Museum Development Specialist

Position Summary

The Museum Development Specialist advances the Kentucky Museum's fundraising, grant development, external relations and communications, and exhibitions planning and execution activities. The position researches and develops funding opportunities, writes grant proposals, cultivates relationships with funders and community partners, supports the museum's membership and development initiatives, and guides exhibitions through the planning and creation process. Exhibition work will include helping museum staff identify guest curators, manage project schedules and budgets, facilitate communication between internal staff and external partners, and support the successful development and implementation of exhibitions.

• Work with Museum Director, museum staff, and WKU Philanthropy to identify funding priorities and translate museum exhibitions, programs, education initiatives, collections, research, and other activities into persuasive funding proposals.
• Research, identify, and pursue grant and fundraising opportunities from foundations, government agencies, corporations, individuals, or other potential fundraising sources.
• Work with museum director and WKU Philanthropy staff to identify funding opportunities.
• Stay up to date on emerging trends in funding opportunities related to museums, higher education, arts, humanities, and cultural organizations.
• Write compelling grant proposals, letters of inquiry, project narratives, budgets, supporting documents, and other funding materials.
• Manage grant submission calendars, deadlines, reporting requirements, renewals, and other deliverables. This includes ensuring principal investigators complete any needed reports and documentation.

• Responsible for managing the development of exhibitions by leading the exhibitions committee, identifying guest curators (often WKU faculty) and other external collaborators, and managing timelines.
• Assist museum staff in identifying and evaluating potential guest curators whose expertise aligns with proposed exhibition themes and museum priorities.
• Serve as exhibits and special projects manager, coordinating project schedules, meetings, contracts, deliverables, budgets, and communications in collaboration with museum staff.
• Coordinate purchasing supplies required for exhibition creation.
• Ensure guest curators and external collaborators know the museum's processes and policies.
• Facilitate communication between guest curators, external collaborators, and museum staff.
• Document exhibitions committee meetings, project decisions, assignments, and deadlines, ensuring all team members are kept up-to-date throughout the project.
• Assist with writing, editing, designing, and coordinating exhibition labels, interpretive panels, educational materials, exhibition descriptions, website copy, press materials, and other audience-focused content.
• Provide editorial and project-management support for exhibition content and team while recognizing that primary curatorial responsibility may rest with the assigned curator or guest curator.

• Develop the museum's regular external communications, including press releases, member communications, and social media content that informs public audiences about the museum's exhibitions, programs, activities, and institutional priorities.
• Collaborate with the Museum Director to cultivate and steward membership through our existing membership program.
• Manage museum's Adopt-an-Artifact campaign to continue raising funds for collections care

• Participate in museum staff meetings, planning activities, and institutional initiatives.
• Share duties…