Kiva Public Relations Intern

Position: Intern,Public Relations & Media Alliances

Reports to: Director of Communications & Media Alliances

Location:San Francisco, CA – Downtown

Job Type:6 month unpaid internship position (20-25 hours per-week). Days and exact hours are flexible.

Deadline: Open until filled. Strongly prefer a July 16 start date for inclusion in Intern training week and meeting the 27 other new Kiva Interns.

The Company

Called the "hottest non-profit on the planet" by FORTUNE magazine and a Top 50 Website by TIME, Kiva (www.kiva.org) is the world's first and largest microlending marketplace helping to alleviate poverty. To advance this mission Kiva connects hundreds of thousands of lenders to borrowers needing support to realize their dreams. So far, this approach has enabled Kiva to raise $300+ million for 700,000+ entrepreneurs in 60+ countries.

Background

The Public Relations Intern role is part of Kiva’s  Marketing and Communications (M&C) team. The M&C team is primarily responsible for introducing Kiva to potential new lenders, bringing them to Kiva’s “front door.”  The PR intern role fulfills several critical support roles to bolster Kiva’s communications efforts in broadcast, print and online media. Kiva operates as a “start-up” in that we move fast, everybody counts, and your contribution has the potential to make a big impact on Kiva and the world at large. For 2012, Kiva has an ambitious media plan with several stories that need to be developed, well-researched, written, and pitched to news/consumer media outlets. The Public Relations Intern is a key part of creating and executing these plans.

Job Description

This is an exciting opportunity to hone your writing and interview skills on a wide range of topics from small business development in the U.S. to social and economic conditions for youth in the Arab World. There is no shortage of interesting and provocative stories to develop. This is a job for someone interested in each aspect of journalism: finding the news angle, investigating the facts, writing compelling stories and tracking results. Stories are developed for print, blogs, social media, radio and TV.

The Public Relations Intern is primarily responsible for conducting interviews with sources, tracking and reporting pick-up, writing stories, fact sheets, op-eds, press releases, and pitches. The intern will also assist in developing and executing overall communications plans. In return, the intern will receive support and professional development in each of the areas above. The successful candidate will be experienced in or curious about international development and/or microfinance; have strong writing skills; be able to understand complex information; care about human interest angles; and have experience conducting primary research for the purpose of developing reliable, factual background documents.

Job Responsibilities

·         Assist in media tracking and maintenance of Kiva’s media database in Vocus.

·         Assist in identifying key reporters and bloggers to pitch stories to.

·         Conduct information gathering interviews among Kiva staff, fellows and partners for story development.

·         Take on several critical stories from start to finish.

·         Conduct research identifying academic, government and organizational studies for fact-sheet development.

·         Write and edit press releases, op-eds, columns, and other materials.

·         Assist in preparing spokespeople for media interviews including writing talking points, providing background on the reporter or their outlet, and finding story lines and facts relevant to the interview.

·         Assist in responding to media requests for information.

·         Participate in editorial meetings to brainstorm story ideas and media opportunities.

·         Participate in strategy sessions to help map out communications plans, deliverables, timelines, and main message development.

Skills / Qualifications / Experience

·         Prefer candidates with journalism or public relations experience and/or degree. Candidates with experience in other fields requiring strong research and writing skills will also be considered.

·         Strong research, writing and communications skills are a must.

·         Ability to develop and maintain positive working relationships with a wide variety of people.

·         Ability to problem solve and make decisions individually and/or within a team.

·         Ability to prioritize, handle a variety of tasks and be self-directed.

·         Strong commitment to ethics, honesty, and integrity in conducting business.

·         Ability to interact effectively with people of other cultures, capacities, and organizations.

·         Flexibility and the ability to take on projects as they come up.

·         Desire to work in a fast-paced collaborative environment.

·         Familiarity with database programs is a plus (conent management systems, Salesforce, Access, Filemaker Pro, Cision, Vocus, etc.).

Benefits

·         Casual work environment.

·         Highly visible role that provides opportunities for gaining experience in public relations, media relations, microfinance, and crowdfunding platforms.

·         Opportunity to join the team of the world's first online microlending platform.

·         References gladly given for successful participants.

If Interested

·         Please click here fill out our application form (http://volunteerportal.kiva.org/volunteerapplicationform)

·         Make sure you have a plain text resume and cover letter available.

·         Due to the high numbers of applicants for this position, we regret that we can only respond to candidates that we would like to interview.