Development Director

Erie Arts & Culture

Development Director

Salary Range: $45,000-$55,000

Full-time position with benefits including Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance; three weeks paid time off in first year of employment; eight paid sick days; a 403b retirement plan with an employer match of up to 5%; paid holidays; monthly reimbursement of cell phone and internet bills.

About Erie Arts and Culture:

Founded in 1960 as the Arts Council of Erie, Erie Arts & Culture is the regional arts agency for Northwestern Pennsylvania, as appointed by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA). Our role is to promote, support, and develop culture and creativity at the regional level; ensuring broad opportunities for residents and tourists throughout communities in Erie, Crawford, Venango, Warren, Mercer, and Lawrence counties to engage with the sector educationally, socially, and economically. Our presence ensures that all communities - regardless of their geographic location or economic status - are systematically and equitably served.

Erie Arts and Culture is expanding its engagement in the six counties of Northwestern Pennsylvania and the City of Erie, equitably engaging communities to provide resources that increase vitality of the arts and culture sector and communities. The Development Manager will be a key staff person, cultivating donor relationships, identifying funding opportunities, and engaging the EAC team and Board of Directors in the organization’s fundraising efforts. This is a hybrid position, requiring in-office work with the team three days each week.

About the Development Director position:

The Development Director will oversee the planning, organizing, and execution of Erie Arts and Culture’s fund development efforts, including but not limited to foundation grants, major gifts, individual donations, planned giving, corporate sponsorship and capital campaigns. The Development Director is forward-thinking, and implements trends that support the organization’s plans and direction. A friendly demeanor, confidence to engage people, and ability to work across the EAC team’s areas of service to create coherence and strategy are essential traits and skills. This position reports to the Executive Director, manages a Development Associate, and acts as a liaison to the Fund Development Committee of the Board of Trustees. 

Responsibilities:  

• Build and implement a comprehensive fundraising plan, working closely with the Development Associate to achieve plan objectives.
• Develop and maintain meaningful relationships with individual donors, foundations, corporate sponsors, and other regional and national funding sources.
• Manage Virtuous, EAC’s donor database, and work with the Executive Director to engage prospective and current donors.
• Manage active grants and identify new funding opportunities that align with EAC’s mission and programs, work with relevant staff to draft proposals and reports.
• Work with staff to participate in planning and producing fundraising events.
• Travel to Erie, Crawford, Venango, Mercer, Warren, and Lawrence Counties, as needed.

Experience and Skills:

• A Bachelors degree in nonprofit management, business administration, or related field, and at least three years of experience with clearly demonstrable achievements that relate to the job requirements listed above.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write compelling donor communications.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, Board members, and volunteers.
• Ability to manage and prioritize concurrent projects to meet deadlines.
• Experience with fundraising software and donor databases, including Virtuous, Google platform, Asana, and Hubspot or similar software platforms

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Normal office setting with frequent computer work approximately 75% of the time.
• Travel to community sites and agencies with varying degrees of temperature, humidity and noise approximately 25% of the time.
• After hours events and programs may occasionally require an adjusted work schedule and additional hours worked in order to meet deadlines (1-2 days/month).

Physical Requirements: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Sufficient mobility to work in a normal office setting and use standard office equipment including a computer.
• Vision to read printed materials and VDT screen.
• Hearing and speech sufficient to communicate in person or over the phone.
• Lifting up to 20 lbs. maximum and occasionally carrying such articles as a laptop computer, files.

Please submit a cover letter introducing yourself and your accomplishments that align the responsibilities of the position, as well as a resume/CV, and three references.  EOE/ADA