Arts Alliance Illinois

Director

• Maintain a portfolio of 20–30 major donors, leading all cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities.
• In collaboration with the Executive Director, lead strategy for gifts $25,000+ and collaborate with the Development Manager to grow donors in the $1,000–$24,999 range.
• Serve as the primary solicitor for special campaigns, creative sector initiatives, and programmatic or policy-related fundraising.
• Engage the Board Fund Development Committee in identifying, cultivating, and soliciting major donor prospects.
• Lead prospecting for new individual, foundation, corporate, and government supporters.
• Conduct regular outreach to broaden the donor pipeline and deepen relationships with program officers, philanthropic partners, and civic leaders.
• Act as a public representative of the Alliance at donor, partner, and sector events.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive multi-year fundraising strategy, including major gifts, annual fund, membership, foundation/government grants, and event revenue (including the annual benefit).
• Oversee the annual benefit and other donor events: Partner with the Executive Director and Board on strategy; Lead revenue planning, sponsorship strategy, and invitation pipeline development; Collaborate with the Development Manager and external vendors to ensure strong project management and execution.
• Supervise the Development Manager (FT), Grant Writer (PT), Membership Manager (PT), and Data & Technology Manager (PT).
• Oversee creation and maintenance of fundraising materials, including case statements, program overviews, annual/impact reports, and donor communications.
• Partner with Communications to develop and execute year-round donor and member engagement strategies.
• Optimize Salesforce and other tools to strengthen prospecting, donor stewardship, reporting, and pipeline management.
• Ensure timely and accurate grant reporting, compliance, and stewardship across all funding areas.
• Manage fiscal sponsorship relationships, including communication, documentation, and administrative oversight.
• Partner with the Senior Director of Finance and our external accounting partner on reconciliation, forecasting, reporting, and budgeting.
• Manage and support Board Development Committee work, including identification of prospective board members and governance-related processes.

Senior Director of Development

Operations

• Manage the Government Affairs legislative calendar, including scheduling meetings with elected officials, legislative staff, agency partners, and coalition leaders.
• Support tracking of bill movement, committee hearings, deadlines, and relevant policy developments; prepare summaries and daily/weekly updates for internal use.
• Draft and prepare meeting materials, legislator packets, talking points, briefing memos, and follow-up correspondence.
• Maintain organized shared folders, notes, and legislative databases, ensuring accurate and timely record-keeping.
• Support the preparation and submission of witness slips, testimony drafts, letters of support/concern, and other required documents.
• Provide administrative and operational support for policy work connected to Arts Alliance Illinois’ major advocacy coalitions—including arts education, creative workers, public funding, and dedicated revenue—by coordinating meetings, preparing materials, documenting discussions, and tracking timelines and follow-up tasks.
• Coordinate logistics, communication, and schedules for Capitol Day, district meetings, legislative roundtables, and other advocacy events.
• Assist in coordinating action alerts, outreach lists, and rapid-response mobilization materials in partnership with the Communications Manager and Director of Community Organizing.
• Support the implementation of advocacy campaigns by executing follow-up tasks, tracking progress, and ensuring communication loops are closed.
• Maintain contact logs and ensure consistent follow-through with key stakeholders.
• Work closely with the Director of Community Organizing to align field engagement with legislative priorities and ensure readiness for hearings and mobilizations.
• Partner with the Communications Manager to ensure timely and accurate messaging about legislative actions, updates, and calls to action.
• Collaborate with the Creative Worker, Research and Programs teams to integrate constituent stories, partner insights, and data into legislative briefings and messaging.
• Provide regular administrative and reporting support for funder updates, grant compliance, and internal planning.

Senior Director of Development

Policy Operations Manager