ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

Cradles to Crayons (Cradles to Crayons) was founded in 2002, with the mission of providing children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play. These essentials include clothing, shoes, school supplies, and much more.

Headquartered in Boston, MA, Cradles to Crayons opened a Philadelphia, PA location in 2007. By partnering with social-service organizations across the states of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Cradles to Crayons connects communities that have surplus resources—new or gently used items in good condition—with communities that desperately need access to those resources.

Cradles to Crayons collects new and nearly new children’s items through grassroots community drives and corporate donations; which are then processed and packaged by volunteers, and distributed to disadvantaged children across the region through a collaborative network of social service agencies, as well as school partners. Cradles to Crayons supplies these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need.

Cradles to Crayons meets a critical need as more than 300,000 children 12 years old and younger live in poverty stricken situations. Their living conditions can have negative effects on their self-esteem, as poverty can lead to behavioral, social and emotional problems; which in turn impact educational performance and safety for many of these children start first grade up to two years later than their peers and may live in more hazardous environments that can increase the risk of injury.

While meeting the immediate needs of low-income children, Cradles to Crayons also sets a foundation for lasting change by providing meaningful, tangible volunteer opportunities to thousands of individuals and families and hundreds of corporations each year by organizing clothing collections, hosting a fundraiser, or working in the Giving Factory warehouse.

Cradles to Crayons. In 2014, Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia provided 55,000 packages to children. Cradles to Crayons – Philadelphia will be doubling its size to increase services to children by moving to a new warehouse in 2015.

Cradles to Crayons also earned the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator for the sixth consecutive year. Only 3% of charities rated have received at least five consecutive four-star evaluations. Thus, differentiating Cradles to Crayons from its peers and indicating that Cradles to Crayons outperforms most other charities in America.

Cradles to Crayons is at the cutting edge of volunteer management and has become the largest volunteer opportunity in the area, providing unique, hands-on opportunities for people to help other people. This is one of the most powerful aspects of the Cradles to Crayons experience.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Executive Assistant/Project Manager is responsible for providing technical, project management and administrative support for the Executive Director (ED) and Development Team to achieve organizational and development goals and act as a leader for the CRM function in Cradles to Crayons – Philadelphia. This role requires this position to manage several key functions for the ED and Development Team: 1) Project manage special initiatives taken by the Executive Director and Development Department. Examples of projects might include coordinating a major fundraiser or assisting with the project management of Cradles to Crayons move from 16,500 SF warehouse to a 40,000 SF warehouse in 2015. 2) Serve as SalesForce Administrator for the Philadelphia market in conjunction with the database administrator, 3) Manage all administrative systems and processes for the ED and the Development Team. This position will report to the Executive Director.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Works closely with the Executive Director and Development Team to:

Manage and act as Project Manager for key organizational initiatives. These may include, but are not limited to: event planning, data research, operational strategies, expansion and move planning to new warehouse in 2015.
Act as one of two database experts in Philadelphia to manage projects and special and-hoc requests to ensure that the Cradles to Crayons CRM is being used to maximum efficiency.
Researching and providing data analysis and analytical reports as needed
Provide ongoing support and coaching for Cradles to Crayons team on use of Cradles to Crayons CRM.
Manage and resource signature events; such as Un-Gala or Presidents Day

to the development and senior management teams.

Manage and preserve the confidentiality of all development data, especially financial data, and department functioning both internally and externally.

Coordinates the development and senior leadership teams by:

Managing the ED’s calendar
Managing the daily administrative functions.
Preparing and coordinating weekly staff meetings.
Preparing logistics for quarterly Board meetings and making travel arrangements for the ED.
Planning, scheduling and managing the logistics for development meetings and visits.
Managing the thank you notes process, both system-generated and handwritten.
Acting as the primary contact for individuals and organizations seeking information from the Executive Director, prioritizing these requests, and ensuring outgoing communication is timely and accurate.

QUALIFICATIONS

A BA/BS degree required. 5+ years of experience in a work environment required, experience in fundraising and event management preferred; experience in nonprofit preferred

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Read, speak and write fluent English, with good verbal skills
Have exemplary attention to detail
Demonstrate strong analytical skills
Use analytical skills, considerable judgment, and initiative to establish work procedures
Easily navigate through Microsoft Office suite (strong Excel and Word skills)
Easily navigate through Salesforce CRM or a similar CRM system
Demonstrate project management skills, including facility in managing and prioritizing projects with multiple and often competing deadlines
Work independently, under supervision, and in a team-based and goal-oriented environment
Must be able to build effective and beneficial relationships with external contacts
Communicate effectively and be able to distill and explain often complex procedures to people at varying comfort levels with technology.
Uphold high quality of customer service with all Cradles to Crayons stakeholders.
Demonstrate ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively with other Cradles to Crayons staff, Philadelphia counterparts, and the Cradles to Crayons Board of Directors.

ACCOMODATIONS

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made by Cradles to Crayons which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others, or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

The Cradles to Crayons position specifications are not intended as, and do not create, employment contracts. Cradles to Crayons maintains its status as a Pennsylvania at-will employer. (Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.)

Cradles to Crayons is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Please send your resume and cover letter to jobsPA@cradlestocrayons.org

In your email, put Executive Assistant & Special Projects Manager in the Subject line.