organizations, and contribute to the building of movements for social justice.

Program Components

Interns - individuals selected by GIFT to complete a six-month, hands on internship in grassroots fundraising. Interns are placed in a local social justice organization to assist then in daily fundraising tasks.

Staff-in-Training - an individual currently working in a community-based organization participating in the program in order to strengthen their skills in order to be more effective fundraisers.

Placement Site – a grassroots community based organization that has been chosen to host an intern; works in a social justice capacity and is dedicated to strengthening their individual donor program.

Site Supervisor – the staff person at the placement site identified to supervise the intern/staff-in-training. Interns work with their site supervisors to develop a work schedule, daily activities, and fundraising plan.

Mentor – an experienced fundraiser identified by GIFT to serve as a resource for the intern.

How to Apply

GIFT will accept applications from prospective interns and placement sites through June 30th, 2007.

If your organization is interested in being a placement site

To be a placement site, your organization must:

• Be located in Denver or Boulder, Colorado; the San Francisco Bay Area; North Carolina, or Los Angeles/Central Coast Area, California
• Be a social, economic and/or environmental justice organization committed to GIFT’s political framework
• Be grounded in communities of color (reflected in your organization’s work, people served by the work, and paid and unpaid leadership of the organization)
• Have an established grassroots fundraising program and a commitment to integrating fundraising within your other program work
• Have at least one existing development staff
• Pay between 50%-75% of the internship stipend. Fees are based on budget size. (Not applicable to staff-in-training. Staff-in-training do not receive a stipend because they are already being paid as employees of the placement site)
• Have enough time for adequate on-site supervision of a new grassroots fundraising intern who will work 20 hours each week. This includes signing a weekly time sheet.
• Send the intern’s site supervisor to a portion of the initial training in September (arrive in Denver on the 18th, attend the training on the 19th and 20th, and depart on the 21st), and pay for related expenses for the supervisor to attend the training
• Allow the intern to raise $500 for GIFT (on their own time) as part of their internship experience
• Provide a positive learning experience for the intern, with opportunities to be involved as a member of a development team in a variety of fundraising strategies aimed at building an individual donor base for your organization
• Provide your intern with dedicated work space, including access to an Internet-equipped computer and a phone
• Provide opportunities for your intern to meet their internship graduation requirements.

Graduation requirements are: write/send five thank you cards or letters to donors; conduct a face-to-face ask with a donor at your organization’s “major gift” level; attend a Board meeting; actively participate in fundraising planning and evaluation; help plan a house party or special event; help coordinate a mail appeal; prepare a written evaluation of a grassroots fundraising activity; work on one grant-related activity; raise $500 for GIFT (on their own time) to help support future interns; work with a fundraising database.

We ask potential placement sites to recruit a potential intern from their constituency (for example, a volunteer or a person served by your group’s programs). Once your organization determines what prospective intern you would like to apply to the internship program with, please note the prospective intern’s name on your application to GIFT. The prospective intern can then submit their application to GIFT.  

If you are interested in being a GIFT intern

To be a GIFT intern, you must:

• Be a person of color with an analysis of social, economic and environmental justice
• Have a strong commitment to open, positive, healthy communication across complex differences
• Be able to work in a very fast-paced, challenging nonprofit setting
• Be able to work 20 hours per week at your placement site
• Attend our initial internship training in Denver (September 16th-20th, arrive on the 15th and depart on the 21st) and our mid-term training in Oakland (November 29th-December 1st, arrive on the 28th and depart on the 2nd). GIFT will pay your travel, food, and housing expenses for each of these trainings.
• Be committed to meeting the internship graduation requirements.

Intern graduation requirements are:

write/send five thank you cards or letters to donors; conduct a face-to-face ask with a donor at your organization’s “major gift” level; attend a Board meeting; actively participate in fundraising planning and evaluation; help plan a house party or special event; help coordinate a mail appeal; prepare a written evaluation of a grassroots fundraising activity; work on one grant-related activity; raise $500 for GIFT (on your own time) to help support future interns; work with a fundraising database.

We ask potential interns to apply together with an organization you are already part of (as a volunteer, member, user/client of the organization’s services, etc.). If you would like your group to host you as a GIFT intern, please share this web site with the organization’s development staff and ask them to consider applying together with you.

For more information on the GIFT internship program, please contact Manish Vaidya, Program Coordinator, at (510) 452-4520 x 301 or at manish@grassrootsfundraising.org.

You can help support the next generation of social justice fundraisers.

Your gift of $250 gives an intern 5 hours of mentorship time from a compassionate, seasoned grassroots fundraiser.

$100 helps interns stay connected and skill-share with their peers across the country through all-intern conference calls.

$50 gets quick, easy to use print and video resources into the hands of these promising new fundraisers.

Please take a moment to donate now.