Institutional Giving Undergraduate Internship

The Government Relations and Corporate Relations teams at the Field Museum are seeking a summer undergraduate intern. The position is full time (35 hours a week), paid, requires substantial evening and weekend hours, and also requires that you have access to a vehicle and can drive to events throughout the Chicagoland area (mileage reimbursement available). We work in-person a minimum of three days a week.

Our teams support the Field Museum’s relationships with corporate partners, sponsors, and donors, and with government officials and agencies. While seeking funding from these partners is one of our primary objectives, we spend much of our time supporting our external relationships. This takes many forms, from visiting a government official’s office to chat about Museum science, to inviting a corporate sponsor’s team to the Museum for a volunteer day to doing research regarding the best way to interact with our external partners.

Our intern will:

Have finished at least one full year of undergraduate education and be no more than one calendar year from graduation of undergraduate degree at the start of the internship

Be an outgoing and friendly personality who can enthusiastically greet and interact with the public

Be able to produce concise, well-structured memos, briefs, and summaries for internal audiences

Have demonstrated ability to manage projects independently and follow through on deliverables

Be comfortable working with defined goals but without step-by-step instructions

Be confident in gathering, synthesizing, and interpreting information from multiple sources (policy, funding opportunities, institutional data)

Be adept at tracking multiple deadlines (e.g., grants, policy updates)

Produce accurate, well-formatted work products

Have genuine curiosity about how funding opportunities and policy impact cultural and scientific institutions

Experience using Excel / Google Sheets or similar tools to organize and analyze information is a plus

Ability to speak Spanish is a plus, but not required

While we accept applications from any majors, the following majors may be specifically interested in our work:

Anthropology

Art History

Business

Classics

Communications

Economics

English

Ethnic or Area Studies

Finance

Gender Studies

History

Liberal Arts

Linguistics / Language Majors

Philosophy

Political Science

Sociology

Your duties will include supporting corporate and government engagement activities, communications with government officials, and data management and analytics. On any given day, you may help organize the details of a corporate team volunteer day, accompany a Congresswoman and her staff on a behind the scenes tour of the museum, staff an activity table at an event outside of the Museum, analyze corporate giving trends, or write a policy report. As such, this role offers insight into non-profit management, corporate and government giving, and community outreach.

During the course of your 10-week internship, in addition to your work in our offices, we will provide opportunities for you to do informational interviews with our Museum colleagues in other departments and also in some of Chicago’s other major cultural institutions. We expect you to enjoy taking time every week to explore the Field Museum and will provide structured time for you to take in cultural experiences at other Chicago institutions. The internship will conclude with a capstone-style project, determined by you and your supervisors in the first few weeks, based on your interests. You will exit the internship with a better understanding of the variety of careers available in the cultural and tourism industries as well as a more in-depth understanding of stewardship, relationship management, and non-profit funding.

In your application materials, please indicate the date on which you are available to start onsite at the Field Museum and when you need to conclude your internship by.

A desired start date of June 1st, but there is flexibility within the month of June. Term date is 10 weeks from the start date. Salary is $17.75 per hour @ 35 hours per week.

Applications must be received by April 24th, 2026 at 5pm. Applicants selected for interviews will be contacted by May 1st, 2026.

Applicants must apply through the Field Museum website. Applications through other websites- including Handshake- will not be considered
 

The Field Museum is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination, embracing diversity, and fostering mutual respect. We value the unique perspectives each team member brings, which empowers our ability to innovate and overcome challenges.

At the Field Museum, we are dedicated to making our career website and recruitment process accessible to everyone. If you encounter any difficulty when using or accessing our online application, or if you need a reasonable accommodation for completing your application, participating in interviews, or any other part of the selection process, please reach out to us at recruitment@fieldmuseum.org.