Head of Membership & Individual Giving

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary

The Aspen Art Museum seeks a creative, entrepreneurial, and results-oriented Head of Membership & Individual Giving to lead the strategy, growth, and engagement of the Museum’s membership and annual giving programs.

Reporting to the Deputy Director, Advancement , the Head of Membership & Individual Giving will be responsible for growing membership participation and contributed revenue across giving levels from $50 through $10,000. This position will own the full membership journey, from attracting and converting new members through engagement, renewal, upgrades, and ultimately developing a pipeline of supporters for deeper philanthropic involvement with the Museum.

Central to this role is creating a membership program that people actively want to be part of. The Head of Membership & Individual Giving will develop a distinctive year-round program of events, travel, collection and studio visits, art fair experiences, exhibition access, and other special opportunities that connect members more deeply with contemporary art, artists, collectors, and the Museum.

The role will work particularly closely with the Museum’s Marketing team to develop and execute membership acquisition and promotional strategies, establish measurable campaign goals, and regularly evaluate which programs, communications, audiences, and channels are successfully driving membership growth and revenue.

This is a highly collaborative and outward-facing leadership position for someone who combines exceptional relationship-building skills with creativity, strategic thinking, entrepreneurial energy, and a strong orientation toward measurable growth.

Key Responsibilities

Membership & Annual Giving Strategy

• Lead and own the Museum’s annual strategy for membership and annual giving across giving levels from $50 through $10,000.
• Establish annual goals for membership households, contributed revenue, acquisition, retention, renewals, upgrades, and reactivation, and regularly report progress against those goals.
• Own the full membership journey from prospect identification and acquisition through engagement, renewal, upgrade, and transition into higher-level philanthropy.
• Develop strategies to grow participation at each membership level, with particular attention to increasing participation at the Museum’s higher membership levels.
• Develop strategies to convert Museum visitors, program attendees, event guests, community members, and other engaged audiences into members.
• Build targeted approaches to re-engage lapsed members and strengthen year-over-year retention.
• Regularly evaluate membership structure, pricing, benefits, and giving levels and recommend opportunities for growth.
• Develop and manage the annual membership and annual giving revenue and expense budget and provide regular forecasts throughout the year.
  

Member Programming, Events & Travel

• Develop and lead a distinctive annual calendar of member events, trips, collection visits, studio visits, art fair experiences, exhibition previews, curator-led programs, social gatherings, and other special access opportunities.
• Develop local, national, and travel-based opportunities that extend members’ relationship with the Museum beyond Aspen.
• Create differentiated programming and experiences appropriate to the Museum’s various membership levels and audiences.
• Build relationships with artists, collectors, galleries, museums, cultural organizations, and other partners to create exceptional opportunities for members.
• Work closely with Curatorial, Education, External Affairs, and other Museum teams to identify opportunities for meaningful member engagement.
• Evaluate participation and member feedback to understand which programs and experiences are most successful in driving engagement, retention, and growth.
• Manage programming and benefit costs thoughtfully, balancing an exceptional member experience with overall program effectiveness and return on investment.

Membership Growth & Relationship Management

• Maintain an active portfolio of current and prospective members, with particular attention to supporters at the Museum’s higher membership levels.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, renew, and upgrade members through individual outreach, meetings, events, trips, and other engagement.
• Develop relationships with prospective members and confidently communicate both the value of membership and the philanthropic impact of supporting the Museum.
• Develop clear strategies for moving members between giving levels and increasing their engagement over time.
• Identify members with the capacity and inclination to deepen their philanthropic support and work closely with the Deputy Director, Advancement to develop appropriate cultivation strategies.
• Create a clear pathway from membership into major giving and other areas of philanthropic support for the Museum.
• Represent the Museum and Advancement team at programs, events, trips, and community gatherings and proactively develop new relationships.
• Develop external partnerships and reciprocal opportunities that enhance the value and reach of the membership program.

Marketing, Acquisition & Promotion

• Co-develop the Museum’s annual membership marketing, acquisition, and promotional strategy with the Marketing team.
• Develop coordinated campaigns around membership acquisition, renewals, upgrades, events, travel opportunities, annual giving, and key moments in the Museum calendar.
• Identify opportunities to promote membership through the Museum’s website, email, social media, onsite experience, exhibitions, programs, events, partnerships, and other audience touchpoints.
• Develop targeted campaigns for different audiences and membership levels using member and audience data.
• Establish clear goals and tracking mechanisms for membership campaigns and promotions.
• Regularly review campaign performance with Marketing, including reach, engagement, inquiries, conversion, membership purchases, renewals, upgrades, and revenue generated.
• Continually test and refine membership acquisition and promotional strategies based on measurable results.

Annual Giving

• Lead annual giving strategies that complement and strengthen the Museum’s membership program.
• Plan and execute annual giving campaigns and appeals throughout the year, including year-end and other targeted fundraising opportunities.
• Develop strategies for recurring giving and other opportunities to increase unrestricted annual support.
• Segment annual giving audiences based on giving history, engagement, interests, and capacity.
• Develop strategies to increase annual donor participation, retention, and average gift size.
• Work with the Deputy Director, Advancement to ensure annual giving serves as an effective entry point and pipeline into higher levels of philanthropy.

Data, Analysis & Reporting

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators for membership and annual giving, including revenue, active households, acquisition, conversion, renewal, retention, upgrades, reactivation, event participation, campaign performance, and movement between giving levels .
• Produce regular performance reports and forecasts for the Deputy Director, Advancement that clearly identify results, trends, opportunities, and areas requiring attention.
• Develop reporting that connects membership programming and marketing activity directly to acquisition, engagement, retention, upgrades, and revenue.
• Analyze member participation to understand which events, trips, benefits, and experiences are most effective in driving membership engagement and growth.
• Use member and audience data to identify prospects, segment audiences, inform programming, and develop targeted cultivation and marketing strategies.
• Translate data and campaign results into actionable recommendations and continually adjust strategy based on performance.
• Partner closely with the Development Operations Associate to ensure accurate and timely membership data, lists, reports, and dashboards are available to support strategy and decision-making.

Advancement Team Collaboration

• Work closely with the Deputy Director, Advancement to align membership and annual giving with the Museum’s broader fundraising strategy and priorities.
• Partner with the Development Operations Associate on membership processing, reporting, data integrity, acknowledgments, renewals, and other operational needs.
• Clearly communicate data and reporting needs to Development Operations and use CRM information to inform cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, programming, and growth strategies.
• Collaborate with Advancement colleagues to identify members with the capacity and inclination for deeper philanthropic engagement and ensure thoughtful movement into the major gifts pipeline.
• Collaborate across Museum departments to ensure membership is integrated into exhibitions, programs, communications, events, and other audience engagement opportunities.
• Maintain responsibility for the strategy, relationships, revenue, programming, and performance of the membership and annual giving programs , while Development Operations supports the systems and processes required for their successful execution.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant professional experience in membership, annual giving, fundraising, development, audience development, cultural programming, experiential marketing, hospitality, luxury, or another relationship- and revenue-driven field.
• Demonstrated success growing a membership program, donor base, audience, client portfolio, or other revenue-generating initiative.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the confidence to cultivate relationships and personally solicit financial support.
• Demonstrated ability to create compelling events, experiences, programs, or engagement opportunities.
• Strong understanding of how programming, marketing, communications, and relationship building work together to drive growth.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort interpreting CRM data, audience segmentation, reports, budgets, forecasts, and performance metrics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple events, trips, campaigns, relationships, and deadlines simultaneously.
• Interest in contemporary art and enthusiasm for the Aspen Art Museum’s mission.
• Ability to attend evening and weekend programs and travel as required.