Senior Development Manager

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond (VisArts) believes in celebrating and supporting the creative life of all people through artmaking, exhibitions and community programs. We have been living out our vision - "Art for everybody. Creativity for life." - for 61 years and have helped more than 50,000 individuals each year find and unlock their creative self. VisArts offers more than 1,500 visual and creative arts classes annually in clay, wood, fiber, painting, photography, printmaking, glass, metal, drawing, writing, decorative arts and other visual media. We are currently looking for a Senior Development Manager to support our fundraising and community engagement efforts. This is a full-time onsite position reporting to our Director of Development.

This position is a critical member of our development team working closely with the Director of Development to meet the goals of the department through individual and institutional fundraising, researching and writing compelling proposals, supporting special events, and managing data and knowledge management systems. This position supervises a Development Coordinator position, leads grant writing processes and plays an important role in reaching annual fund goals and securing and stewarding special events sponsors.

Job type: Full-time, flexible hours

Location: On-site, Richmond, VA

Compensation Package Includes

• Starting annual base salary range of $55,000 - 65,000
• Health and dental insurance
• Short- and long-term disability and life insurance provided
• 401(k) retirement account with employer match
• Generous paid time off (PTO) policy
• 14 paid holidays per year

Target start date: April 14, 2025

Essential Functions

1. Works closely with the Director of Development to ensure contributed revenue goals for the department are achieved. This includes corporate, government and foundation grants in excess of $250,000, event sponsorships in excess of $200,000 and individual and membership giving goals at or in excess of $200,000.
2. Supervises Development Coordinator position, providing oversight, direction and support as needed.
3. Manages relationships with a portfolio of individual donors and works closely with the Director of Development to assist in cultivation and stewardship as appropriate.
4. Leads grant writing for the organization, ensuring deadlines are met and applications and reports are completed accurately and in collaboration with other staff.
5. Manages the upkeep of donor records and gift and membership entry in DonorPerfect, our donor management system, and ProClass, our class management system, as applicable.
6. Manages the full lifecycle of our gift acknowledgement process.
7. Works closely with Director of Development to manage VisArts' donor and membership communication, ensuring consistent communication strategies are implemented.
8. Oversees VisArts' volunteer program that supports fundraising events throughout the year.
9. Assists with stewarding potential sponsors and manages communication with confirmed sponsors for special events and other fundraising projects.
10. Works closely with the Director of Development to manage VisArts' corporate membership program.
11. Manages selected print and electronic fundraising appeals, including the summer appeal and end-of-year appeal.
12. Works closely with the Special Events Manager to support Collectors' Night, Chili Throwdown, Craft + Design, attending committee meetings when applicable, communicating with stakeholders and assisting with event preparation as needed.
13. Supports other smaller events throughout the year, including exhibition openings, RVA Poetry Fest, preview parties, and capital campaign events.
14. Contributes to the budgeting process annually and supports the team on tracking and meeting budget goals.
15. Special projects, as needed.

Competencies

• Professionalism
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Job mastery and continuous improvement
• Leadership

Supervisory Responsibility

Manages one full-time staff member as well as interns and volunteers.

Required Education and Experience

• 5 years' work experience, including direct fundraising experience.
• An undergraduate bachelor's degree is required.
• Some background and/or interest in the arts.
• Experience within a nonprofit work environment.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Experience soliciting individual gifts.
• Experience working for an arts organization.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment.

Physical Demands

This is largely a sedentary role; however, some movement is required. The ability to walk, drive, lift boxes and stand for long periods of time is required.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Core days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Senior Development Manager is expected to attend multiple evening and weekend events per month, including gallery talks, exhibition openings, preview parties, art auctions and other arts-related events. Other evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand.

Average Hours of Work per Week

It is expected that the position will work 40-45 hours per week.

Travel

Occasional.

To Apply:

Please submit your cover letter and resume.

EEO / AA Statement

Visual Arts of Richmond provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Visual Arts of Richmond complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.