Department:  Development

Status: Regular/Full-Time/Exempt

Reports To: CEO

Why Join Us?

At the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, you’ll be part of a creative and passionate team dedicated to shaping the future of our community through hands-on learning, early childhood development, and PLAY. This is a unique opportunity to be a part of a nationally recognized industry leading organization, with a dynamic local reputation as a top arts & cultural organization in our state.  We are dedicated to the Museum’s growth, our staff’s growth, and your growth; both personally and professionally. If you are an A-team player that wants to work for an A-team organization, the Children’s Museum is the place for you!

Job Summary:

The Children’s Museum is seeking a dynamic, high-energy Director of Development to provide leadership and management to advance the fundraising efforts of the Museum.  We seek a results-focused individual with the experience to successfully lead the planning and execution of a strong fundraising plan. The ideal candidate is an exceptional communicator, a strategic thinker, and a passionate advocate for children and education.  They will thrive in a fast-paced environment, work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, and expertly mentor a high-performing team.  This key position is one of 5 department directors, each of whom uses their extensive experience to provide strategic and practical leadership to the Museum.  This position is a direct report to the CEO, and works closely with the CEO on a daily basis. 

This position requires a candidate with a proven track record in nonprofit fundraising, including personal experience stewarding individual giving, corporate partnerships, major donors, foundations, grants, and planned gifts.  Additionally, this Director of Development must have experience planning and executing exceptional, profitable large-scale fundraising events and must be able to develop and implement fun and effective fundraising campaigns. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Fundraising & Development Strategy

• Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising plan, including annual giving, major gifts, corporate gifts and sponsorships, grants, special events, and planned giving.
• Participate in a leadership role on any capital campaigns or capital projects that the Museum engages in, including planning, stewardship, strategy, administration, etc.
• Cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with individual donors, foundations, government agencies, and corporate partners to expand financial support.
• Identify and pursue new funding opportunities to sustain and grow the Museum’s impact.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and support a team of development professionals, fostering a collaborative and high-achieving environment.
• Provide ongoing training and professional development to ensure team success.
• Commit to ongoing professional development of your own fundraising and leadership skills.
• As part of the Executive Leadership Team, provide expertise, advisement and perspective on fundraising-related topics that benefit the overall functioning of the organization, and be an active participant in the leadership team, sharing your broader insights and knowledge.
• Collaborate with the CEO, Board of Directors, the Board Development Committee, the Capital Campaign Committee, and other groups as required, to engage in fundraising and donor stewardship.

Donor Relations & Communications

• Serve as a key ambassador for the Museum, effectively communicating its mission and impact to donors and the community.
• Ensure stewardship of past, current and prospective donors through personal visits, articulate correspondence, timely gift acknowledgements, and strategic administration of naming opportunities.
• Oversee donor communications, ensuring compelling messages in proposals, reports, and acknowledgments.
• Plan and execute fundraising events and campaigns that ensure meaningful donor engagement and successful revenue outcomes. 
• Co-lead the creation of an Annual Report.
• Successfully lead the Museum’s annual fundraising Gala and volunteer Gala Committee.

Operations & Administration

• Develop and manage an annual development budget (including revenue and expenses).
• Track fundraising metrics, analyze trends, and report on progress towards revenue goals.
• Ensure accurate record-keeping of donor interactions, pledges, gifts and acknowledgments using the Museum’s CRM.
• Create an annual Departmental Work Plan that includes actionable goals and objectives; hold development staff accountable for their tasks, and report regularly on progress of work plan
• Provide progress reports to CEO and update senior team on revenue status.
• Oversee grant writing, and ensure timely and accurate reporting and compliance of all grants, including the timely completion of the Museum’s Data Arts submission, and other required submissions.

• Minimum seven years experience in fundraising, at least two at director-level.
• Highly detail oriented with the proven ability to both develop and implement a "moves management" process.
•  Proven leadership and management capabilities.
•  Substantial experience implementing fundraising plans and cultivating relationships for all funding streams with a proven track record of achieving contributed income targets of $1M+ annually.
• Strong event planning skills and experience.
•  Positive, “can-do” attitude, flexible, team-oriented, attends to detail and shows initiative.
• Excellent oral, written, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Must present in a well-groomed, professional manner, and dress in appropriate office business attire.

Salary/ Benefits: Salary starts at $85,000 annually; generous PTO; medical insurance with employer-HSA contribution; 403b retirement plan with 3% match; disability & life insurance.

Language Skills: Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from donors or the business community.  Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and communicate with donors.  Ability to effectively present information to top management, donors, public groups, and/or boards of directors.

Mathematical Skills: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret financial reports. Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, percentages.  Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra.

Reasoning Ability: Ability and flexibility to solve problems and deal with a variety of variables.   

Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite including Outlook, Excel and Word.  Applicants must have solid experience in a donor-management system and be willing and able to quickly learn the Museum’s CRM, Altru.  Experience in any of the Blackbaud CRM’s a plus. 

Supervisory Responsibilities: The Director of Development supervises the Develop Associate and the Development Officer.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to perform office and computer-related tasks, traverse large spaces, and to give Museum-wide tours.  Must have exceptional communication skills (i.e., communicate clearly and effectively).  Must be able to lift and transport boxes weighing up to 25 pounds.  Must be able to maintain composure in stressful and/or emergency situations.  Preparation for events and interacting with guests may require standing, walking, kneeling, crawling, and playing, stooping, bending, and crawling as well as carrying and/or lifting materials.

Environmental Requirements:

Must be able to work in a well-lighted, temperature-controlled work area. Must be able to work in open areas with other employees, with constant ambient noise. Employee must be willing to adhere to current company and CDC health-related guidelines.

This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts, or working conditions associated with the job.  While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change, i.e., emergencies, changes in personnel, workload, rush jobs, or technological developments.

CMoP provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

The Children's Museum of Phoenix is an at-will employer.  This means that both you and the museum reserve the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason with or without notice or reassign you or change your compensation.

Apply directly at our website at: https://bit.ly/CMOPJobs