Job Posting

Children's Museum of Southern MN | Mankato, MN
Salary Range: $90,000 - $105,000

At the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, we believe our team is part of something extraordinary. Our Museum is community-built and community-sustained, with a mission to ignite the natural curiosity of every child through the power of play in a dynamic, awe-inspiring environment.

Join our team!
The Vice President of Development is a new position that will help drive the success of the CMSM by implementing an effective fundraising strategy. This position may grow in scope, responsibility and level of authority as the CMSM achieves its goal of financial sustainability.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President of Development position is an exempt position that requires a full time effort. This position is eligible for benefits including but not limited to health, dental, vision, life insurance, short and long term disability, HSA, and FSA dependent care. Our SIMPLE IRA matching program and staff discounts are available to all staff. The Museum offers flexible working conditions including options for hybrid in office and remote work opportunities along with an openness to discuss candidate needs to support their success. Key attributes include fostering positive relationships, proven ability to cultivate and grow a donor base, experience working with major gifts and being nimble in a fast paced and growing Museum. The Museum is working towards the goals of Financial Sustainability, Community Outreach and Staff Excellence. Candidates for this position should be committed to being innovative and create ways to support these goals. Further, as the Museum is a growing, inclusive organization, any candidate should be open to performing a variety of tasks.

Take the next step! Please submit a resume, cover letter and professional references to Heather Ungerer, Vice President of Operations, at heather.ungerer@cmsouthernmn.org.

Salary: $90,000-$105,000 depending on candidates proven success in donor relations and fundraising.

Primary duties:
Fundraising

• Working with the Chief Executive Officer, lead, develop and implement an annual, year-long fundraising plan and appeal schedule, including:
  • Creating strategies and tactics for all donor levels and donor types including but not limited to: individual, corporate, and grants
  • Segmentation of the database to create customized appeals based on relationship and history with the museum
  • Utilize multichannel fundraising campaigns through direct mail, email, and social media
  • Outreach opportunities for current donors and donor prospects to expand the donor pipeline
  • Maintain donor and prospect information in the database
  • Assist with gift entry and acknowledgements
  • Track results throughout the year through reporting and adjust strategy based on information gathered
  • Specialized segmentation to Ignite Society (leadership giving society) donors through annual giving appeals that continues to build that base
• Manage leadership giving society, including:
  • Stewardship of current donors through engagement opportunities
  • Maintain communication with donors and prospects about the museum and impact of support
  • Develop new ways to engage prospects to grow the giving society
• Lead fundraising efforts for CMSM’s comprehensive campaign, effectively cultivating, soliciting and stewarding donors at all levels to meet the goals of the campaign
  • Work closely with CMSM CEO, campaign consultants, and the campaign committee to successfully execute a dynamic, multi-year campaign plan
• Build and manage a portfolio of donors and prospects with the capacity to make gifts of $10,000+
• Manage vendor relationships such as direct mail, designers, and printers
• Build and oversee a Development team including Marketing and campaign outsource partners
• Develop a compelling case for increased unrestricted and restricted support
• Identify potential donors to engage for annual support
• Identify donors with major gift potential to introduce to the CEO and Board members
• Achieve annual goals for the Development department and create these collaboratively with the CEO
• Establish long‐range vision, annual goals, objectives, and priorities for the Development department

Event and Marketing Support

• Assist with the coordination, implementation, and follow-up for donor-facing events
• Act as CMSM staff liaison to the Development Committee
  • Work with design and marketing vendors to manage fundraising messaging and new content focused on impact and gift opportunities
  • Make recommendations for long-term solutions to bring marketing and communication in-house to further build out a sustainable development team

Additional Responsibilities

• Create gift reports and analysis for delivery to the Development Committee and Board of Directors
• Develop annual budgets and ensure that fundraising targets are met and expenses are kept within budget
• Represent the Department at Leadership meetings and in strategic planning with the Board of Directors
• Recruit and train staff as needed
• Perform other tasks as assigned, including preparation of reports to the Board, funders, and others

Qualifications:

• 3-5+ years of direct fundraising experience
• Demonstrated success making individual asks of $10,000 or more
• Successful use of moves management to raise significant funds
• Deep knowledge and experience scaling annual giving programs
• History of managing complex fundraising programs, including annual giving, major gifts, corporate and foundation sponsorships, grants, planned giving and membership
• Compelling communicator with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build strong relationships, work collaboratively across a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders
• Strong problem-solving skills and strong diplomatic and communications skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with an array of Museum staff, volunteers, and community partners to achieve goals, budgets and deadlines
• Experienced in fundraising database software
• Experience with comprehensive or capital campaigns preferred
• Bachelor’s degree is preferred

Work Conditions

• Opportunities to work remotely and/or in a shared office environment with the usual ergonomic risks
• Flexibility and availability are required during the week, including evenings, weekends and holidays as needed
• Job requires a high degree of interaction and engagement with others

About Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota
The vision for the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota is to be a catalyst for building a stronger, more vibrant community around play so that all children in our region share in a bright future of opportunity and well-being. Located in Mankato, Minnesota, the Museum welcomes nearly 100,000 visitors and maintains over 2,100 memberships annually, and continues to be a resource for the region, providing the opportunity to experience the joy of learning through the power of play to all children and families.

The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer.