Director of Leadership Giving

ABOUT TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER®

Founded in 1980, Tennessee Performing Arts Center® (TPAC) is located in downtown Nashville and is dedicated to providing and supporting the presentation of the performing and cultural arts. TPAC serves several hundred thousand audience members each year. Performances include the HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC series, a variety of special engagements, and the productions of three resident artistic companies: Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Repertory Theatre.

In addition, TPAC administers one of the largest and most comprehensive arts education programs in the United States, serving students from pre-school to high school, educators, and adults.

For more than four decades, the Center has welcomed more than 14 million audience members and served more than 1.8 million students, educators, and adults with performances at TPAC, teacher resources, professional development opportunities, classroom residencies, and enrichment programs.

TPAC manages three performance venues in the James K. Polk Cultural Center: Andrew Jackson Hall (2,472 seats), James K. Polk Theater (1,075), and Andrew Johnson Theater (256); as well as the War Memorial Auditorium (1,661), a historic concert hall located across 6th Avenue from the Center.

THE POSITION

Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) has an ambitious plan to increase annual fundraising, planned giving, and capital funds to ensure the long-term future of the company. The Director of Leadership Giving serves as a critical relationship manager with TPAC’s most generous donors, raising their philanthropic sights and generating significant contributed income for the organization.

The Director of Leadership Giving is a seasoned, outcome-oriented individual who employs personal interaction as their primary tool, along with exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills to comfortably align the case for support to a portfolio of 125+ households. Under direct supervision of the Senior Director of Leadership Giving, the individual will strategize, plan, and execute all aspects of identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of current donors and high net worth prospects to grow a robust patron pipeline for the Major Gifts program.

The Director of Leadership Giving works closely with organizational and departmental leadership to develop and successfully execute strategies to ensure short- and long-term goals related to the major donor pipeline are in support of the strategic mission, vision, and values of Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Leadership Giving will have the following primary responsibilities:

• Solicits and stewards a portfolio of 125+ households, comprised primarily of current $2,500-$9,999 donors and high net worth prospects with the aim to grow major gifts program of $10,000+.
• Establishes and ensures timely solicitation for annual giving, with particular emphasis on upgrading annual giving level, and introducing multi-year, planned giving, and capital gifts, whenever possible.
• Increases donor relationship, loyalty, and level of support through engagement with TPAC education programs and community initiatives with a keen focus on in-person meetings and relentless stewardship.
• Represents TPAC in the community while also actively visible at TPAC special events and in the Donor Lounge at TPAC performances, especially during Broadway and new series offerings, including dance, theater, and family programming. Attendance at evening and weekend functions is expected.
• Actively enters plans, steps, and call reports in Tessitura to document and track solicitation efforts and results in a timely manner. Conceives and executes individual prospecting strategies to build donor pipelines for major gifts and produces prospect research as needed.
• Participates in bi-weekly review of portfolio with development staff and provides regular updates on gift projections.
• Manages annual giving plans and stewardship of select Board members.
• Prepares major gift updates and opportunities for bi-weekly meetings with President/CEO, Chief Strategy Officer, and Senior Director of Leadership Giving.
• Supports other fundraising colleagues to share knowledge and experience on strategy, relationship management, knowledge of donors, and other areas of best practice.
• Develops detailed strategies, with metrics, for each gift solicitation and ensures that the progress of each strategy is documented.
• Maintains documentation, files, and tracking of all major donor contacts, gifts, and stewardship activities in Tessitura so they are accessible by others.
• Regularly strategizes and collaborates with Annual Giving and Event staff to identify and involve volunteer leadership in the cultivation and solicitation of donors.
• As TPAC evolves, so may this role. As the major gift pipeline grows, duties may change as leadership identifies new opportunities for the organization’s future.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal Director of Leadership Giving will bring most of the following qualifications:

• 7+ years of front-line, verifiable annual giving with major gift experience of $10,000+.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and analytical skills that demonstrate leadership, tact, diplomacy, attention to detail, creativity, and cultural sensitivity.
• Impeccable written and verbal communication skills.
• Relentless responsiveness to donors.
• Ability to develop and implement detailed Major Gifts fundraising plans, based on sound fundraising principles for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors.
• Ability to maintain effective communication and rapport with others, both internally and externally.
• Ability to serve as a reliable, trustworthy steward of TPAC’s brand, mission, and values at all times.
• Experience working within a nonprofit arts and cultural institution is preferred.
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university or equivalent relevant experience is required.

APPLICATION

TPAC has retained Campbell & Company to conduct this search. To be considered for this opportunity, please send a letter of interest and resume to: anc@campbellcompany.com