Development Manager

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 Development Manager is an important colleague who will support our fundraising work in a number of ways including: administration, campaign design and execution, and special events. The position works strategically with most departments across the organization and fundraising consultants to help us maximize our fundraising activities. The Development Associate also engages externally with community members, board members, and program partners. This position offers the opportunity to build on, create, and implement systems that maintain productivity in our fundraising work.

Primary Responsibilities

Fundraising & Donor Communications

• Support the implementation of the individual and corporate giving program, including drafting and sending out letters and materials
• Coordinate the development of annual fund appeals
• Manage relationships with donor and community stakeholder groups to ensure effective communication and productivity in our fundraising efforts
• Assist in the creation and execution of the multi-platform fundraising & information campaigns
• Assist in tracking and responding to development related emails and correspondences
• Collaborate with the marketing and development teams to create and send donor and funder communications

Board Support

• Schedule and coordinate quarterly Board of Trustees meetings
• Aid in preparing onboarding and meeting materials for new Board of Trustees members
• Collaborate with other departments to execute development related events and site visits
• Performs other duties as needed

Data Management

• Ensure that all donations are properly tracked and reconciled with the finance team
• Oversee aspects of the data/CRM (Mindful) platform integrations with Eventbrite and QuickBooks
• Coordinate the moves management chart, tracking deadlines and updates

Grants Management & Stewardship

• Maintain Foundation & Corporate Relations Department’s grant reporting and proposal tracking systems.
• Review all organizational information regarding programs to complete funding proposals.
• Draft acknowledgement letters to corporate, government and foundation funders.
• Enter gifts and grant outcomes into Kindful.
• Ensure Kindful contains the most updated information on funders and prospects, including accurate grant portal credentials.

Required Skills, Knowledge, and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in any field preferred.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in fundraising
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills; experience with grant and proposal writing
• Demonstrated ability to execute deliverables and meet overlapping deadlines

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