ArtsKC – Regional Arts Council seeks a dynamic, experienced professional for the Vice President of Advancement position. This high-impact senior leadership position is responsible for oversight of all aspects of the organization's fundraising efforts, including developing and executing strategic plans to cultivate donor relationships, manage major gifts, and secure corporate and foundation funding. The Vice President will also lead all marketing and communications initiatives to promote the organization's mission and increase public awareness, all while aligning with the overall strategic goals of the organization that seek to overcome systemic and societal barriers to ensure inclusive and equitable participation in the arts. This leadership position reports directly to the President & CEO and works with the ArtsKC team to advance organization visibility and resources through philanthropy and external engagement.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Successfully develops and implements a comprehensive resource development plan aligned with annual and long-range goals, objectives, and strategies that maximize support from various sources including individuals, corporations, foundations, grants, government grants, and special events.
- Advances and diversifies revenues to support ArtsKC’s growth and evolving community impact goals now and into the future.
- Stewards existing and initiates new relationships with donors, supporters, and stakeholders to increase giving and investment potential.
- Leads, directs and inspires the efforts of the advancement team.
- Provide strategic direction for ArtsKC’s Marketing and Communications activities to meet goals set out in the Strategic Impact Plan.
- Identifies new foundation financial support, meets grant application and report deadlines, and coordinates direct mail and email solicitations, and special events for cultivating existing and potential donors.
- Tracks data, prepares reports, and forecasts revenues in coordination with the Finance team. Plans and submits annual budgets to document return on investment (ROI) and set goals for growth.
- Represent the agency before funders, board members, volunteers, arts patrons, and donors.
- Remains current on professional fundraising trends, leading strategy in this uncertain and changing environment.
Day-to-day responsibilities:
Leadership and Management
- The Vice President will relentlessly collaborate and partner with ArtsKC colleagues to ensure that the organization’s collective goals and objectives are achieved.
- Mobilize the Advancement team by sharing ambitious, inspiring, and compelling approaches to greater organizational impact and sustainability by meeting or exceeding their goals.
- Foster a collaborative and results-oriented culture within the Advancement team that embraces teamwork, transparency, seamless communication, continuous improvement, and mentorship.
- Through proactive and adaptable leadership, continuously evaluate progress toward established goals, shifting and evolving as needed to be successful
- Be responsible for hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, and talent development of direct reports, and support these leaders in doing the same for those who report to them.
- Through active listening and clear, respectful communication, demonstrate a commitment to working collectively to achieve results across the organization.
Resource Development Strategy and Execution
- Lead the building, implementation, and adoption of systems and practices that support intra- and inter-departmental collaboration, integration, communication, and relationship building to meet/exceed annual fundraising goals.
- Develop business engagement strategies that generate mission-aligned revenue and/or fees for services or programs.
- Develop and execute a comprehensive resource development plan including major, annual, and planned giving.
- Lead stewardship strategies to maximize donor participation and long-term retention.
- Partner closely with the CEO, Director of Government Affairs & Policy, Director of Community Impact, and Vice President of Finance to strategically align impact models, services, and innovation opportunities with funding opportunities.
- Support the CEO and Board of Directors in cultivating and soliciting investment from individuals, corporations, foundations, and others.
- Instill a culture of philanthropy throughout ArtsKC, ensuring all staff members understand their role in the organization’s philanthropic success.
- Cultivate and steward critical relationships with corporate partners, foundation and individual investors, and other strategic revenue partnerships, to reach organizational growth and sustainability goals.
- Develop and manage the Advancement department budget, ensuring strategic investments and responsible fiscal controls and stewardship are maintained.
- Monitor, analyze, and report on fundraising data and key performance indicators to assess progress toward fundraising goals.
Communications and Marketing
- Represent ArtsKC in external-facing work with donors, partners, and other stakeholder communities and partner with the CEO and other organizational leaders to serve as a passionate advocate for ArtsKC’s mission.
- Guide vision and messaging for external communications, including public relations and marketing to increase knowledge and awareness of ArtsKC, its mission, activities, and the value of its work. This will include a website, investment proposals, paid advertising, and all agency collateral.
- Create and execute a strategy to leverage marketing as a tool in resource development: volunteers, revenue, and relationships.
- Monitor, analyze, and report key performance metrics to assess the impact of communication and marketing efforts.
We are seeking an engaged colleague who is:
- Passionate about the community and possesses deep enthusiasm for ArtsKC’s commitment to engagement, investment, diversity, and inclusion in arts and culture.
- A critical thinker who can demonstrate complex problem-solving skills.
- Experienced and accomplished in fundraising and donor development best practices
- A strong verbal and written communicator who can effectively engage and collaborate with a diverse group of individuals, both internal and external.
- Skilled in leading people and processes, including coaching and motivating teams to successfully reach and/or exceed goals
- An excellent interpersonal communicator demonstrating energy, enthusiasm, and the ability to build long-term relationships and represent the organization to external audiences
- Flexible, self-aware, culturally competent with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and demonstrates a high degree of professional integrity
- Open to adapting and changing, bringing innovative ideas to help further the organization’s mission
- Organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple projects, deadlines, and outcomes
Qualifications:
- Seven to ten years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree; Master’s Degree preferred or related work experience
- CFRE credential or similar fundraising accreditation is preferred
- Minimum of 5 years of increasing leadership experience, with preference in a not-for-profit organization
- Experience working with not-for-profit volunteer board members
- Excellent written and verbal presentation skills, with an emphasis on financial budgeting and grant reporting
- Experience in grant writing for foundations and corporations
- Experience in developing and implementing new fee-for-service strategies
- Excellent marketing, communications, and public relations expertise
- Comprehensive understanding of impact measurement and reporting
- Experience in leading large-scale special events is preferred
- Strong working knowledge of: Constant Contact, SalesForce CRM, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and project management systems, emerging interest/skills with AI platforms to aid in efficiency.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Deadline: Posting Open Until Position is Filled
No phone calls or recruiters, please. Please submit a single pdf document, via email, containing a cover letter, resume, salary expectations, and three references to: humanresources@artskc.org. Please indicate “Vice President of Advancement” in the reference line of the email to ensure proper handling.
Compensation and Benefits:
The base salary range for this position is between $90,000 - $110,000. Other compensation includes excellent health, vision, and dental insurance, life and disability insurance, and a generous 401K Plan. Health insurance is 90% paid by ArtsKC for each employee and ArtsKC also contributes 10% to the 401K Plan for each employee. The base salary will depend on skills, qualifications, and experience. This role is a full-time, exempt position.
It is the fundamental policy of ArtsKC to provide equal employment opportunities regardless of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, Veteran status, or disability status.
