Development Director

Visual AIDS seeks a Development Director to lead all aspects of fundraising and development, including institutional and individual giving, benefit events, and board engagement.

Working in close partnership with the Executive Director, the Development Director will be both a strategic and hands-on member of a small, collaborative staff. This is an exciting moment of growth at Visual AIDS, with significant opportunity to shape the next phase of our fundraising strategy and develop new sources of support.

About Visual AIDS

Visual AIDS is a New York-based arts organization that works at the intersection of art and AIDS. Founded in 1988, we foster a culture that understands HIV as part of human experience, because we all live in a world shaped by HIV and AIDS.

Through our archive, artist support programs, exhibitions, publications, public programs, and international Day With(out) Art initiative, we support artists living with HIV, preserve and activate artistic and activist histories, commission and present new work, and create opportunities for dialogue, research, and exchange. Our work repairs gaps in the cultural record created by the stigma of AIDS and intersecting social biases, while encouraging people to see the relevance of HIV and AIDS to their own lives and to other contemporary crises.

Responsibilities

The Development Director will work closely with the Executive Director to set fundraising priorities and strategy, while taking primary responsibility for managing and implementing Visual AIDS's day-to-day development work. The role will also collaborate across the staff to connect development work with Visual AIDS's programs, communications, and broader organizational goals.

Institutional Giving

• Lead Visual AIDS's foundation, government, and corporate fundraising, including researching and cultivating prospective funders and developing strategies for renewed and increased support.
• Draft and edit grant proposals, reports, letters of inquiry, and other fundraising materials in collaboration with the Executive Director and program staff. Ensure that proposals, reports, and other funder requirements are completed accurately and on time.
• Develop and maintain relationships with foundation and corporate partners alongside the Executive Director.

Individual Giving

• Develop and implement strategies to cultivate, solicit, and steward individual donors, including annual appeals and direct outreach.
• Coordinate donor acknowledgments and stewardship and maintain accurate donor and giving records in Salesforce.
• Identify opportunities to deepen donor engagement with Visual AIDS's programs and community.

Benefit Events

• Take a leading role in planning and producing Visual AIDS's major fundraising events, including the annual Postcards from the Edge benefit and the biennial Visual AIDS Vanguard Awards, while identifying opportunities to evolve these events in ways that strengthen their fundraising impact and advance Visual AIDS's broader goals.
• Develop fundraising strategies and timelines and coordinate donation solicitation, benefit committees, board participation, volunteers, vendors, and event logistics.

Communications and Board Engagement

• Develop fundraising messaging and contribute copy for appeals, email campaigns, sponsorship materials, and other communications in collaboration with the Executive Director and Communications staff.
• Assist the Executive Director with board stewardship and quarterly board meetings and serve as a primary staff contact for board members regarding giving and fundraising.

What We're Looking For

Approach to the Work

The Development Director will be a close thought partner to the Executive Director, working together to strengthen Visual AIDS's fundraising strategy and identify opportunities for growth. They should approach fundraising as a form of relationship-building, creating meaningful connections with Visual AIDS's broad and diverse community and opportunities for people to participate in and support our work at different levels of giving.

Required experience and skills:

• At least 3 years of fundraising experience.
• Experience with nonprofit fundraising, including grant writing and fundraising events, and demonstrated success securing funding from a range of sources.
• Excellent professional writing and communication skills, including the ability to describe Visual AIDS's work compellingly to different audiences.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills, with systems for meeting deadlines, accurately tracking donations, and ensuring consistent follow-up.
• Strong interpersonal skills and comfort building relationships with donors, funders, artists, board members, volunteers, and other members of Visual AIDS's community.
• Commitment to Visual AIDS's mission and to a workplace culture grounded in inclusion, openness, collaboration, and respect.

Preferred experience and skills:

• Experience with individual giving, donor cultivation, and/or corporate sponsorships.
• Experience using Salesforce or another donor CRM and familiarity with email marketing and other fundraising communications platforms.
• Fundraising experience within an arts, culture, and/or social justice nonprofit.
• Interest or experience in contemporary art, art history, public history, and/or HIV and AIDS activism.

Schedule and Workplace

Visual AIDS maintains a collaborative, primarily in-person workplace with opportunities for flexible and hybrid work. Following a two-month introductory period, employees may work remotely up to two days per week and have greater flexibility in scheduling their work.

Visual AIDS staff are expected to attend public programs, benefits, openings, and other events, often during evenings or weekends.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Visual AIDS is committed to fostering a workplace that is inclusive, equitable, respectful, and free from discrimination. Visual AIDS provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, New York State, or local law.

We welcome applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences and are committed to building a staff that reflects the communities with whom we work.