Special Events Assistant

Make lives meaningful through making.

Who We Are

Penland School of Craft is an international center for craft education offering residential workshops, residencies, community education programs, and exhibitions. Located on 420 acres in the NC Mountains, Penland has 16 teaching studios and 60 historic and contemporary buildings. We are an equal-opportunity employer with a staff of 50+. Penland operates with a $54 million endowment and an annual operating budget of $8.4 million. We are located about an hour northeast of Asheville, NC. 

Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Penland School of Craft welcomes everyone and believes that equity, inclusion, diversity, and antiracism are essential to our mission. We want the Penland experience to benefit from varied ideas, world views, and personal experiences. We stand against all forms of discrimination and are committed to creating an environment grounded in our equity values.

Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, and other people who identify as people of color or BIPOC individuals are encouraged to apply, as are people holding other marginalized identities related to gender, sexual orientation, ability, and class background.

Reports to: Special Events Manager

Department: Development

Employment Status: Full-time (35 hours weekly with flex up to 40 hours April - September)

FLSA Status: Non-exempt

Start date: TBD

Last Updated:  November 14, 2024

Position Summary

The Penland Special Events Assistant assists and with all school special events, including the annual benefits auction.  Additionally, they assist the development department with Penland’s fundraising, stewardship, and cultivation projects. The special events assistant reports to the special events manager and collaborates with the development team, staff, and volunteers. The position requires assisting with the planning, coordination, execution, and reconciliation of special events on and off campus, records maintenance, participation in departmental planning, and administrative support of the development office.  

Primary Responsibilities

Special Events Support

• Duties may include but are not limited to event ideation and planning, invitation management, supply orders, vendor coordination, setup, execution, breakdown of events, budget reconciliation, and data reporting.
• Manage the preparation, setup, execution, and breakdown of session scholarship auctions.

Annual Benefit Auction Support

• Supports all aspects of the annual benefit auction to ensure a successful event and to meet auction goals.
• Coordinate all aspects of the art appeal, including developing the artist solicitation list, preparing and mailing donation appeals, overseeing follow-up activities with artists, and tracking all information regarding donations using Excel and Raiser’s Edge software.
• Maintaining accurate records to ensure artist and art information for all aspects of the event and acknowledgment of artist contributions.
• Manage packaging, storage, and shipping of artwork.
• Organize all aspects of photo week and serve as the on-site staff contact for volunteers. Prepare artwork to be photographed during photo week.
• Prepare auction PowerPoint for art sorting and promotions.  Create the auctioneer book to help the auctioneer during the live event.
• Manage art handling and support exhibitions, vannas,  and art handling crews during the event.

Sponsorships, In-Kind Donations, and Advertising

• Research and solicit potential corporate sponsors, in-kind gifts, and catalog advertisers; this may include cold-calling potential donors.
• Coordinate all advertiser and in-kind donor communications, including solicitations, follow-up, billing, late notices, and thank you letters.
• Help maintain relationships with sponsors, in-kind donors,  and catalog advertisers.

General Development Support

• Serve as a key member of the development team by supporting and assisting with data entry, database management, filing, and other administrative tasks.
• Assist with donor acknowledgment and stewardship process, including mailings, calls, email correspondence, and pledge reminders.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• A general understanding of the field of craft.
• Excellent organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent customer service skills are essential; must be comfortable with telephone and in-person communications with artists, patrons, advertisers, instructors, students, and staff.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse groups of individuals.
• Ability to manage large amounts of information. Attention to detail and accuracy are essential.
• Strong knowledge and technical fluency in Google Suite, Microsoft Word, and Excel.
• Ability to work within deadlines and under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated interest in the arts/arts management.
• Experience with development office work is preferred but not required. Please indicate if you have experience with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge or other fundraising or auction software.
• Able to accommodate a flexible work schedule; some events require working evenings and weekends and may include occasional travel.

Physical Demands
The employee is regularly required to work at a computer. They must frequently use their hands to manipulate or touch objects, tools, and controls; they must speak fluently, hear, and see (including close vision). The employee will need to navigate areas of the campus with uneven terrain successfully. The employee must be able to lift and move objects weighing up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.

Benefits
We take care of our staff through a wide range of benefits. For your wellness, we offer multiple medical plans, vision, dental, long-term disability, life insurance, retirement, and an EAP program. Benefits include generous vacation, sick, extended sick, and floating holiday leave programs, limited access to studios, free classes, meals during programming, and other discounts. We have other generous benefits that we can explore more during the interview process. 

Compensation
This is a full-time, year-round, benefits-eligible position consisting of 35 hours per week between October and March and 40 hours between April and September, equalling 1950 hours annually.  This position will occasionally have overtime. The starting wage for this non-exempt position is negotiable within the range of $16.40 TO $18.04, based on the applicant’s skills and experience they bring to the position. 

To Apply
The position will remain open until filled; however, the initial review of applications will consist of applications received by December 15, 2024.