Senior Manager, Advancement Communications

Job Summary:

The Senior Manager, Advancement Communications serves as the museum's lead architect and steward of donor-centered messaging, ensuring that philanthropy is clearly, consistently, and compellingly embedded across advancement communications and aligned institutional storytelling.

Reporting directly to the Chief Advancement Officer, this role functions as both a strategic partner and a hands-on leader. The Senior Manager is responsible for developing philanthropic narrative frameworks; writing, editing, and elevating a high volume of advancement communications; and managing complex, cross-functional workflows that support donor engagement, stewardship, and campaign success.

This role ensures that all advancement communications clearly reflect and advance the museum's mission, vision, and strategic priorities, translating institutional goals into donor-centered narratives that inspire philanthropic partnership and deepen engagement.

The Honolulu Museum of Art:

Opened in 1927, the Honolulu Museum of Art is a home for art and education created for the benefit of the entire community. Founder Anna Rice Cooke envisioned a museum that would bring people together through the power of art and "the deep intuitions that are common to all." The museum was conceived of as a place of meaningful exchange and dialogue, celebrating the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of Hawai'i's multi-ethnic population. From this founding intention grew the museum of today, with a world-class encyclopedic collection of more than 55,000 works of art, representing a stunning breadth of places and eras, from all corners of the globe and from the ancient past to the present day.

To learn more about HoMA, please visit our website.

Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in business, communications, non-profit management, or related field.
• Seven years of progressively responsible experience in advancement communications, development writing, or donor engagement.
• Demonstrated experience producing high-volume, high-quality fundraising writing.
• Direct experience supporting major gifts and/or campaign fundraising.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills.
• Demonstrated strength in project management and cross-functional coordination.
• CFRE or demonstrated fluency with ethical, donor-centered fundraising practices.
• Able to handle confidential financial information with tact and discretion.
• A strong sense of professionalism; must be comfortable acting as a point of contact for the Advancement team and museum.
• Comfort leveraging emerging tools and technologies to improve efficiency while maintaining confidentiality and quality standards.
• Honesty, integrity, and a strong work ethic supported by commitment, enthusiasm, and follow-through.
• Ability to work within and support a diverse community of visitors, artists, and employees.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience in a museum, cultural institution, higher education, or similarly complex nonprofit environment.
• Experience developing messaging frameworks or narrative toolkits.
• Understanding of and dedication to advancing the Honolulu Museum of Art's identity, vision, and values.

Essential Duties

• Strategic Advancement Messaging & Narrative Leadership
  • Develops and stewards donor-centered messaging frameworks that articulate the museum's philanthropic priorities, campaign goals, and impact narratives.
  • Serves as the primary author and editor of advancement communications, ensuring clarity, consistency, and strategic alignment across donor touchpoints.
  • Partners closely with frontline fundraisers to align messaging with cultivation strategy, donor motivations, and solicitation goals.
  • Establishes and upholds department and museum editorial standards, ensuring consistency in voice, tone, accessibility, and inclusive language.
  • Partners closely with the Chief Advancement Officer to shape advancement-forward institutional messaging during campaign planning, execution, and stewardship.
• Writing, Editing, & Content Development
  • Writes, edits, and oversees a high volume of advancement communications, including major and principal gift proposals, stewardship reports, donor updates, campaign materials, cases for support, and board-facing communications.
  • Provides substantive editing and message refinement for materials produced by advancement staff as well as marketing and communications partners as appropriate.
  • Translates complex curatorial, programmatic, and financial information into compelling, donor-centered language that integrates both data and story.
  • Creates material in multiple voices, including senior leadership and campaign communications contexts.
  • Ensures that all advancement communications reflect ethical, donor-centered fundraising practices and reinforce trust, clarity, and impact.
• Project Management & Workflow Leadership
  • Leads advancement communications workflows from concept through execution, managing timelines, dependencies, inputs, and approvals across multiple stakeholders.
  • Designs and oversees the sequencing of communications to align with fundraising strategy, campaign phases, and donor engagement priorities.
  • Coordinates closely with Advancement colleagues, Marketing & Communications staff, and institutional partners to ensure timely delivery and message integrity.
  • Collaborates on gift announcement strategy and timing in coordination with Marketing & Communications.
• Cross-Functional Partnership & Institutional Alignment
  • Partners with Marketing & Communications to ensure philanthropic priorities and donor-centered framing are accurately reflected in outward-facing institutional materials.
  • Collaborates with Curatorial, Education, and Programs teams to identify compelling stories and translate them into advancement-ready narratives.
  • May mentor or provide guidance to advancement staff and partners on writing standards and donor-centered messaging.
• Demonstrates a commitment to fostering cultivating, and preserving a culture of inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility through respectful communication and cooperation with others, continuous training, and the modeling of inclusive behaviors.
• In partnership with HR, supports the leadership team in ensuring equitable experiences, strengthening inclusion acumen and promoting a culture of belonging that embraces the contributions of all staff.
• Other duties as assigned.

Compensation

The Honolulu Museum of Art is committed to practicing salary transparency. The range for this position is $95,000 per annum to $105,000 per annum . Please note that pay range information is a general guideline only. Many factors are taken into consideration when setting pay, including education, experience, the external labor market, and internal equity.

This opportunity includes a generous benefits package, including but not limited to:

• Fully covered medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees.
• 12 paid holidays.
• 15 days of vacation accrued in the 1st year, increasing to 20 days in the 2nd year.
• 15 days of sick leave accrued annually.
• Group retirement plans with employer matching after 12 months of service.
• Shop, Museum Café, and Art School discounts.
• Onsite parking provided.

Working Conditions and Atmosphere:

Work takes place onsite in an office environment. General office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with flexible scheduling as appropriate. Ability to operate general office equipment including computers, copiers, printers, etc. Ability to lift, carry, push, pull, up to 25 pounds of general office material or equipment. Ability to work some evening and weekend hours.

The employee must be able to fulfill all Essential Duties with or without a reasonable accommodation. This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of all activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned, at any time with or without notice.

EEOC Statement:

HoMA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. HoMA recruits, hires, trains, promotes, compensates, and administers all personnel actions and benefit programs without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, including pregnancy and gender identity and expression, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisions, marital status, arrest and court record (except as legally applicable), citizenship, credit history, military and veteran service, victim of domestic violence or sexual abuse victim status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibilities and essential functions of this position but should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work duties and requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned, including work in other areas to cover absences or relief to equalize peak work periods or otherwise balance the workload.

HoMA maintains a policy of nondiscrimination in all employment practices and decisions, ensuring equal employment opportunities for all qualified individuals. This applies to both HoMA employees and applicants for employment with the Museum. Any form of harassment of any employee because of any protected status is prohibited.

HoMA welcomes people from all backgrounds and walks of life, and this is reflected in our diverse community of employees. We encourage applications from candidates across a wide variety of backgrounds, including, but not limited to, people of all races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, women, veterans, and all members of the LGBTQ community.