Who We Are

The American Journalism Project’s mission is to establish and sustain local journalism as a public good by helping to build and launch nonprofit local news organizations. We are accepting applications for a 3-month internship program with our broader advancement team, which is comprised of the philanthropy and communications team.

We’re an entrepreneurial team working to reshape the future of local news in our country. We’re passionate about journalism, civic engagement, and how local news uniquely shapes our democracy. We help build and grow sustainable local nonprofit news organizations all over the country — through financial investment, venture support, and movement building — that are governed by, sustained by, and look like the public they serve.

Our Values

• Local First: We know that local journalism must serve and be led by local communities. We make a practice of listening to, and making decisions with – not for – those communities, and connecting them to find strength in each other.
• Bold Leadership: We understand the severe economic challenge facing local news and thus democracy, and we embrace a sense of possibility with courage, urgency, and perseverance.
• Constant Learning: We recognize the unknown in front of us. Therefore, we operate with humility and a commitment to continuous improvement and collaboration.
• Commitment to Equity: We commit to creating a better, more diverse, and more inclusive news media that advances human and civil rights. We actively fight against injustice and racism, and that starts with doing the work ourselves.
• Integrity: We accept the responsibility of earning trust every day. We operate with honesty, transparency, dignity, and respect, and without allegiance to party, ideology, profit, or power.

Your Team

The advancement intern will join the American Journalism Project’s Advancement team. Led by Chief Advancement Officer Patty Slutsky, the Advancement team is focused on AJP’s external engagement, which includes communications and fundraising. We work together to raise capital from the philanthropic sector and raise the visibility of AJP and the local nonprofit news ecosystem more broadly. We also collaborate with other players in the field to advance policy interventions for local news.

The Position

The intern would join the team for a duration of three months. We are open to full-time and part-time applicants. Interns are paid $18 per hour, and all internships are fully remote. Over the course of the internship period, the intern will work with our Advancement Associate and Senior Development Analyst on the following projects:

Project 1: Prospect Audit

The intern will work with our Advancement Associate to review the research materials for lapsed prospects and identify those that have the highest potential for re-engagement. Once the intern has curated an approved list of prospects, they will assist in updating the prospect research and have the opportunity to contribute to devising outreach strategy.

Project 2: Systematize information in Salesforce

The intern will collaborate with our Senior Development Analyst in adding, updating, and managing funder, prospect and grantee information in Salesforce. Using the (easy-to-use!) nonprofit success pack version of Salesforce, the intern will start by performing an audit of all donor information. They will then update records with correct demographic information, research and past meeting details. The intern will continue to collaborate with the team to understand what other information is wanted or needed for our instance of Salesforce. This is a great opportunity to learn how to use a CRM or to expand your current Salesforce skills.

In addition, we envision the advancement intern will have an opportunity to work on other projects that will help familiarize them with the development and communications operations at a nonprofit organization.

Who you are

This role is a fit if…

• You are interested in exploring a career in the nonprofit sector, specifically in the areas of development and communications.
• You are interested in learning more about rebuilding local news across the country.
• You work well as an individual and with a team. You are comfortable joining a fully remote organization.

What background and skills do you have? (We know not all candidates will have all the skills we list. That’s okay. Tell us more about your relevant skills in the application!):

• Exceptional writing and research skills
• Comfortable collecting and analyzing data
• Remarkable attention to detail
• Ability to work collaboratively across a multidisciplinary team
• Curious to learn more about an advancement operation at a 501(c)3

Please submit an application through our portal. If you have any questions, please feel free to email careers@theajp.org with “Internship” in the subject line.

The American Journalism Project is dedicated to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. The American Journalism Project encourages people of all races, colors, national origins, ancestries, creeds, religions, genders, ages, disabilities, veteran status, sexual orientations, and marital statuses to apply.