Associate Director, Arts and Culture

Department

ARD Arts and Culture Initiatives

About the Department

Alumni Relations and Development (ARD) engages alumni (~220k), current students, parents and friends of the University through intellectual, professional and social activities on campus, around the world and online. ARD raises $600 Million annually to support faculty and researchers, practitioners and patients, and students and programs across the University. Our work supports priorities in every division, school, department, and institute.

Centrally organized within ARD, the Arts and Culture team advances philanthropic partnerships with key alumni, parents and friends across the campus’ arts ecosystem, including new and emerging projects and established arts units: Court Theatre, Smart Museum, Arts + Public Life, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, the Library and Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. A broad platform for multidisciplinary arts across the University of Chicago, the Arts and Culture Team encompasses the University’s arts engagement with students and faculty, our community, Chicago, and the world.

The Arts and Culture Team supports the study, presentation, and experience of arts and includes:
● Academic departments and programs in the Division of Arts & Humanities, the College, and the Library.
● Public-facing arts organizations Arts + Public Life, Court Theatre, Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, Logan Center for the Arts, Oriental Institute, Smart Museum of Art and University of Chicago Presents.
● Student-facing initiatives such as Arts, Science + Culture Initiative and the Arts Labs in the Media Arts, Data, and Design Center; and more than 60 student arts organizations.

Building on this foundation, the Provost’s Arts Steering Committee has developed a vision for the future of the arts at UChicago that deepens academic excellence, student arts engagement, community arts engagement, global arts engagement, and experimental inquiry and practice. To learn more, please visit https://www.uchicago.edu/life-at-uchicago/arts.

Job Summary

The Associate Director of Development for Arts and Culture supports the Senior Director and provides peer leadership for the entire team, leading results-oriented projects, connecting team members to resources, demonstrating / training best practices, standardizing our donor-facing processes, and demonstrating exceptional resourcefulness, leadership and service to colleagues in ARD, the Arts and Culture units, the University, and among our prospects. This position uses best practices and knowledge in the planning and implementation of development activities, typically within the undergraduate college, an academic department, a professional school, the central development office, or another University unit. Executes fundraising projects, cultivation programs for prospective donors and for visiting committees.

Responsibilities

• Has a deep understanding of fundraising operations for UChicago Arts and Culture Units. Participates in the development of fundraising goals, policies and short and long-term strategies. Assesses, analyzes and evaluates fundraising programs, specialized projects, and major events.
• Provides peer leadership among the members of the Arts and Culture Team, serving as a resource, advisor and project manager for shared projects, such as data improvement, resource sharing, shared gift opportunities, etc.
• Secures, renews, upgrades, and stewards leadership annual gifts for UChicago Arts through personal outreach and visits.
• Participates in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major gifts, in collaboration across the teams.
• Develops and maintains a portfolio of about 75.
• Makes between $1M - $2M in asks.
• Identifies, cultivates and solicits prospective donors who have the capacity to make financial commitments.
• Achieves personal fundraising activity goals monthly, quarterly, and annually.
• Works with UChicago Arts colleagues to develop and hone exceptional Major and Leadership Annual Gift opportunities.
• Advises annual giving projects for Arts and Culture teams, coordinating efforts around annual appeals, Giving Day, Giving Tuesday, etc.
• Creates, manages, and delivers important development projects with complex budgets, such as travel events.
• Works with Regional teams to expand presence in key cities through visits and events.
• Trains staff on acknowledgement process and supports donor relations and stewardship for UChicago Arts and the Arts and Culture Team units.
• Serves as an internal representative of the Arts and Culture Team with ARD to maximize visibility and seeks opportunities to collaborate on data strategy, discovery and prospect qualification, shared gift opportunities, travel and more.