Director of Development

Job purpose:

The Director of Development leads IA&A's philanthropic strategy and is responsible for building the organization's contributed revenue base across foundations, government sources, corporate partners, and individual donors. IA&A has historically operated on a near-total reliance on earned revenue. The 2026-2030 strategic plan calls for a more diversified model in which contributed revenue becomes a meaningful and growing share of the organization's resource base. The Director of Development is the architect of that shift.

The work includes building IA&A's first sustained culture of philanthropy, developing a major gifts program, deepening foundation and government grant work, growing corporate partnerships tied to the organization's cultural diplomacy mission, and supporting the Board's expanded role in fundraising. The Director works in close partnership with the President & CEO, who personally cultivates and closes major funders, and collaborates with the COO, Vice President of Exhibitions and other senior staff to develop fundable programs and a compelling case for support.

Duties and responsibilities:

Strategy & Planning

• Develop and execute a multi-year contributed revenue plan aligned with the 2026-2030 strategic plan, with annual goals across foundation, government, corporate, individual, and planned giving sources.
• Build IA&A's first sustained culture of philanthropy across staff, Board, and external supporters in an organization that has not historically relied on contributed income.
• Partner with the CEO and senior program leadership to identify fundable programs and shape compelling cases for support, including for the integration of TES, Hillyer, and CEP as a unified cultural diplomacy platform.
• Establish the policies, systems, and reporting needed to support a growing development operation, including within the Bloomerang and Monday CRM systems, gift acceptance, recognition, and donor stewardship practices.

Foundation & Government Funding

• Cultivate and steward a portfolio of institutional funders, including private and family foundations, DCAH, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other government cultural programs.
• Oversee all grant writing and reporting, including direct authorship of major proposals and supervision of any external grant writers or consultants.
• Build a balanced pipeline of project-restricted and general operating support.

Corporate & International Partnerships

• Develop a corporate giving and sponsorship program connected to IA&A's cultural diplomacy mission, with particular attention to companies with international footprints and brands aligned with arts and culture.
• Build sponsorship opportunities tied to specific exhibitions, programs, and events, including exhibition tours, Hillyer programming, and signature convenings.
• In partnership with the CEO, identify and develop funding relationships with embassies, international foundations, and binational cultural organizations.

Individual Giving & Major Gifts

• Build IA&A's individual donor base, including a focused major gifts program calibrated to the organization's size and growth stage.
• Personally manage a portfolio of major donor prospects; staff the CEO and Board members on their portfolios with briefings, materials, and follow-through.
• Develop annual giving, membership, and donor engagement structures sized to what is sustainable for an organization of IA&A's scale, and build a planned giving program over time.

Board Engagement

• Support 100% Board giving and active Board engagement in fundraising; work with the CEO and Board leadership to formalize give/get expectations.
• Staff the Development Committee (or any merged Development and Nominating committee structure) and serve as the senior staff resource for Board fundraising activity.
• Equip Board members with the tools, briefings, and prospect support they need to participate appropriately in cultivation and solicitation.

Events, Communications & Donor Experience

• Plan and execute fundraising and cultivation events, including donor receptions, exhibition openings, and signature annual events.
• Use Hillyer and the IA&A programmatic calendar as a primary platform for donor cultivation and stewardship.
• Work with the Communications staff to ensure development materials, donor communications, and the public case for support are consistent with the IA&A brand and strategic plan.

Team & Operations

• Build and lead the development function, including any Development staff and management of external development consultants.
• Maintain accurate donor records, gift processing, and reporting; provide regular forecasting to the CEO and Board.
• Recruit and onboard additional development staff as the function grows and capacity is justified.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Seven or more years of progressive fundraising experience in the nonprofit sector; experience in arts, culture, museums, or international affairs preferred.
• Demonstrated success building or substantially growing a development program, including direct authorship of grants and direct cultivation of major gifts.
• Experience across foundation, government, corporate, and individual sources, with a track record of securing meaningful institutional and individual support.
• Experience building a development function in a smaller or early-stage shop, including establishing systems, processes, and donor culture where they did not previously exist.
• Strong written and oral communication skills; ability to translate organizational strategy into a compelling case for support.
• Comfort working in close partnership with a CEO and Board, and supporting both in their respective fundraising roles.
• Experience with CRM and donor database systems; Bloomerang and Monday.com, or similar preferred.
• Familiarity with cultural diplomacy, international arts, or embassy and diplomatic networks is an asset but not required.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or CFRE credential preferred.

Working conditions

International Arts & Artists is located in the historic Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. All IA&A staff work onsite and are expected to maintain regular work hours in alignment with the Employee Manual. The Director of Development will regularly be required to work outside of regular business hours, including evenings and weekends for events and exhibition openings. Travel is approximately 10-15%, primarily domestic, for donor meetings, foundation visits, and conferences. IA&A currently maintains an open workspace with low to moderate noise.

Physical requirements

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work.