Development Manager at BIG ARTS

BIG ARTS, a 43-year-old, multifaceted arts and education nonprofit on Sanibel Island Florida seeks a full-time salaried development manager to join its team. BIG ARTS recently built a state-of-the-art facility and enjoys a strong and loyal donor base in support of its professional performing arts series, films, workshops, fine arts exhibits and world-renowned lecture series.   Competitive salary and generous benefits.  BIG ARTS culture is one of collegiality, team spirit, creativity, and fun; and offers flex work-at-home hours. For more info:  www.bigarts.org

Job Summary

The BIG ARTS development manager works hand in glove with the executive director, marketing director and board of directors to create and execute a winning strategy to achieve the annual contributed income goal from all sources of $1.9M. the successful candidate will manage — with support of staff and volunteers — all events, including pre-show receptions for lead donors and the annual spring benefit. The development manager is a self-starter that manages all facets of development from strategic plan execution, to prospect presentations and acknowledgments.  The position requires a proven ability to confidently cultivate new donor relationships as well as nurture BIG ARTS current loyal donor base. 

Principal Responsibilities

• Strategy:  Create and implement the overall annual development plan and execute effective strategies to meet fundraising goals in all revenue streams: individuals, special events, corporate, and foundation and government grants 
• Relationship building: Keep steady contact with key donors to assure their loyalty and investment. 
• Research:  Target new individuals and businesses and actively engage/introduce them to BIG ARTS.   
• Fund Raising:  Design and implement plans/campaigns to secure an increasing number of annual individual donors including successfully growing individual gifts. 
• Major Gift/Donor Support:  Engage the business community and individuals to produce dedicated sponsorship for BIG ARTS programs. Develop major donor, board and special category solicitations with the intent to retain and/or upgrade gifts. Cultivate donors by coordinating specialized correspondence, personal visitation, and events.
• Grants:  Execute the annual renewal of long-term state grants 
• Reporting: Create quarterly income benchmarks and track monthly to monitor.  Suggest course corrections, if needed, to assure that goals are met. 
• Create monthly reports of contributed income for all categories.    
• Database and Records Management:  Manage both paper and digital records. Maintain security and quality control. Produce reports and analyses to guide decision making. This data mining and analysis is supported by BIG ARTS Database Manager.  
• Professional Development:  Dedicate ongoing attention to personal professional development.

Desired Skills and Background

• Self-starter with high level of confidence to actively engage in the community. 

• Experience in the profit (specifically sales) and nonprofit sectors that demonstrates a high level of personal communication skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to create and implement written plans. 
• Event management experience
• Proven ability to communicate persuasively — verbally and in writing.
• Strong and engaging presentation skills  
• Ability to work collaboratively with staff team and volunteers. 
• Ability to meet deadlines under pressure.  
• Well-developed computer skills
• Experience doing development work in an arts organization is desirable but not required.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent 
• Background in the arts a plus  
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in development 
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office, including creating PowerPoints, excel reports, etc.   
• Experience in managing a database for updates, accuracy and mailings   
• Experience in raising annual contributed income at or more than $1.5M a year.
• Willing to work some weekends and evenings during the high-performance season:  January through April. 
• Resident of SW Florida. 

SEND RESUME TO: lharder@bigarts.org. No phone calls, please.