Development Manager

Who We Are

Arts Alliance Illinois champions arts resources and policies that benefit our members and all Illinois residents. As the only statewide, multidisciplinary organization concentrated on the strength of arts and culture, the Alliance takes on challenges that no single organization or artist can face alone.

Position Summary

The Development Manager will be part of the Development Department and report directly to the Deputy Director of Development. This team member will help research, cultivate and steward donors, collaborate on the organization’s annual fundraising benefit and contribute to the organization’s financial goals. The ideal candidate is positive, self-motivated, has strong communication and critical thinking skills and is a quick learner comfortable working independently in a fast-paced environment. Previous experience in fundraising or sales is preferred and a commitment to uphold the Alliance’s values to create an equitable working environment is required. This position is 75% remote, stewardship and cultivation events, and will require some regional travel and visits to Chicago for staff retreats and other necessary meetings.

Duties

Development Support 

• Collaborate with the Deputy Director of Development to execute a development plan to increase the donor and volunteer base of the Arts Alliance Illinois, with a special emphasis on growing the Major Donor pipeline.  
• As part of the development plan, research and identify new donor prospects and establish meaningful pathways to connect prospects to the organization’s leadership and work.  
• Execute targeted donor engagement events and activities established by the Deputy Director of Development.  
• Prepare collateral for donor meetings, including meeting briefs and funding proposals.  
• Provide administrative support to the Development Fund Committee and Board Development Committee, including but not limited to attending meetings, helping prepare meeting materials, and sending reminders and follow-up messages.
• Assist with the Annual Fund, specifically focusing on the year-end giving appeal and lapsed supporter campaigns.    
• Act as an ambassador for the organization at regional events when necessary.
• Other duties as assigned.

Special Event Support 

• Participate in the planning and execution of the Arts Alliance’s signature annual benefit.
• Track sponsorships and manage communications around sponsorship benefits, recognition and guest lists. 
• Help promote ticket and sponsorship sales. 
• Oversee invitation mailing and manage invitation guest lists. 
• Manage sales reports and spreadsheets, tracking event revenue and expenses. 
• Day-of event management of volunteers, event check-in and guest lists.  

Operations Support 

• Manage the internal systems of prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, with a strong emphasis on major gifts prospect management, including but not limited to, portfolio management and tracking of proposals and goals. 
• Oversee the donor stewardship processes and ensure the systems, processes and workflows effectively steward donors across all areas of giving.  
• Work with the Executive Assistant to the Director to coordinate gift processing and gift acknowledgements.  
• Work with the Director of Data, Research and Technology to ensure that quality donor data is maintained and updated in Salesforce; take proactive leadership in making recommendations that promote efficient flow of donor information to appropriate users, with a specific eye to pipeline development.  
• Other administrative duties as assigned.

Requirements

Our ideal candidate has the following skills and/or experience:

• Technical fluency with Google Suite and Microsoft Suite is required.
• Previous experience using a CRM required, Salesforce highly preferred.
• Previous experience managing mid-to-large volumes of data preferred.
• Previous experience with Slack, Bill.com, Airtable, Zoom, and Asana preferred.

Our ideal candidate has the following traits:

• Charismatic and skilled in relationship building
• Organized and detail-oriented
• Strong verbal communication skills, social media savvy, and writing skills.
• Systems savvy and comfortable in databases
• Quick learner of new processes and platforms
• Self-starter capable to adapt to changing priorities and deadlines
• Capable of working calmly and remaining responsive in a rapidly shifting environment
• Strong understanding of the importance of cultural competence when working with diverse communities.
• Strong familiarity with the challenges facing arts venues, arts nonprofits, and artists in the state of Illinois.
• Ability to self-reflect and pivot based on feedback when necessary.

Benefits

Compensation

This is a full-time, exempt, position with a salary of $65,000-80,000, depending on experience. Arts Alliance Illinois provides a suite of benefits to ensure an optimal work/life balance for our staff. This includes unlimited paid time off with a minimum of 15 days required plus federal holidays and an end-of-year break, 403(b) match after the first year, medical/dental/vision insurance, phone and internet stipend, and paid family leave. 

Things to Know About Us 

Advocacy work is fast-paced and remote work can be very draining. That work is much harder if organizational culture is not a good fit. In order to ensure this is the right position for you, here are some things to know about us before you apply: 

• We believe access to arts & culture makes communities stronger and healthier, and therefore advocating for the arts is a common interest shared by all residents of Illinois regardless of background or political affiliation.
• We believe public funding for the arts is a good thing. 
• We believe the biggest contribution a person can make to stop the spread of COVID is getting vaccinated –whenever there’s no medical or religious exemption.
• We encourage professional development, rest, and transparency about your capacity.
• We are a small organization where sometimes we need to help our co-workers during heavy workloads.
• We work hard, but we also support taking time away during the day to nap, run an errand, or do whatever you need to make remote environments work for you.
• We discourage working nights/weekends but understand that staff have different rhythms when they are most productive. Occasionally we need to adapt to urgent, politically-imposed, deadlines but we do our best to balance it with time off. 
• We cultivate a professional yet collegial work environment where sharing personal anecdotes, playlists, jokes, etc, is welcome.
• We encourage staff members to assume good intentions from colleagues during moments of conflict or confusion but also are intentional about creating space for harm to be acknowledged and repaired. 
• We acknowledge individuals and organizations can perpetuate environments where discrimination goes unchecked. To ensure we have a shared language to address these challenges, staff members attend training on Introduction to Systemic Racism.
• We celebrate diversity and don’t seek to assimilate anyone into a broader “work culture”. We make space for people from different cultural, social, political, and religious backgrounds to share and influence the work we do by being their true selves.

Finally, we realize we will always have work to do to improve our office culture and are looking for team members who will enjoy engaging in that process. 

Arts Alliance Illinois values diversity and is committed to building an inclusive workplace that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We encourage Black, Indigenous or People of Color, immigrants, people without college degrees, LGTBQ individuals, people with disabilities, and anyone part of a group that has been historically discriminated against, to apply.

If you are seeking accommodations to apply for this job, please email martin@artsalliance.org with your request.