The Loft Literary Center | Minneapolis, MN
Salary Range: $80,000-$90,000 (32 hr work week)
Job Title: Development Director
Organization: The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis www.loft.org
Status: FT Exempt
Reports to: Executive & Artistic Director
Compensation: $80,000 –$90,000 annual salary
The Loft operates on a 32-hour work week with the exception of seasonal demands. Benefits include health insurance (Loft pays 80% of a top tier plan, life insurance, two weeks paid time off annually (starting), 11 holidays, accrued sick/personal leave, and the opportunity to take one free Loft class per year.
About the Loft: Celebrating 50 years since its incorporation, the Loft Literary Center is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit literary centers with classes, workshops, mentorships, events, resources and services that advance the power of writers and readers to craft and share stories, to create and celebrate connections, and to build just, life-sustaining communities. Loft staff members enjoy a flexible workplace, health and other benefits, and the company of dedicated and creative colleagues. The Loft is committed to being an actively antiracist organization and the Development Director will play a lead role in advancing the cultural competence, equity, and accessibility of the Loft’s fundraising and contributor relationships.
Position Purpose: The Development Director’s primary purpose is to advance the prosperity of the Loft by sustaining and increasing all forms of financial support to ensure the Loft’s ability to achieve its mission. The Development Director will serve as lead for the Loft’s Development Team and will be responsible for planning and implementing annual strategies for growing support from individual contributors, sponsors, and institutional funding partners.
Primary Areas of Responsibilities and Tasks
In all areas of accountability for this position, responsiveness, empathy, humor, and impeccable attention to detail are essential. You will be a good fit if you have a mindset of abundance and a passion for fundraising; are committed to antiracism and equity; enjoy working with a diversity of supporters; are tenacious and have experience engaging contributors with the mission and work of an organization. The list below is representative of the essential duties for the job, but it is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of duties required to perform this role. As a member of the Loft staff, you may be asked to provide support for “all hands on deck” activities or events and to perform other duties as necessary to fulfill the Loft’s mission, vision, and strategic objectives.
Primary Areas of Responsibility and Tasks
- Develop and lead multi-year fundraising initiatives for individual giving
- Collaborate with the Executive Director to create an annual development plan, development budget, special campaigns, and solicitation strategies (including content, timing, and channels) for individual and major donors
- Create customized approaches that engage and strengthen existing relationships and increase support from mid-level and major donors
- With Development Associate, develop, implement, and oversee fundraising events (including but not limited to annual member meet ups, fundraising events, planned giving events, and donor-engagement activities associated with Loft programs and events)
- Develop and implement strategies to increase the understanding and activation of planned giving amongst the Loft’s individual and major donors
- Increase the number of new contributors and the amount of contributed revenue
- Research and identify prospects to grow major gifts, collaborating with the board and executive director for cultivation and solicitation
- Develop and employ strategies to track and engage qualified prospects
- Deepen relationships with top donors through one-on-one meetings and special events
- In collaboration with the Craft and Community Engagement teams, create clear pathways for increasing engagement and support from program and event participants
- With the Community Engagement team, help to define the role of contributors in new digital community initiatives
Develop and retain sponsorships
- Identify prospects and cultivate sponsorship support for org-wide initiatives, programs, and events
- Set and meet budget goals for sponsorships
- Develop and implement benefits that accomplish the goals of sponsors and are readily executed by staff
- Manage communications with sponsors
- Activate the Loft board and team members in identifying sponsorship opportunities and referring potential sponsors
Manage institutional funding relationships and grants
- With executive leadership, set strategy on all institutional giving applications in response to organizational and programmatic goals
- Maintain institutional giving calendar (including application and reporting deadlines)
- Work with contract grant writer to ensure timely completion of grant applications and reports
- Work with other Loft team members as needed to gather all necessary information for grant applications and reports
- Maintain strong relationships with designated foundation staff and grant managers
- Gather and interpret quantitative and qualitative data related to constituent metrics, demographics and experiences
Champion the growth and success of the Loft’s development efforts
- Employ principles of Community-Centric Fundraising to advance antiracist and equitable practices for contributed support and to diversify the Loft’s donor base
- Monitor trends and employ best practices to evolve the Loft’s development efforts and to demonstrate impact for contributors
- Write compelling updates and thank you messaging that keeps donors at all levels meaningfully engaged in the organization’s mission and work
- Supervise and guide the Development Associate toward exemplary and efficient performance of assignments
- Serve as liaison to the Loft board, engaging Loft board members in development efforts and in making annual board contributions
- Manage volunteer recruitment across the organization (approximately 2-3 hours/month with room for growth)
- Keep the Loft team informed and engaged in development efforts
- Propose innovations in the Loft’s approaches to fundraising and donor relationships as well as the use of technology, digital tools and platforms that advance development efforts
- Research and share new opportunities for support of Loft programs, events, and initiatives
Act as Loft spokesperson at local and regional events, as needed
Knowledge and experience required for this job:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher plus a minimum of five years or impressive demonstrated success in nonprofit fundraising, sales, or related field which relies on relationship building, influencing, and demonstrating financial results
- Experience and relationships in the arts and funding communities in the Twin Cities and nationally
- Experience developing and managing budgets; financial analysis and assessment
- Familiarity with and a strategic understanding of various vehicles for giving including individual donations, grants, sponsorships, donor advised funds, crowdfunding platforms, planned giving tools, stocks, etc.
- A customer service orientation—the ability to remain personable, diplomatic, with a commitment to be responsive, manage conflict, and remain solutions-oriented in response to challenges
- Experience working with a wide variety of contributors including BIPOC and historically marginalized donors
- Superb communication skills, both written and in-person
- Experience with supervision and supporting the success of a team
- An analytic approach to work, constantly thinking in terms of research, testing, iteration, measurement, and refinement
- Some experience with a sales or development database (Salesforce preferred) and generating reports
- Entrepreneurial, creative, and superb on follow-through
- Ability to work well independently but also in teams
- A record of exceptional attention to detail
- Self-organizing and driven—able to multitask and create and work to deadlines
- A positive, forward-looking, and curious approach
- Fearlessness with technology
The ideal candidate will also have:
- Experience creating and executing creative fundraising campaigns through a variety of channels
- Demonstrated knowledge, skills, and experience implementing Community-Centric Fundraising principles and practices and/or other approaches to deconstructing white supremacy in philanthropic relationships
- Familiarity with and a passion for the Loft’s mission and work
- Energy and enthusiasm for active participation in local, national, and virtual literary events and communities
- Experience with the following digital tools and platforms:
- Salesforce
- Asana or project management tools
- Google Suite
- Advanced MS Excel skills for data analysis
- An email marketing platform (such as Constant Contact, MailChimp) and
- A survey/evaluation tool (such as Survey Monkey)
- Crowdfunding and other platforms that support donations
- Enthusiasm and perseverance when facing uncertainty and challenge
- A love of stories and books
- A sense of humor and an ease with people
NOTE: Loft employees are not eligible to apply for Loft awards for writers
To Apply: Please answer the application questions and submit your resume via Submittable. If you do not have a Submittable account, you will need to create one.
Due to the expected number of applicants, we request that you do not call or email to check on your application status. You will get a confirmation by email to let you know that your application was received as well as notification when the position is filled.
APPLY HERE: https://loft.submittable.com/submit/7d4cb6cd-7be8-41d1-b2fd-e431b46cbec9/job-postingdevelopment-director-2023
Hiring Process: This position will be open until filled; applications will be reviewed as they come in, but first preference will be given to applications received by November 3rd. Interviews will likely begin in early-November.
The Loft is an equal opportunity employer.