Job: Director of Development

Shelburne Museum is currently seeking a Director of Development. Shelburne Museum is a nationally significant institution that is intellectually vibrant, financially sustainable, and committed to its Vermont community through the stewardship and interpretation of a unique campus and renowned collections. It seeks to provide visitors with stimulating experiences reflecting the highest standards of scholarship and the intelligence, whimsy, and courage of its founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888-1960) who described the museum as “an educational project, varied and alive.”

Shelburne Museum was founded in 1947 by Mrs. Webb who was one among a small group of collectors who helped define what we now know as American Folk Art, and created an institution designed to engage and delight. The museum’s 39 buildings house collections of more than 100,000 paintings, textiles, decoys, and decorative art objects. The buildings themselves form a collection of 19th-century New England architecture set in an intentional landscape of paths, ponds, specimen trees, and eighteen enchanting gardens. Unlike any other museum, Shelburne is a village of immersive experiences, attracting visitors from all over the world. Since 2011, the John Wilmerding Director of Shelburne Museum, Thomas Denenberg, has further expanded Mrs. Webb’s vision for the museum, enhancing exhibitions and cultural offerings, upgrading the museum’s facilities, connecting with new supporters and partners, and attracting a mission-aligned and engaged board of trustees. In recent years, Shelburne Museum has become a world class institution of increasing sophistication and relevance.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Development (DoD) is responsible for planning, implementing, overseeing, and assessing Shelburne Museum’s fundraising plans in support of the organization’s strategic vision and growth. Reporting to the Museum Director and serving as a member of the senior leadership team, the DoD will be responsible for the museum’s annual fundraising, membership, and stewardship programs, currently achieving $2 million in contributed revenue annually, and will increase contributed revenue over the next five years based on the museum’s financial needs. The DoD will manage capital and endowment campaigns, including final elements of the 75th Anniversary campaign.

The DoD will build, lead and mentor a four-member development team including: Grants and Special Projects Manager, Major Gift Officer, Annual Fund and Membership Manager, and Development Assistant. Working closely with the director, board, senior staff, museum partners, and community to cultivate new donors while energizing and stewarding the donor base, the DoD will strengthen the culture of philanthropy at Shelburne Museum.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

Strategic Leadership

  • Lead, oversee, and implement with the director an integrated fundraising plan, including the 75th Anniversary campaign, with goals, objectives, timelines, and assignment of responsibilities to achieve and support initiatives contained within the museum’s strategic plan.
  • Develop goal-driven, short- and long-term fundraising strategies for annual operating, endowment, planned giving, and capital campaigns.
  • Collaborate with program and collections staff to secure necessary funding for thoughtful and illuminating exhibits and acquisitions that are vital to community engagement and the national and international reputation of the museum.
  • Cultivate and maintain strong partnerships with the board, major donors, foundations, public agencies, and corporate funders to grow substantial contributed revenue opportunities.
  • Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a personal portfolio of current and new funding sources, and explore opportunities for additional individual, foundation, and corporate philanthropy.
  • Guide, cultivate, and increase the membership base, creating compelling opportunities for members while developing a pipeline for community engagement and support.
  • Expand the endowment and increase working capital reserves as part of increasing long-term financial stability for the organization.
  • Maintain a strategic knowledge of best practices and significant trends in philanthropy and adapt fundraising strategies as necessary.
  • Embrace other strategic leadership responsibilities as needed.

Board and Donor Engagement

  • Partner with the director to identify and recruit new board members, educate members about their role in advancing a culture of philanthropy, cultivate and solicit them for financial support, and leverage their respective networks to expand the donor base and support for the museum.
  • Devise strategies with the Development and Campaign committees that allow the Shelburne region’s community to engage with the museum as donors, collectors, partners, advisors, and community ambassadors.
  • Ensure high-quality, individualized, and meaningful stewardship of donors, coordinating with colleagues throughout the museum and personally stewarding donors as needed.
  • Speak credibly and persuasively about Shelburne Museum’s vision for the future with current and prospective board members.
  • Lead and oversee the development team in creating and promoting effective cultivation and solicitation opportunities that involve the director, members of the board, curatorial and senior leadership team.
  • Advise board members, both individually and collectively, on best practices in community ambassadorship and donor cultivation.
  • Embrace other board engagement and recruitment, and donor engagement responsibilities as needed.

Team and Organizational Oversight

  • Recruit, diversify, coach, inspire, and motivate a strong fundraising team that represents the communities that Shelburne Museum serves.
  • Partner with the Director of Finance to ensure sound fiscal operation of the fundraising function, including timely, accurate, and comprehensive budgeting, monitoring, forecasting, and reporting of charitable contributions and department expenses.
  • Collaborate with the Director of Communications to ensure consistent messaging and outreach strategies as they affect all fundraising efforts.
  • Work with the annual giving and membership teams and colleagues in communications and marketing to increase membership and participation in the annual fund.
  • Create a supportive, collaborative, productive, and healthy work environment based on respect, teamwork, and the equity, diversity, and inclusion values of the museum.
  • Set performance standards and provide timely, constructive feedback while supporting opportunities for professional development.
  • Support team ingenuity with appropriate human resources, structures, systems, and technological platforms that are in alignment with current and future trends in fundraising.
  • Ensure the strategic use of the database and other development communication tools, coordinating communications with existing and potential donors to ensure the highest level of donor engagement, satisfaction, expressions of appreciation, and active stewardship.
  • Embrace other team and organizational effectiveness responsibilities as needed.

TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The Director of Development will be an experienced development professional with a demonstrated capacity to achieve contributed revenue goals, an affinity for Shelburne Museum’s mission and collections, and have a passion to positively impact the organization’s long-term success. The successful candidate will be goal-oriented and highly self-motivated, balancing both individual and team, autonomy and collaboration with finesse. The DoD will be both highly accountable with strong attention to detail and exceptional follow through in partnership with the director, board, and senior leadership team. An effective communicator and authentic relationship builder, they will show sensitivity and a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms.

Other key competencies include:

  • Leadership – The ability to articulate a vision and create a sense of purpose and direction for internal and external stakeholders.
  • Self-Starting, Time, and Priority Management – The capacity to demonstrate initiatives, the clarity to prioritize and complete tasks to deliver desired outcomes with allotted time frames, the willingness to initiate and pursue a robust work plan, and be responsible for initiatives, decisions, and actions.
  • Member / Customer Focus – The capacity to anticipate, meet, and frequently exceed patron and stakeholder expectations while deeply considering internal stakeholder perspectives.
  • Teamwork – The agility to cooperate with others to meet objectives; and to organize and motivate others while creating of sense of trust, order, direction, and active participation among the board, staff, and other stakeholders to achieve collective goals.
  • Planning, Organizing and Project Management – The capacity to build trust and cooperate with others to meet objectives, establishing courses of action to ensure that work is completed effectively.

QUALIFICATIONS

A bachelor’s degree is required and a minimum of seven years of experience in progressively responsible development leadership, which includes a clear understanding of all functional areas (individual giving, institutional giving, annual giving, planned giving, stewardship, board relations) and participation in a major capital campaign. Experience with a nonprofit organization, cultural or educational institution, or equivalent with a demonstrated interest and/or commitment to the museum field is preferred. The successful candidate will have excellent writing and public speaking skills. They will have a demonstrated ability to provide management oversight, leadership, and direction including experience creating and managing a budget, and a strong record of recruiting and developing exceptional people and fostering a transparent work environment where collegiality is a key to success.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Shelburne Museum offers competitive compensation, with an anticipated annual salary range between $155,000 to $185,000 and an excellent benefit package that includes annual combined time off, paid holidays, employer-paid individual health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) with contribution and match, life insurance, disability, flexible spending and health reimbursement, employee assistance program; and the quality of life that Vermont has to offer.

APPLICATIONS AND INQUIRIES

To submit a cover letter and resume highlighting relevant and demonstrable accomplishments (electronic submissions preferred), please click here or visit artsconsulting.com/employment. For questions or general inquiries about this job opportunity, please contact: Renée Danger-James, Vice President at ShelburneDevelopment@ArtsConsulting.com.