Brave Like Me Foundation Fundraising & Events Intern Cincinnati, OH · Intern Company website

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Brave Like Me Foundation creates moments of joy for children with complex medical conditions. Through Brayden’s Books, we bring comfort and connection; through Brave Friends Adventures, we create unforgettable experiences; and through Brave Pets, we reunite kids with the pets who love them most. Inspired by Brayden Otten, we exist to bring courage, hope, and joy when families need it most.

About Brave Like Me Foundation

Brave Like Me Foundation exists to bring courage, comfort, and joy to children with complex medical conditions and their families. Inspired by the life of Brayden Otten, our work is grounded in three pillars:

• Mind – Brayden’s Books: literacy, connection, and ease during medical care
• Body – Brave Friends Adventures: joyful experiences and outings for children and their closest friends
• Spirit – Brave Pets: reuniting hospitalized children with their beloved pets through the Mobile Family Pet Reunion Center

Together, these pillars form a wholehearted approach to healing, one that recognizes that true care extends beyond medicine. By addressing emotional connection, joyful experience, and inner resilience, Brave Like Me meets children where they are and walks beside them with compassion, courage, and love.

Internship Description

Brave Like Me Foundation is seeking a confident, organized, and mission-driven Fundraising & Events Intern to help power the relationships and resources that fuel our impact. This internship is ideal for a student who wants real-world experience in nonprofit fundraising, donor relations, sponsorship, and event execution, while building strong storytelling skills.

Brave Like Me operates with a startup mindset. We move fast, build what’s needed, and scale what works. That means interns get meaningful projects, real ownership, and the tactical experience of a growing organization. You will leave with resume-ready work you can actually show, measurable outcomes you can talk about in interviews, and hands-on experience using modern fundraising tools.

This role has two major focuses:

• Supporting donor and sponsor engagement through research, outreach preparation, stewardship, and organized follow-up
• Helping bring fundraising campaigns and events to life through planning support, logistics, signage, run-of-show materials, and post-event reporting

Depending on the semester, this intern may support different elements of major initiatives such as the Bravesgiving Gala, the Brave Open Golf Outing, peer-to-peer campaigns, and earned revenue opportunities. Interns will also learn and work inside tools like Givebutter, Monday.com, and other systems that help us stay organized, tell our story well, and follow through with excellence.

This is an unpaid internship; however, candidates may be eligible to receive academic credit or eligible work study as approved by their institution. Interns are expected to work approximately 15–20 hours per week, primarily during standard office hours (Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.), with occasional evenings or weekends tied to events, campaigns, or special initiatives.

Core Responsibilities

What You Will Own with Mentorship

This role comes with real ownership. You will lead a defined set of deliverables, such as:

• Building and maintaining a donor and sponsor prospect list with clear notes, next steps, and timelines
• Creating outreach preparation materials, email drafts, and call prep notes for fundraising conversations
• Running a stewardship workflow including thank-you follow-ups and impact updates
• Supporting at least one fundraising event or campaign from planning through post-event wrap-up
• Producing a post-event or post-campaign recap that captures results, lessons learned, and recommendations

Donor and Sponsor Support

• Research prospective donors, sponsors, and partners aligned with Brave Like Me
• Support outreach preparation by drafting emails, organizing contact lists, and tracking next steps
• Assist with stewardship and relationship follow-up including thank-you notes, confirmations, and impact messaging
• Help coordinate sponsor deliverables and fulfillment such as recognition lists, signage needs, and timelines
• Maintain accurate tracking in internal systems to ensure follow-up is timely and consistent

Fundraising Campaign Support (Givebutter and Peer-to-Peer)

• Support campaign setup and execution in tools like Givebutter, including pages, updates, basic reporting, and supporter follow-up
• Assist with peer-to-peer campaign organization, participant communication, and lightweight storytelling prompts
• Help track campaign performance and summarize what is working and what should improve next time

Fundraising Event Planning and Execution (Seasonal Focus)

• Support planning and logistics for fundraising events including schedules, checklists, and run-of-show documents
• Assist with vendor coordination, printed materials, signage, and event-day readiness
• Help coordinate volunteers and staffing needs for event execution
• Support day-of event logistics and ensure sponsor recognition details are executed accurately
• Assist with post-event wrap-up including follow-up tasks, documentation, and reporting

Storytelling and Communications

• Draft donor-facing content such as short impact updates, sponsor recognition copy, event blurbs, and thank-you messaging
• Help collect and organize stories, quotes, and photos from events and program moments when available
• Support creating simple, repeatable messaging that makes our impact clear and personal

Systems, Project Management, and Continuous Improvement

• Use tools like Monday.com (and other trackers) to keep tasks, timelines, and follow-up organized
• Track simple performance indicators such as outreach activity, sponsor commitments, and follow-up completion
• Contribute ideas to improve fundraising workflows, stewardship cadence, and event operations

Qualifications

• Current undergraduate or graduate student in nonprofit management, business, marketing, communications, event management, hospitality, public relations, or a related field
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Professional written communication skills and comfort drafting emails and donor-facing copy
• Comfort learning technology platforms such as Givebutter, Monday.com, and related tools
• Confident, compassionate demeanor when interacting with donors, sponsors, volunteers, and partners
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment
• Comfortable working independently, bringing ideas forward, and owning outcomes
• Experience with spreadsheets, CRM tools, or project trackers is a plus (not required)

What You’ll Gain

• Real ownership of fundraising and event operations in a growing social impact nonprofit
• Resume-ready deliverables including prospect lists, outreach prep, stewardship workflows, event checklists, sponsor fulfillment trackers, and post-event reporting
• Hands-on experience using modern fundraising and project tools like Givebutter and Monday.com
• Practical storytelling experience that strengthens donor communication and campaign performance
• Mentorship and feedback focused on professional growth, fundraising fundamentals, and operational excellence
• A meaningful role supporting children and families facing medically complex situations