Nonprofit Remote Digest - Issue #579
At Design Museum Foundation we believe design can change the world. Done well, it can elevate our quality of life, make businesses more competitive, and protect our environment.
Design Museum Everywhere A new kind of museum focused on design impact. Our mission: Bring the transformative power of design everywhere. A new kind of museum focused on design impact. Our mission: Bring the transformative power of design everywhere.
Director of Development
About Design Museum Everywhere
Design Museum Everywhere is a new kind of museum: online, nomadic, and accessible to all. Instead of a single museum location, we pop-up in places where people already go, and produce high-quality media experience to support our mission to bring the transformative power of design everywhere. We believe design can change the world; done well, it can elevate our quality of life, make businesses more competitive, and protect our environment. We inspire people by showing what’s possible through public exhibitions and events, as well as our magazine, podcast, and online content. We educate people — from kids to CEOs — to become creative problem solvers using the design process. And we transform, using design to take action and make change, demonstrating its impact.
Our vision: Accessibility: Design is for everyone. Design is everywhere, so are we. We’re online and we pop-up in places all over to engage as many people as possible. And we’re committed to improving the gender and racial diversity of the design field. Improvement: Design solves problems. We are entrepreneurial and flexible, we are not constrained by existing approaches, we start with real-world problems and we’re committed to using design for the greater good. Community: Design is collaborative. We are a participatory museum, meaning there are many ways for individuals to not only enjoy our programming and content, but to be part of it as well. We’re collaborative and community-focused.
Position Overview
Design Museum Everywhere is seeking a full-time Director of Development to join our dynamic team. We seek an experienced fundraiser to design, implement, and manage all aspects of Design Museum’s development strategies.
This position reports to the Executive Director, Sam Aquillano, and interacts with most staff, Board & Council members, and other external community members on a regular basis. The Director of Development will oversee one direct report, and be instrumental in hiring this Development Associate early on in their tenure.
Successful candidates will have a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with 5+ years of experience — or relevant, equivalent experience.
Position Functions
Direct Development Strategy
Work closely with Executive Director to develop and maintain a full development plan including annual funds, special campaigns, fundraising events, earned income, membership, grants, sponsorships, ticket sales (in collaboration with Director of Marketing), and more
Manage development efforts of Board members, supporting them in creating a culture of philanthropy
Manage Fundraising Campaigns and Events
Ensure that Design Museum meets its fundraising and budget goals and regularly report on progress to the Board and the Executive Director
Coordinate campaigns throughout the year, including mailings, emails, personal asks of major donors, and other practices
Ensure that donors are promptly acknowledged, stewarded, and provided opportunities to experience the impact of their gifts
Develop and maintain donor relationships, pitching Design Museum to individuals and groups
Coordinate and manage fundraising events
Manage Grants, Corporate Relationships, and Sponsorships
Ensure that Design Museum develops and maintains strong relationships with funders locally and nationally
Pitch Design Museum to corporate sponsors, foundation program officers, and more
Supervise grant applications and tracking, including timelines for grant proposals and reports
Support management of ongoing relationships with institutional funders
Collaborate with Executive Director and other staff to identify and solicit exhibition and program sponsors
Manage Systems
Manage our CRM (Kindful) following best practices for gift processing, data entry, tracking, and reporting
Maintain accurate records for donor communication, gift life cycle, and acknowledgement letters
Process and track donor invoices and pledges
Produce reports on membership, year over year donor giving, and revenue streams
Coordinate ongoing database maintenance and data standardization
Maintain and augment Design Museum’s existing fundraising systems and reporting structure
Support Communications
Work with Director of Marketing, other Design Museum staff, and other Design Museum community members to coordinate the design and distribution of marketing materials for fund development
Collaborate with Marketing Director to ensure consistent, relevant communication with supporter community
Qualifications
A passion for design that is contagious
Strong understanding of CRMs, how databases work, and how to use data effectively for fundraising (Kindful experience a plus)
5+ years fundraising experience
Demonstrated project management skills with the ability to independently meet deadlines and simultaneously manage complex, multifaceted projects
Excellent leadership and supervisory skills and experience
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking and pitching/sales
Strong interpersonal skills—you’ll be building and maintaining Design Museum relationships
Experience with databases, data analysis, budgeting, and forecasting
Details
Begin ASAP
Full-time: Monday-Friday, hours generally 9am-5pm
This position can be located anywhere in the US and report virtually. Once Covid-19 is no longer a threat, this position will require periodic travel, about 10% of the time to various fundraisers, important events, and staff retreats or gatherings.
Starting salary range: $68,000-$75,000/year
Benefits include: 401k, Paid Time Off, 14-15 paid company holidays per year, Health/Vision/and Dental Insurance, Bonus program, Parental/Paid Family Sick leave
Our Culture
We work in a collaborative team environment with a non-profit-meets-startup mentality
Our jobs are full time, with public programs sometimes happening in the morning, evening, and weekend (we have a comp day program) and an all-hands-on-deck attitude
Pre-COVID we ate lunch together as a team every day, now we do Zoom happy hours, and even while remote, (and depending on COVID-19) we plan to get together in person a few times per year, including for a week-long annual retreat, which we’ve done the past 4 years
We are all creative problem solvers, even on-the-fly
Ownership, autonomy, and initiative — we anticipate future needs/tasks
We ask questions and are curious
We all want to see the Design Museum succeed, and this means participating and caring about our mission, content, and design overall
We’re flexible! Things in our environment change quickly, we roll with the challenges
We know there are great candidates who may not fit into what we’ve described above, or who have skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We especially encourage members of historically underinvested communities to apply, including women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.
Learn about our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion values and goals.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are submitted. Design Museum anticipates the hiring process to take 3-4 weeks, which includes 2 rounds of interviews and reference calls. This job posting has previously been posted, and you’re welcome to reapply if you applied or interviewed with the original posting.
How to Apply
https://designmuseumfoundation.org/job/director-of-development/
Apply with cover letter and resume
Cover letter should outline/detail relevant experience.