Meeting with donors. Crafting communications strategies. Engaging with giving societies and alumni clubs. Throughout the year, these tasks are business as usual for staff members at the University of Delaware Office of Development and Alumni Relations (DAR). But this past summer featured extra help in the office trenches: students.

From mid-June to early August, 11 UD students were immersed in DAR’s paid internship program, getting hands-on experience in engaging alumni, cultivating donors, conducting data analysis, creating marketing campaigns and more, representing a veritable crash course in institutional advancement.

“Today’s students, especially those at UD, are looking for something much more hands-on from opportunities outside the classroom,” says Kathy Corbitt, director of talent management. “DAR’s internship program is intentionally project-driven with tangible outcomes, offering students a chance to take a direct role in sustaining relationships with important constituencies and building UD’s legacy.”

The frontline experience had some students, like Heather Conrad, AS17, not only thinking about their career trajectories, but rethinking them. Entering the program hoping to enrich her classroom experiences, Conrad was still exploring potential career paths when she took on a role benchmarking social media trends and faculty-staff engagement efforts across other colleges and universities. Now the senior communication major is preparing for a different kind of role: working as a part-time campaign associate for DAR, a job that was offered to her directly through her internship.

“It’s really exciting to be joining the staff and makes me appreciate the opportunity even more,” adds Conrad, who worked closely with DAR’s communications and campaign teams during the summer. “It means that the interns are not only accomplishing good work, but that work is getting recognized, too.”

After seeing the work and dedication that goes into building relationships with donors, senior Sarah Miller, AS17, echoes that same sentiment.

“Training with gift officers, doing prospect research and meeting donors has been really wonderful,” Miller says. “I know what I’m doing is vital to the University. Having this experience in higher education has completely changed where I want to go.”

Weekly professional development sessions helped distinguish DAR’s project-driven program from typical internship experiences, enriching the day-to-day work with workshops on networking, professional decorum, equity and inclusion, comprehensive fundraising campaigns and even one-on-one visits with UD donors.

“Working in a team-oriented environment is exciting,” says Lauren Pizzimenti, BE18, who helped DAR’s annual giving team validate and proof data stored in UD’s extensive databanks. “This was my first experience actually working in an office, and the ability to build a network, learn about what goes into a campaign, and hear more about other departments across UD has been really valuable.”

For other students, the opportunity to help develop tangible initiatives and programming was just as important as learning the ins and outs of the workplace. For example, Chad Balback, BE19, researched and designed an employee mentorship program to be instituted across DAR in the coming months. The experience has given him a new perspective on what a career in advancement entails and how its impact can have long-reaching effects — not just for alumni and donors, but for UD staff as well.

“This experience has given me a different view of higher education,” Balback says. “The office atmosphere is great, and the people are really helpful. I definitely see myself with a future in development.”

Recruiting for next summer’s DAR internship program will begin this fall.

This year’s interns and their projects are

• Ian Averback, AS19, creating a club sports fundraising toolkit;

• Charles Balback, BE19, developing an employee mentorship program for new hires;

• Heather Conrad, AS17, analyzing social media and faculty-staff relations strategies;

• Camilla Daniel, BE18, analyzing student-alumni transition;

• Abigail Hidalgo, AS18, creating a strategic plan to start a digital media ambassadors program;

• Kelly Liston, AS18 cataloging named recognition spaces across campus;

• Sarah Miller, AS17, gift officer training and research on reunion programs;

• Cara Murray, BE18, evaluating alumni and donor loyalty societies;

• Kara North, AS18, developing a proposal for a letterwinners club for former student-athletes;

• Lauren Pizzimenti, BE18, testing and documenting complex data sets used to develop marketing strategies; and

• Camille Santori, BE19, supporting and researching UD’s efforts to connect with new corporate partners.