Director of Development

About Weeksville Heritage Center

Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) is a historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that uses education, arts, and a social justice lens to preserve, document and inspire engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses. Founded in 1838, Weeksville was the second largest of approximately 100 independent African-American communities established before the Civil War.

When a group of community activists rediscovered three remaining original homes 1968, they purchased, rehabilitated, and restored the Hunterfly Road Houses, re-opening their doors as the Weeksville Heritage Center in 1973. In 2014, WHC opened its new Cultural Arts and Education Center and campus, including a visual arts gallery, performance space, resource center, and administrative offices. WHC is now poised for a bright new era, with the resources and vision in place to fully activate our history and expand our education, preservation, and public programming.

Recently announced as New York City's newest Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) member, the first since 1998, WHC is one of New York City’s cultural treasures, dedicated to preserving and celebrating the story of the 19th century African-American community of Weeksville, a nationally significant, exceptionally well-documented and rare extant example of an independent African-American community organized by Black entrepreneurs and land investors to promote economic, social, and political rights.

The Opportunity

The Director of Development is a member of our executive team. The incumbent is responsible for the development and execution of all fundraising, marketing and communications activities for the organization. WHC is at a very important moment in the organization’s trajectory. Weeksville Heritage Center currently focuses on government and institutional giving, while individual and corporate funding are emerging areas and the Director of Development will work closely with the President and CEO and others to increase its funding diversification. A number of new programs are underway and this is an ideal time and position for a candidate who appreciates the opportunity to build a team and help determine the direction of fundraising at Weeksville Heritage Center. The Director of Development will work with the CEO and others to craft a vision of a progressive arts, culture, and historical organization that is focused on engaging the public through programs, education, preservation and collections.

Primary Responsibilities

Development Strategy

• Create and implement an annual fundraising strategy to support the program, education, collections and preservation and general operating expenses
• Maintain and further develop institutional giving strategy for solicitation of major gifts, foundation and government grants
• Lead and support the planning and coordination of President and CEO fundraising efforts including active engagement of the Board of Trustees and individual donors.
• Along with Development Manager maintain and track all existing institutional, corporate and individual donor relationships
• Identify, cultivate, increase and renew grants and contributions from institutional partners
• Plan, organize, and supervise special events for solicitation and cultivation purposes, including the institution annual spring fundraiser Gala, regular fundraisers, year-round donor engagement and cultivation events
• Supervise comprehensive updates, tracking, and maintenance of the fundraising database, including membership lists, records, and fundraising calendar
• Coordinate, edit, and approve all proposals, correspondence, and appeal letters to all funding sources
• Identify new and current sources of funding for the capital campaign
• Oversee government funding and support from the local, agency, state, federal, and international level
• Work with development staff to write or edit reports to funders on all funded projects
• Work closely with Marketing Manager to enhance development initiatives and fundraising campaigns
• Project annual revenue and develop, secure, and track income streams through earned income, and rentals
• Provide strategy and tactical support for corporate giving
• Maintain and continue to build corporate membership program, advising and steering internal staffing needs, prospecting, outreach, and relationship building with targeted corporate partners

Administration & Supervision

• Supervise, mentor and advise the development staff
• Along with Development Manager manage grant and funding portal submissions
• Identify the scope of work and delegate responsibilities and guidance to department staff
• Oversee outside consultants engaged for development, government affairs and institutional giving
• Supervise research on prospects for all potential funding sources, including government, foundations, corporations, and individuals.
• Attend interdepartmental meetings of senior staff and hold regular department meetings
• Strategize and determine department goals, set timelines, and track progress with WHC’s performance management process
• Review staff performance in collaboration with the President and CEO; deliver constructive feedback in an appropriate and fair manner; collect staff input and feedback
• Actively participate in management meetings and encourage dialogue, attend events and industry gatherings, support colleagues by attending organization’s programmatic events

Board Management

• Build strong relationships with Board of Trustees and supporters
• Provide support for WHC’s Nominating & Governance and Development Committees, including:
  • Running board committee meetings (drafting agendas and materials, providing action items);
  • Compiling quarterly Development reports for Board meetings; and
  • Attending full Board meetings on an as needed basis

Budget & Finance

• Consult with the President and CEO and the Finance Consultant on the annual budget and assist in the preparation of all project budgets
• Monitor and update monthly, quarterly, and annual projections based on revenue
• Present fundraising updates and projections to the Board of Trustees

Data Management

• Manage key data sources/tools, including but not limited to:
  • WHC’s Customer Relationship Management system (Kindful);
  • DevPro (development projections tracker); and
  • Transaction Reports

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Nonprofit Management, Business Administration, Communications/ Public Relations, a related field, and/or its work experience equivalent
• Minimum five years of experience in development, including prior leadership experience in a non-profit organization; familiarity with arts and culture organizations preferred
• Experience in successfully raising minimum of $1M in fundraising efforts
• Demonstrated knowledge of local, state and national fundraising community and related opportunities
• Experience with Microsoft Suite, Google Workspace, and CRM (preferably Kindful and/or SALSA)
• Demonstrates initiative, resourcefulness, and a creative approach to problem-solving
• Superior writing, editing and communication skills
• Well-organized with strong attention to detail
• Alignment with the mission of Weeksville Heritage Center

Weeksville Heritage Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All candidates for employment are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, physical disability, veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.