Senior Development Director

Senior Development Director

Engaging development professional with understanding of fundraising models, practices, and strategies for museums or arts and cultural organizations needed to lead the American Alliance of Museums’ fundraising activities in support of AAM’s mission, institutional goals and priorities. The Alliance’s priority areas include Advocacy, COVID recovery resources and the expansion of our Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) programming and services.

About the position: Reporting to the Executive Vice President, the Senior Director of Development will lead a team of two Directors to implement fundraising programs and activities that sustain a culture of philanthropic giving to support the Alliance’s strategic plan. The Senior Director will implement strategies that raise contributed revenue; assure that the organization’s systems and procedures support fund development and lead staff and volunteers to institutionalize philanthropy and fund development within the organization. Salary minimum is $105K and is commensurate with experience.

Skills and qualifications:  The successful candidate has a demonstrated record of growing revenue and experience opening and closing major ($50k+) gifts; superior writing skills including ability to draft proposals; edit copy; compose donor communications; and create talking points and messaging for development initiatives. A proven ability to build and manage a team emphasizing productive relationships; creating professional development opportunities; collaborative communications; aggressive goal setting and successful outcomes with a commitment to contributing to a culture that values diversity, equity, accessibility and Inclusion (DEAI) is key. A Bachelor’s degree; minimum of 5 years fundraising experience in a professional position and the ability to travel up to 20% of the time is required.  Ability to speak languages in addition to English is helpful, but not required.

How to apply:  In order to encourage a broad pool of candidates with various backgrounds to apply and to mitigate any potential implicit bias during our review of applications, we are applying some principles of “blind hiring.” Please follow the directions below when submitting your application materials.

• Submit a cover letter and resume to: hr@aam-us.org, using “Senior Development Director" in the subject line. Please do not include your name or address on either document. Please include education but omit school names and graduation years.  Include your email address as the only personal identifier on these documents. Please include your salary requirements.
• As part of your cover letter (no more than 2 pages), please respond to the following: What are emerging trends in non-profit philanthropy and how might they impact the Alliance?

Applications must be received by January 31, 2021 to receive full consideration. Submissions will be reviewed by our hiring team and candidates who are selected for further screening will be contacted by email within two weeks of this deadline.  Due to the large number of applications AAM receives, we can only contact those candidates selected for further screening. 

The Alliance is committed to a workplace that values DEAI.  Applicants of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. If you require reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for any part of the application process, please contact hr@aam-us.org. 

About the Alliance. The American Alliance of Museums, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is a trusted leader, partner, and advocate for museums and works to build a field that includes dynamic and diverse individuals, institutions, and communities. With a budget of $10M, the Alliance provides leadership, advocacy, and service to its membership and the museum field, which includes a broad range of museums, from art to zoo. The Alliance is an equal opportunity employer and values a diverse workplace. For more information, please visit www.aam-us.org.