Senior Manager, Foundations and Government Support

ISGM Core Values:

Isabella Stewart Gardner believed that art had the power to change lives and she built a beautiful, personal, and immersive Museum setting to do so. Today the Gardner is a living embodiment of her bold vision; a dynamic place where ideas and creativity in all its forms inspire visitors.  Through exhibitions, music, programs, and performances we strive to tell new stories and challenge assumptions through diverse voices and community members.

Our Core Values are: 

• Creativity is our Legacy
• Community is our Purpose
• The Collection is our Catalyst
• Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion are our Commitments 

Position Summary: 

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is in the third year of a five-year strategic plan that reflects Isabella's radical experiment and a commitment to broadening audiences. The plan lays out a bold, contemporary vision for the future. Building on audience growth and dynamic program innovation in recent years, we are exploring ways to realize most fully the Gardner’s vast potential as a vibrant cultural resource and a catalyst for daring, meaningful, artistic experiences.

The Senior Manager, Foundations and Government Support is instrumental to achieving the multi-million-dollar comprehensive Renewing the Promise Campaign to implement the strategic plan and launch the Museum’s exciting next chapter.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Senior Manager, Foundations and Government Support will help to set the overall strategy and drive the activity to meet targets for foundation and government giving and involvement; this position will have primary responsibility for the development of foundation and government grants as well as administration of ongoing grants. The Senior Manager, Foundations and Government Support is part of a 16 member development team and has one officer level position to manage. The ideal candidate will be an excellent grant writer, relationship builder, strategic and curious thinker, and prospector.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Develop a strategy and action plan for meeting the ambitious foundation and government fundraising goals of the Gardner’s Renewing the Promise Campaign, including stewarding existing relationships and building new ones, and focusing on pipeline of prospects and donors
• Build relationships with foundation and government funders and prospective funders in an effort to learn more about their goals and how they align with the Gardner’s mission as well as to identify and capitalize on trends in the institutional giving field
• Collaborate with Museum staff, including the Museum’s director, department heads, curators, education, and Finance staff on pre-proposal strategy and budget development and coordinate pre and post award updates to ensure timely submission of narrative and financial reports
• Steward all foundation and government donors
• Write targeted proposals for restricted and unrestricted gifts for operations, as well as endowment, capital and conservation projects.
• Maintain and build pipeline and tracking system of proposal and reporting deadlines, record-keeping, proposal filing system and donor files
• Expand prospect engagement and donor acquisition, aligning outcomes with funding and ISGM’s diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion (DEAI) commitments through effective prospect diversification, strong relationship building, and best-practice program administration.

• At least five years of grant writing experience
• Demonstrated relationship builder
• Entrepreneurial, strategic and skilled communicator
• Superior written and verbal communication skills
• Team player with strong interpersonal skills who can work effectively with artistic and business partners
• Experience developing budgets and endowment reports
• Ability to work effectively both individually and as a team member and to manage a team member
• Ability to articulate key components of the museum’s collections, programmatic initiatives, and fundraising objectives

Core Competencies:

• Oral & Written Communication
• Analytical and Forward Thinking
• Building Collaborative Relationships
• Results Orientation
• Achievement

COVID-19 Protocols: All employees of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are required to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status. If an employee is not vaccinated, they will need to go through an interactive process of requesting for religious or medical accommodation and to submit weekly testing results, in addition to following other federal, state and CDC recommendations.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion is one of the core values we hold close to our business practices. ISGM is committed to affording equal opportunities to qualified individuals regardless of race, color, gender, gender identity, genetics, military/veteran status, pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable laws.

Request An Accommodation: Applicants with disabilities who are unable to fully access ISGM's online application system may contact us at hr@isgm.org for assistance with a reasonable accommodation.