Lake Institute on Faith & Giving – within the first-of-its-kind Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy – invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for the full-time position of Associate Research Scholar.

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The Opportunity

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving’s mission focuses on fostering greater understanding of the dynamic relationship between faith and giving through research, education, and public conversation. Under the direction of the Lake Institute Director, the Associate Research Scholar (Research Associate) will help to manage, conduct, analyze, and produce scholarly research and public reports across the interdisciplinary field of religion and philanthropy. This research portfolio would include working with existing data from School of Philanthropy datasets such as the Philanthropy Panel Study, Giving USA, and other research projects as well as fostering new research partnerships alongside internal partners such as the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, Women’s Philanthropy Initiative, Mays Family Institute, as well as external partners such as the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC), Faith Communities Today (FACT) and Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB).

Inside Lake Institute, an ideal candidate would bring capacities in both quantitative methods and qualitative methods, as well as the ability to assist in coordinating research projects. The Research Associate would have the opportunity to communicate with academic and public audiences through written and verbal presentations such as research reports, conference presentations, as well as blog and website contributions. The Research Associate may also serve as liaison to project staff, the Institutional Review Board, and other collaborative researchers and practitioners inside and outside of Indiana University. An ideal candidate may also conduct interviews with respondents, focus groups, and ethnographic observations.

About the Institute

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving fosters a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between faith and giving, through research, education, and public conversation.

We believe Lake Institute can make its most important contribution to American religious life by helping to articulate and nurture this deeper understanding of the role of faith and giving, through research, education and public conversation. We hope through our work to enhance the reflection and action by 21st century religious institutions, movements, and enterprises, and the capacity, creativity, and confidence of those who will lead them.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Assist the Director in research related to the projects.
• Cleaning, analysis, and original contributions to large data sets
• Qualitative interviews and coding qualitative data
• Ongoing Analysis of the latest trends in the field of faith and giving
• Develop and extend new research agendas and projects
• Helping to coordinate an academic research agenda as well as produce public reports at the intersection of religion and philanthropy
• Translation of research and data for practitioners and public audiences.

Qualifications

Education: Applicants are expected to have an M.A. but Ph.D. preferred in the social sciences or adjacent humanities by the start date.

Experience: A minimum of 4 years’ experience in nonprofits, fundraising, education or social science research, or another related field is encouraged.

Salary & Benefits

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Benefits will include health care; life and disability insurance; 403(b) retirement plan; tuition benefit; paid time off and paid holidays according to Indiana University policy.

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted only via the Indiana University online application system. The job number is 312096, and the posting may be found via this link: https://bit.ly/3C52R4v

Application materials shall include a resume with a cover letter of interest that specifically addresses how the candidate’s experiences and qualifications meet the qualifications described in this position profile. For full consideration please submit application by August 19. Requests for additional information and/or written nominations may be sent to the Search Committee at lfi@iu.edu.

Please include your responses to the following questions:

What drew you to apply for a research position at the intersection of faith and giving? What experience or particular interest do you have in the topic?

Please share with us how you have sought to manage a complex project – perhaps across a team, multiple institutions, or an extended timeframe?

Lake Institute and the School of Philanthropy are committed to academic but also public-facing research. What kind of research methods and outputs align best with your experience and interests?