Fall 2026 Undergraduate Intern, Nationwide Prospect Development and Portfolio

The ACLU seeks an Graduate or Undergraduate Intern within the Nationwide Prospect Development and Portfolio Strategy (NPSPD) unit of the ACLU’s National office in New York City. This internship can be hybrid or remote.

Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated undergraduate students or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship. 

The Team: 

The ACLU's Nationwide Portfolio Strategy and Prospect Development (NPSPD) team focuses on a number of prospect development efforts to support major gifts fundraising, including prospect identification, prospect research, and portfolio management. 

What You’ll Do: 

The intern will be part of the Development department, learning about fundraising operations at a large civil rights nonprofit organization. The intern will report to the Associate Director, Prospect Development, focusing on prospect identification, prospect research, business intelligence, and portfolio management. The intern will learn about prospect development in addition to the range of other work within NPSPD. They will also be exposed to the work of other teams within the ACLU’s Development Department. By involving the intern in an array of work within our unit, the internship expands the capacity of our team while contributing to a pipeline of potential nonprofit professionals.

Your Day to Day

• Conduct prospect research to deepen our knowledge of donors’ capacity and inclination to make a major gift to the ACLU. 
• Learn about enterprise-wide fundraising tools, including data analytics and resources to support prospect segmentation and analysis. Assist in vendor screening data uploads. 
• Assist in prospect identification through an ongoing calendar of internal and external prospecting reviews including upgrade reports and assessments of vendor screening data.   
• Make recommendations for assigning prospects to national and affiliate portfolios and communicate those recommendations to nationwide fundraisers. 
• Other duties potentially include Salesforce CRM data entry, business intelligence reporting projects, writing event bios, and assisting with other NPSPD department projects. 

 What You’ll Bring:

• Interest in a career in nonprofit development, especially in prospect development
• Interest in exploring community centric fundraising (CCF) principles
• Good writing skills and verbal communication skills
• Experience with Microsoft Office

Future ACLU-ers Will:

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflict

Internship Logistics:

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship is full-time and remote from our New York City office.
• Time Commitment: Part-time (20 hours/week)
• Internship Duration: Part-time internships span 12 consecutive weeks. This internship has a start date of: September 8th or September 21st
• Stipend: A stipend is available for students who are lawfully authorized to work. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit.
  • Below is the stipend rate:
    • $20/hr for undergraduate students or equivalent experience.

 

This internship must be tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.

 

Why the ACLU:

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.

Our Commitment to Accessibility, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion  

Accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us. 

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. 

To maintain the integrity of our assessment process, please refrain from using AI-powered chatbots, search engines, or real-time assistance tools to generate your CV, cover letter or writing sample (if required). We want to better understand your individual skills and thought processes. If you require AI tools or other assistive technology as a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please complete the Accommodation Request Form so that we can support an accessible and equitable experience.

In order to be considered for this position, all candidates must formally submit an application. The ACLU does not accept unsolicited calls or emails from candidates regarding their application status.