FJ Internship Job Descriptions

Editorial

Summary
The editorial intern program of Friends Journal is designed to give an overview of the operations of a small monthly magazine (circulation: ca. 8,000), with an emphasis on the editorial work. It is a flexible program that can be adapted to a variety of time formats (from a few hours per week to full-time) depending on the needs of the intern, but the length should be more than one full month (and hopefully longer), so that the intern experiences at least one entire editorial cycle.

If necessary, we teach the basics of copyediting, along with the considerations that go into choosing and preparing copy for publication. If the intern brings skills with graphics or layout software, we may be able to make use of them here. We also offer opportunities to assist with marketing and circulation, and other administrative tasks. Interns participate in the monthly cycle of work determined by our production deadlines and, when that work is not pressing, work on longer-term projects designed to be informative as well as useful to the magazine. The emphasis is on editing, not writing, but there will be some opportunities to write as well.

Editorial tasks

Participate in editing manuscripts for clarity, conciseness, flow, and factual accuracy, and for style using Chicago Manual of Style, American Heritage Dictionary, and the Friends Journal style sheet.
Proofread finals.
Assist in evaluating manuscript and poetry submissions.
Assist with correspondence with authors.
Write a column and/or book review.
Draft items for News and Bulletin Board departments.
Assist with preparing papers for archiving.
Mark issues for indexing.

Production tasks

Participate in production graphics and layout meetings to discuss design ideas.
Assist with organization of graphics files.
Assist with editorial corrections in page layout software.
Lay out an article (optional-if familiar with software).

Administrative tasks

Attend weekly staff meetings (Wednesdays, midday).
Answer telephones on a relief basis.
Mail sample issues and single copies.
Assist with data entry into fundraising or circulation databases.
Assist with monthly circulation mailing.
Assist with promotion work and news releases.

Marketing

Introduction
The marketing intern program of Friends Journal is designed to give an overview of the operations of a small monthly magazine (circulation: ca. 8,000), with an emphasis on marketing and circulation work and the business side of running a nonprofit magazine. It is a flexible program that can be adapted to a variety of time formats (from a few hours per week to full-time, with flexible hours during the day) depending on the needs of the intern, but the length should be more than one full month (and hopefully longer), so that the intern has an opportunity to experience some of the monthly and seasonal cycles of our work.

The marketing intern program provides work in all areas related to marketing a monthly, paid circulation magazine. One channel of activities provides project management (or case study) exposure. Working with the marketing and circulation manager, a project is selected, analyzed, and implemented. Interns also will be expected to stuff envelopes, traffic mailings, make phone calls and accept assignments designed to introduce the fundamentals of marketing. The basic skills learned in this program are applicable to business in general and marketing in particular.

Based on our current activities, an intern's responsibilities could include:

Create and implement a space advertising plan with selected magazine. Contact magazines, negotiate trades, create production schedule for ads, monitor insertions, measure results.
Expand the cost per order analysis to all areas of new and renewal business.
Help implement a new sample issue program.
Research the single copy sales channel; contact wholesalers and distributors, learn pricing system, make recommendation on Friends Journal pricing structure.
Compute the lifetime value of a subscriber.
Document all ad campaigns, including creating a binder with campaign information and samples.
Compare and contrast the Friends Journal website with those of comparable magazines and Friends Journal competitors.
Expand and update press list.
Work on marketing of 9/11 Anthology: contacting press, press releases, develop advertising campaign, copy, etc.
Review and file marketing material (e.g., get rid of flyers, brochures and any other material with out-of-date information and prices).
Maintain display at Quaker Information Center; work with Helen File to create display for Arch Street meetinghouse.
Help design an e-mail newsletter marketing campaign.
Create a package for yearly and monthly meeting public relations displays.

Circulation

Introduction
The circulation intern program of Friends Journal is designed to give an overview of the operations of a small monthly magazine (circulation: ca. 8,000), with an emphasis on circulation and marketing work and the business side of running a nonprofit magazine. It is a flexible program that can be adapted to a variety of time formats (from a few hours per week to full-time, with flexible hours during the day) depending on the needs of the intern, but the length should be more than one full month (and hopefully longer), so that the intern has an opportunity to experience some of the monthly and seasonal cycles of our work.

This internship provides work in areas related to circulation management of a monthly, paid circulation magazine. Opportunities will be given to learn QuickFill (professional circulation software) applications. Attention will be given to research and fulfillment tasks. There will also be opportunities to work on marketing and promotional tasks, general business administrative tasks, and to learn about advertising sales. Interns will also be expected to stuff envelopes, traffic mailings, and make phone calls. The basic skills learned in this program are applicable to business in general and circulation management in particular.

Based on our current activities, an intern's responsibilities could include:

Enter new orders.
Ensure proper coding of records.
Research and update address changes.
De-duplicate records from the existing database.
Help fulfill back issue orders and set up a new procedure for doing so.
Take and help maintain inventory of back issues.
Help assemble and mail new order and gift acknowledgements.
Help assemble and mail renewal notices.
Enter new subscriber accounts into gift subscription or sample request batches.
Research and enter new data for bad addresses.
Occasional filing, as needed.
Assist with promotion work and news releases.
Answer telephones on a relief basis.
Attend weekly staff meetings (Wednesdays, midday).

Requirements

Computer familiarity.
Enjoyment of work demanding attention to detail and accuracy.

Development

Introduction
The development intern program of Friends Journal is designed to give an overview of the operations of a small monthly magazine (circulation: ca. 8,000), with an emphasis on the development (fundraising) and donor management needs of a nonprofit organization. It is a flexible program that can be adapted to a variety of time formats (from a few hours a week to full-time, with flexible hours during the day), depending on the needs of the intern, but the length should be more than one full month, preferably longer, so that the intern has an opportunity to experience some of the monthly or seasonal cycles of our work.

The Friends Journal development staff includes an Advancement Coordinator and Development Coordinator, both part-time, and a full-time Project and Database Manager, part of whose responsibilities pertain to donor management. Development interns will work primarily with the Project and Database Manager and will learn the basics of donor management databases, workflow, and procedures. Prior experience with applications such as Raiser's Edge or FundRaiser Pro is helpful but not required. Interns will also be expected to assist Journal
Based on our current activities, an intern's responsibilities could include:

Assist in entering donor information when address changes, requests, or gifts are received.
Assemble and mail donation acknowledgement letters.
Assist with mailing appeal letters from the JOURNAL office.
Help create, test, and document procedures for common tasks in our new database environment.
Help design new development materials such as brochures and response devices.
Work with the Project and Database Manager to identify and tackle projects related to our database conversion.
File paperwork as needed.

Development interns may come into contact with a limited amount of personal or financial information during the course of the internship, and they will be educated on the proper stewardship and security of such data. They will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Ad Sales

Introduction
Advertising Sales is essentially a revenue earning assignment. The job is very challenging, especially in a fluctuating economy, and the intern who is engaged will learn the need to be well organized and alert to many changes among advertisers, good at public relations, and persistently work toward improving sales performances.

The intern will initially assist the Advertising Sales Manager in various office procedures, before learning to deal with advertisers.

Office duties (briefly set out below) will include:

Maintain monthly record of incoming display, classified, and meeting ads.
Keep track of upcoming ad deadlines.
Prepare ad estimate, to ensure space limits are maintained.
Prepare and submit display and classified lists to production department (with clear and precise instructions).
Prepare new meeting listings and listing changes, for issues carrying meetings listing, and send to production department.
Check and proofread all ads sent to production department.
Prepare ad sheets for the month's advertisements.
Prepare and mail contract letters and renewal reminders.
Prepare labels for the month's advertisers.
Update address pool with new advertisers for the month.
Prepare display and classified Billing Summary Sheets for the month.
Make preparations for the next issue.
Research incoming other magazines, pick out suitable advertisements not seen in Friends Journal, find out address, send our ad brochure, and include in address pool.

The intern will have the opportunity of discussing the above duties in detail, so that he/she will fully understand the object of each exercise.

Business

Summary
The business intern program of Friends Journal is designed to give an overview of the operation of a small monthly magazine (circulation: ca. 8,000), with an emphasis on business, circulation, and marketing work. It is a flexible program that can be adapted to a variety of time formats (from a few hours a week to full-time) depending on the needs of the intern, but the length should be more than one full month (and hopefully longer), so that the intern has an opportunity to experience some of the monthly and seasonal cycles of our work.

The business intern program provides work in the areas of accounting, office procedures, customer service, meeting preparation, and assisting in various administrative tasks with exposure to several Microsoft Office programs.

Based on our current activities and intern's responsibilities could include:

Accounting tasks

Preparing cash receipts in Excel.
Preparing check vouchers and assigning expenses in Excel.
Entering checks that are written into Access database.

Office procedures

Filing.
Opening and distributing mail.
Answering forwarding phone calls.
Using various office equipment.
Enter data in Access in preparation of Friends Journal index.
Log and acknowledge manuscripts using Excel and Word.

Administrative tasks

Assist Publisher and Executive Editor with various tasks.
Assist in the preparation for Board meetings.
Research, on request, past articles and fill orders for back issues.
Provide back-up for other personnel in office.