Development Director

The Development Director will lead The Blank’s strategy for fundraising development and implementation to ensure that we cultivate and galvanize relationships with individual donors, corporate sponsors and grant-based funding sources. In order to meet our basic operational funding growth goals in alignment with The Blank’s strategic vision, the Development Director will be responsible for creating, organizing and executing The Blank’s fundraising work plan, including foundation grants, government contracts, events, outreach and individual donors.

Additionally, they will be responsible for rendering the Blank’s vision into practicable initiatives that are financially sound and supported, and which inspire the Board, staff and extended community. The Development Director will report to the Executive Producing Director and the Board President.

A strong candidate for this position will have a proven track record of success in meeting fundraising goals. They will be a highly relational, effective communicator – adept at building trust and partnership with a broad range of groups. They will be deeply rooted in artistic excellence, community service, education, financial stability, fundraising, and audience engagement.

• Develop goals, strategies, and a comprehensive fundraising plan, in partnership with the Executive Producing Director and Board President, with a focus on foundations, contracts, and individual donors to meet the annual operating budget needs and respond to new and changing conditions.
• Ensure that all fundraising activities and plans are in alignment with overall organizational strategic direction.
• Inspire, organize and coordinate the Board, staff, volunteers and program specific creatives and supporters to actively participate in The Blank’s fundraising efforts, creating a culture of fundraising.
• Find, pursue, and secure new funding opportunities through proactive research, outreach, and relationship building.
• Serve as a public-facing point of contact alongside the Executive Producing Director and Board President.
• Maintain relationships with donors and foundation partners.
• Represent The Blank at key donor and foundation meetings and events, strengthening our relationships with them, keeping them informed of our work to inform their own strategies, in an effort to increase the likelihood of funding renewal opportunities.

• Develop and implement strategies to expand grassroots fundraising donor cultivation.
• Partner with the Executive Producing Director and Board President to develop fundraising communications plans and materials (i.e. newsletters, annual appeals, mailings, events, thank you cards and appreciation letters, etc.).
• Ensure that The Blank’s online presence promotes our work, raises our visibility and provides a platform for supporters to stay updated and potentially become donors.

• Development, maintenance and improvement of documentation and database systems in regards to individual & corporate donors, grants and funding contracts.
• Grant writing, proposal submissions, and reporting.
• Develop and maintain strong systems to track donor data, manage grant cycles, submission and reporting deadlines to ensure The Blank stays on track with all funder commitments, as well as ongoing progress on fundraising goals.
• Ensure that the Executive Producing Director and Board President are aware of the commitments we make in new contract and grant agreements and ensure when funds are received that there is clarity about new responsibilities.
• Develop and execute campaign and program evaluation tools to collect data on the impact of The Blank.
• Work with the Executive Producing Director, Board President and Treasurer to facilitate the collection of documents necessary for an annual audit.

• Collaborate with the Executive Producing Director and Board President to set goals and priorities; provide regular reporting and annual performance evaluation for any supervises and manage administrative matters of any supervised personnel…