The purpose of this role is to support T/m’s mission by developing and implementing the museum’s strategic fundraising goals. As part of the Management Team, the Director of Development will coordinate and implement a fundraising strategy for individuals, foundations, and corporate support throughout the Kansas City region and nationally. The Director of Development will work with the Executive Director to operationalize, oversee, and expand fundraising activities for T/m. The ideal candidate will proactively build donor relationships with existing and potential donors to grow the museum’s donor base and inspire existing members and donors to greater levels of commitment. A proven track record of successfully building relationships and soliciting major gifts is critical. The ideal candidate will have a passion for T/m, art, history, education, and community engagement. Success in the position will be defined by vision, drive, and creativity to reach ambitious fundraising goals; implementation of cost-effective processes; and movement of transactional givers into members and long-term donors.

Duties and Responsibilities

• In partnership with the Executive Director, create and implement a strategic fundraising program with a focus on achieving museum-wide goals.

• Collaborate with the key programmatic and curatorial staff to develop and implement giving strategies utilizing and growing the organization’s portfolio of donors, supporters, and prospects. 

• Develop and execute a fundraising calendar; solicit and close individual gifts, coordinate annual fund campaigns, and meet with corporate partners to develop sponsorship opportunities.

• In partnership with the Executive Director, manage a portfolio of individual donors and prospects to provide charitable donations to the museum; maintain regular correspondence with program officers of foundations and corporate representatives.

• In partnership with programmatic staff research new grant opportunities, oversee the development grants calendar, and serve as a primary grant writer to track, prepare, and submit proposals and reports.

• Implement annual direct mail campaigns and along with the Executive Director identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors to build the organization’s network to deepen relationships with individual donors, foundations, and businesses.

• Oversee the museum’s membership program, send out membership communication, and coordinate a successful and consistent delivery of membership benefits.

• Attend and participate in museum events to meet new members, prospects, and donors; represent the museum in a professional manner with diplomacy and confidentiality.

• Provide detailed fundraising progress reports, help establish performance measures, monitor results, and utilize Donor Perfect to document fundraising activities.

• In collaboration with the leadership team, envision, design, and coordinate special events, fundraising campaigns, and other tactics in support of the museum’s fundraising strategy.  

• As a member of the Executive Director’s team, contribute to carrying out T/m’s strategic goals and creating and enforcing organizational policies and procedures.

• Develop and maintain the development department budget, including analysis, reporting, and forecasting. 

• Other duties as assigned.

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