Director of Individual Giving

Job Details

Location: 615 - Houston, TX 77002
Position Type: Full Time
Position: Director of Individual Giving
Department: Development
Classification: Full-time / Salaried / Exempt
Supervisor: Chief Development Officer

Overview

Founded in 1947 by Nina Vance, the Alley Theatre is a pioneer of regional theatre, and one of the leading nonprofit theatre companies in the United States. The Alley has been awarded the prestigious Regional Theatre Tony Award® and the Texas Medal of Arts Award. The Alley has transferred productions to Broadway, Off-Broadway, major European Festivals, and to 40 American cities. Unique among regional theatres, the Alley is committed to maintaining a Resident Acting Company and providing them with work year-round. Nationally recognized directors, actors, playwrights, and designers from across the country have regularly joined the Resident Acting Company. Rob Melrose, Artistic Director at the Alley, took over as artistic leader of the organization in 2019. His vision for the future of the Alley is both thrilling and ambitious. His strategic goals include upholding the Alley’s artistic excellence, keeping longtime Alley Theatre devotees eager to return each season, and creating productions and cultivating new audiences. Rob Melrose and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein along with Alley’s leadership team are committed to fostering an environment where everyone is encouraged to bring their authentic selves.

Job Statement

The Director of Individual Giving is a key member of the development team and is responsible for revenue generation from individuals and coordinates Individual Giving Officers and the Senior Manager of Major Gifts. S/he will also work with the Individual Giving Committee and other stakeholders to grow Alley’s donor program and strengthen the Alley Theatre’s donor base, while also working with an integrated fundraising program that consists of portfolio management, annual fundraising strategies, and data-driven predictive modeling for enhanced giving.

Job Duties

• Provide leadership and guidance to all members of the Individual Giving Team and ensure that they have the support and resources necessary to reach their financial goals and perform job responsibilities to reach annual budgeted fundraising goal of $2.35 million.
• Utilize and guide the team in best practices, donor cultivation, team mentorship, data analytics, predictive modeling, database integrity, list segmentation, and donor pipelines.
• Act as the primary portfolio manager for 100‑120 individual donors and prospects with the capacity to give $5,000 or more annually. Responsible for meeting annual financial and activity goals through the successful cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors.
• Build plans and enter all donor interactions into database to ensure accurate reporting and portfolio management and provide guidance to team members about the process to ensure proper step tracking.
• Advance current and prospective donor relationships through personal contact including but not limited to one‑on‑one donor meetings and tours; impact reports for high level donors; pre‑show and post‑show social hours; and regular contact via calls, texts, emails, letters, and seat notes.
• Engage Individual Giving Committee members and provide regular updates on fundraising goals and results and opportunities for members to support fundraising efforts.
• Work with the Chief Development Officer and Research Analyst to strengthen and develop the Alley’s major gifts program, growing the overall number of donors who contribute $10,000 or more annually.
• Coordinate strategies with Gift Officers to maximize donor lifetime revenue and retention as well as grow the Annual Fund program.
• Create fundraising projections and revenue tracking that will determine annual revenue goals for the Individual Giving Team.
• Work with Individual Giving Associate to evaluate and strengthen donor stewardship plan for the Sustainer program and increasing the number of lower‑level gifts.
• Oversee Alley Theatre’s telefunding campaign in coordination with the Development Administrative Assistant. Duties include providing weekly guidance to telefunding company, creating timelines and lead lists, determining calling priorities, developing calling scripts, and coordinating leads moved to portfolios by Research Analyst.
• Develop a successful broad‑based annual giving campaign utilizing all fundraising channels including direct mail, e‑mail, social media, telefunding, text messaging, and others.
• Collaborate with Individual Giving Team to expand and foster the widespread awareness of the planned giving program (“The Nina Vance Legacy Society”) by qualifying prospects for planned gifts.
• Work with development and marketing teams to execute two successful special campaigns each year (end‑of‑year and end‑of‑season). Duties include shaping strategy, determining revenue and participation goals, and executing all planned activity set forth in the campaign calendar.
• Stay informed of all performance and educational activities taking place at the Alley to ensure that meaningful qualification, cultivation, and stewardship steps are taken to engage with each donor/prospect in the assigned portfolio.
• Be an active participant in a team‑based fundraising department and provide additional assistance to other development staff members when possible.
• Work evening and weekend patron events with the intent to build relationships with Alley Theatre donors. Patron events include Greenroom duty, CenterStage dinners, Individual Giving Committee meeting and receptions, and insider patron events, among others.
• Support the Special Events team with annual fundraisers, including Alley Ball and Deck the Trees.
• In addition to the duties listed above, the Alley Theatre expects the following of each employee: adheres to theatre’s policies and procedures; works in a safe manner; performs duties as workload necessitates; maintains a positive and respectful attitude; communicates regularly with supervisor about department issues; demonstrates efficient time management and prioritizes workload; demonstrates regular and consistent attendance and punctuality; meets department productivity standards; participates in Alley Theatre events as needed or required; and completes other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Updates job descriptions, hiring and training new team members.
• Motivating and coaching employees to improve performance, provide feedback and training opportunities.
• Organizes and oversees the schedules and work of departmental staff.
• Conducts or assists with performance evaluations that are timely and constructive.
• Ensuring staff members follow company policies and procedures.

Qualifications

• Ability to work in a fast‑paced, energized and quickly changing environment.
• A proactive approach to problem‑solving with strong decision‑making skills.
• Detail oriented, able to prioritize efficiently and multi‑task.
• Ability to be self‑directed and take initiative.
• Ability to maintain confidential information.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Exhibits a positive attitude with good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Minimum eight years of fundraising experience within the non‑profit sector.
• Experience managing a fundraising team.
• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Excellent communication skills with demonstrable ability to prepare and present both formal written and oral presentations.
• Demonstrated knowledge of analytics and leveraging predictive modeling for program evaluation and campaign planning.
• Effective management skills to develop, motivate and retain assigned interns and volunteers.
• Requires strong collaboration skills in order to work effectively across the organization and function consistently as a highly valued and high performing team player within the Development department and the organization.
• Requires exceptional project management skills and ability to multi‑task within budgetary and resource constraints and timelines.
• Must be able to think critically and strategically and anticipate potential project challenges.
• Extensive computer and database knowledge necessary (MS Office suite and Tessitura a plus).
• Demonstrated record of ability to multi‑task and meet deadlines completing assignments on time and on budget.
• Broad knowledge of the principles of fundraising and individual giving.
• Successful experience in making cold calls as well as developing cultivation and solicitation strategies.
• Excellent oral, written and interpersonal skills.
• High attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong problem solving, research, analytical, organizational and strategic planning skills.
• Flexibility to work events that occur in the evenings and on weekends.
• Self‑motivated and self‑starting individual.

Physical Requirements / Working Conditions

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to lift and move 25 lbs.
• Must be comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment where directions and priorities can change rapidly.
• Typical hours are during the day, but the position requires flexibility to be available for weekend, holidays and evening work hours as needed.

Benefits & Perks

• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• Paid vacation, floating holiday and sick time
• 401(k) with matching, FSA, HRA (Alley paid deductible)
• Free and discounted tickets to Alley Theatre performances
• Discounted Parking ($4 Bi‑weekly)
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee wellness program & Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Houston, TX is one of the most affordable cities in the nation with no state or city income tax.

Alley Theatre is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io.

The Alley Theatre is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state, or federal law. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.