Director of Development

- San Francisco Chronicle

Organization

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (TheatreWorks) is one of the Bay Area’s flagship non-profit theaters and leading regional theatres in the nation. In 2019, the company was honored by the American Theatre Wing with the Regional Theatre Tony Award. Its mission is to celebrate the human spirit through innovative productions, new works, and arts engagement programs inspired by and engaging its diverse Silicon Valley community. TheatreWorks produces a mix of new works, regional premieres of contemporary hits, and reinvigorated classics, in the 600-seat Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and the 425-seat Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto, LORT B & C theatres, respectively.

With the point of view that the San Francisco Bay Area is the prototype of a diverse, ever-evolving America, TheatreWorks is committed to exploring the changing world and enhancing the American theatre with new vision, revealing who we are and what we might become. We seek to create community by welcoming the mosaic of cultures, perspectives and people that embody the Bay Area and beyond. We celebrate the transformative power of theatre to ignite imagination, inspire conversation, and interconnect our human spirits.

TheatreWorks has been committed to the creation of new works for the stage since its founding in 1970, having produced over 70 World Premieres and more than 170 Regional Premieres. In 2000, this commitment was strengthened and formalized with the establishment of its New Works Initiative, which has contributed to the development of scores of new plays and musicals earning national recognition and acclaim for the company and the new works program. Highlights of the program include the annual New Works Festival, the annual Writers Retreat, a commissioning program, and formative readings and workshops throughout the year. Writers currently under commission include Min Kahng, The Kilbanes, Lynn Rosen, Pia Wilson, Chris Miller, Nathan Tysen, Idris Goodwin, Mansa Ra, and Geetha Reddy. TheatreWorks believes in supporting local and national writers in the earliest stage of a play’s development.

The Arts Engagement program leads TheatreWorks’ commitment to engage its diverse community through Arts Education, Community Partnerships, and Inclusive Collaboration. Through accessible workshops, residencies, internships, civic salons, student matinees, touring productions, and other events, the program seeks to build intentional relationships with Silicon Valley neighbors. The Children’s Healing Project exemplifies the Arts Engagement program, in which TheatreWorks teaching artists lead improvisation-based workshops with patients at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, patients at the Comprehensive Eating Disorders Unit at El Camino Hospital, and families at the Ronald McDonald House.

 

TheatreWorks has asserted its commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization and is pursuing the intention to use its voice and art form to take a stand against conscious and unconscious bias and systemic racism. Updates and action steps toward inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and anti-racism are published on its website and include the creation of an IDEA collective, ongoing facilitated training at the board and staff levels, and the creation of the new department of Arts Engagement. Along with creating educational programs and increasing the accessibility of our programming, this department will focus on fostering long-term, trust-based, and reciprocal relationships with BIPOC and under-represented communities throughout the Silicon Valley.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is governed by a 25-member Board of Trustees, led by Board Chair Holly Ward. Tim Bond has served as Artistic Director since 2020, following the 50-year tenure of Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley reported revenue of $9.6 million, with approximately $4.7 million from contributions and grants and $4.6 million from program services. Due to the COVID-19 shutdowns, the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, had total revenues of $6.7 million, with approximately $6.5 million from contributions, grants, and endowment income. For FY23, TheatreWorks’ budget is $10 million, with approximately $5 million from contributed revenue sources.TheatreWorks has a consistent record of balancing its budget. TheatreWorks’ endowment stands at approximately $5 million.

Community

Situated on the traditional territory and unceded homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples, TheatreWorks is headquartered in Silicon Valley, which includes the cities of San José (the third-largest city in California), Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Cupertino. Silicon Valley’s location around the southern shores of San Francisco Bay provides easy access to the global hub of San Francisco, with Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and Napa Valley within driving distance. TheatreWorks serves the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to approximately 7.8 million residents.

A nexus of arts and innovation, the Silicon Valley is the home to many first-rate universities, including Stanford University, and dozens of major technology, software, and internet companies. Apple, Google, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Visa are among the major brands headquartered in the region.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is a leader among the region’s arts and culture organizations, joining major Bay Area theatres American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Rep, along with nearly 400 Bay Area theatre companies, making the region the nation’s third-largest theatre center. Silicon Valley is the home to numerous cultural organizations such as The Tech Museum, San Jose Opera, City Lights Theatre, Stanford Live, Cantor Arts Center, Symphony Silicon Valley,, San Jose Museum of Art, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA), EPACENTER, San Jose Stage Company, Children's Musical Theatre of San Jose, San Jose Youth Symphony, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, Less than an hour drive from Silicon Valley, San Francisco houses San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Symphony, SF Jazz, San Francisco Opera, Club Fugazi, SFMOMA, the Asian American Art Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora, and many others.

With its Northern California weather, Silicon Valley has a Mediterranean climate of warm summers and cool winters and offers proximity to beaches and countless ways to enjoy the outdoors. Visitors can find stunning views on endless miles of trails or spend an afternoon strolling through the historic Elisabeth F. Gamble Garden, which is free and open to the public every day of the year. Children can enjoy the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo.

Sources: visitcalifornia.com; census.gov; siliconvalleyguide.org; cityofpaloalto.org; theatreworks.org

Position Summary The Director of Development will play a prominent role in ensuring TheatreWorks’ continued success and commitment to furthering its impact within the community by building upon a solid and varied donor base to grow cash contributions of over $3 million and in-kind contributions of approximately $2 million annually.  The Director of Development will develop and execute on TheatreWorks' development strategy, manage department staff and structure, work closely alongside the Marketing team, Executive Director, the Arts Engagement team, and Artistic Director to create and direct organization-wide fundraising efforts.  Further, they will collaborate with and grow the highly engaged Board to support programming and access to high-quality performing arts programming.  This person will report directly to the Executive Director.   Key Responsibilities

• Create and execute a comprehensive annual and multi-year development plan with specific, quantifiable goals across a diversity of revenue streams
• Represent TheatreWorks at performances, events, and meetings with external constituents
• Identify and cultivate new potential individual, major donor, foundation, and corporate supporters, with a strong anti-racist lens and intentional outreach inengaging under-served and under-represented communities
• Supervise and support TheatreWorks’ overall development work alongside the Board, including helping to develop board strategies and communications, identifying prospects, and regular participation in and reporting during meetings
• Collaborate purposefully across the organization to ensure opportunities for effective integration with programs, marketing, and performances in alignment with the overall organizational vision
• Lead the development team to achieve ambitious fundraising goals through individual gifts, foundation and corporate support, events, and planned giving. Oversee development operations and systems, including the interface with ticketing and financial platforms
• Directly supervise, coach and mentor the development staff to fully utilize their strengths and ensure effectiveness within their roles; create opportunities for professional growth for all development staff members
• Equip and mobilize the Board of Directors to play an integral role in fundraising, including regular and direct work with various committees
• Work closely with the Executive Director and Artistic Director to further their role and execution with the overall fundraising strategies

 

Position Outcomes

A successful Director of Development will achieve the following outcomes within the first year of employment:

• Drive the design and implementation of a strategic fundraising plan to meet TheatreWorks’ diverse revenue needs, with particular focus on growing individual giving initiatives across existing and new donor communities      
• Help create and implement a plan to introduce new artistic and executive leadership to key stakeholders
• Develop new and leverage existing best practices around fundraising operations and stewardship, more fully utilizing existing systems and relationships to build stronger donor pipelines
• Effectively manage an independent portfolio of donors and leverage the Artistic Director, Executive Director, and Board to maintain their own as well
• Hire and grow the skillsets of direct staff reports to further their investment in the work and ensure individual success
• Enhance the efficiency of development operations and ensure a high-level of cross-training of database management.

 

Qualifications

• At least seven years of relevant experience in nonprofit fundraising, including quantifiable success with a variety of revenue streams
• Experience building and executing strategies that identify and cultivate gifts from high net-worth individuals, corporations, and major foundations; ideally having secured five and six-figure gifts
• Excellent communication skills and an adaptable approach with a diverse set of stakeholders
• Strong management skills including the ability to inspire, motivate, influence, and hold staff accountable to ambitious goals and high standards
• Is a proactive and creative problem-solver with an ability to be both strategic and tactical when implementing solutions
• A self-starter with the ability to work independently; bringing positive energy and a fun, flexible, and collaborative spirit
• Passionate about performing arts and TheatreWorks’ mission and is able to share a compelling connection to this work

 

Compensation and Benefits

Salary is $150,000/year. and benefits that include employer-paid health insurance; a 403(b) retirement plan; paid vacation; holidays; personal and sick days; season tickets to TheatreWorks; friends and family discounts; and a creative, energetic environment. TheatreWorks is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workforce.

 

Applications and Inquiries

Please send a resume and cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, addressed to Eileen Nelson, Chair Human Resources, at devosearch@theatreworks.org

Deadline to apply: Sept 15, 2022

 

 

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley strives to be an inclusive work environment and embraces a diversity of people, ideas, talents, and experiences. We highly encourage people of color, individuals with disabilities, and other historically underrepresented groups to apply.