Waterville Creates | Director of Development

Waterville, Maine – This position is eligible to work remotely in alignment with WC's remote work policy.

The mission of Waterville Creates (WC) is arts experiences for all. WC believes that the arts have power – the power to strengthen community bonds, drive a robust local economy, and enrich lives through creative expression. WC believes art and culture are vital to a vibrant community and a prosperous city – the future we want for Waterville.

Waterville Creates was established in 2014 by a core group of local organizations with a shared goal to strengthen the arts in Waterville through thoughtful collaboration. These founding partners were the Colby College Museum of Art, Common Street Arts, Maine Film Center, Waterville Main Street, Waterville Opera House, and Waterville Public Library. With the support of these and other diverse community partners, WC built an active and engaged board, talented staff, and a program of work that established it as the coordinating entity for arts and culture in Waterville.

After careful analysis and planning, WC merged with Common Street Arts in 2016 and with the Waterville Opera House and Maine Film Center in November 2018 in order to create efficiencies in marketing, development, accounting, and other administrative services while strengthening and expanding arts and cultural programming. Under this consolidated organizational structure, WC offers a diverse array of year-round arts programming, including community theatre productions, live music, comedy, and variety acts at the Waterville Opera House, daily film screenings at the Maine Film Center, the annual, 10-day Maine International Film Festival, regular art exhibitions and arts education opportunities at Ticonic Gallery + Studios, and numerous free, collaborative community arts events and programs. WC and all its divisions are now located under one roof at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, which was developed in partnership with Colby College and opened in December 2022.

WC is a cultural hub that is inspiring connection and shared experiences, deepening understanding around critical issues of our time, and embracing and advancing a community where all people can enjoy transformative experiences in the arts. WC is committed to expanding its impact and ensuring the arts remain an essential part of this thriving and inclusive community for generations to come.

Amid this forward-looking environment of energy and investment, WC seeks candidates for the role of Director of Development (Director). The Director marks WC’s first staff member dedicated to fundraising in approximately five years and is responsible for creating, operationalizing, and managing major donor fundraising opportunities with individuals and institutions as well as implementing and overseeing an overall development plan to support the mission, programs, and long-term sustainability of the organization. The Director of Development will join a Leadership Team comprising individuals who are highly motivated, capable, and focused on raising WC’s visibility and philanthropic aspirations in partnership with their incoming colleague.

In close collaboration with fellow Leadership Team members, the Director will manage a major giving program focused on individual and institutional donors capable of gifts of $25,000 or more. A targeted screening recently conducted by WC’s fundraising counsel confirms a clear opportunity to increase support from within the organization’s existing network that includes a promising base of individuals with untapped philanthropic capacity. Actual giving to WC is extremely modest by comparison to this capacity. This disparity between capacity and current giving underscores a critical opportunity to align WC’s relationships with more strategic and aspirational engagement. It will be imperative for the Director to also identify and cultivate new, high-capacity prospects from beyond the current network of relationships.

The Director will work closely with the Leadership Team to identify and support funding needs and priorities, and to provide support for foundation requests, corporate solicitations, and fundraising events – while building WC’s overall culture of philanthropy.

While Waterville Creates will consider a broad range of backgrounds, the ideal candidate will have the following qualifications/experience:

1. A passion for the arts and community-centered initiatives.
2. Five or more years of development experience with a nonprofit organization. Leading candidates will have demonstrated experience in individual and major gifts portfolio management, and a proven track record of achieving contributed revenue targets.
3. Demonstrated capacity to develop the case for support and strategic fundraising plans in alignment with mission, vision, and values. A confident fundraiser, the Director of Development will be knowledgeable of strategies and best practices to secure strategic gifts from individuals and institutional donors as well as how various giving programs can be integrated to diversify the funding base and cultivate greater donor commitments.
4. Demonstrated experience cultivating, training, building relationships with, and working in collaboration with executives, senior staff, and volunteer leaders on development-related activities, providing them with quality support and intelligence and increasing their comfort with and success in fundraising.
5. The ability to extract and analyze data to make effective, efficient decisions about donor strategy and process. Working knowledge of modern data management practices and innovations that can streamline fundraising processes and contribute to the integration of related functions.
6. People-oriented leader who enjoys engaging and communicating with multiple constituencies.
7. An innate multi-tasker, the successful candidate will be highly organized, have excellent time management and prioritization skills, and adapt to changing situations with ease and enthusiasm.
8. Proven ability to build trust, create a sense of purpose and direction, and influence colleagues to take action toward a common vision and goal.
9. Exceptional interpersonal skills with capacity to leverage relationships with donors, handle sensitive issues with tact and discretion, and communicate with people of diverse backgrounds.
10. Excellent oral and written communication skills.
11. Welcomes new ideas and approaches, adapts to situational demands by stepping outside of comfort zones, evaluates how certain obstacles impact results, and focuses on positive results.
12. Willingness to evaluate personal action, learn from mistakes, and accept personal responsibility for outcomes.
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Waterville Creates seeks qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply for the opportunity to join its team. WC is committed to building a more equitable work environment that includes a wide array of voices. WC believes a diverse workforce strengthens the organization by increasing representation, expanding access, and building a strong creative coalition for the work it undertakes. Waterville Creates is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Download the full position description via the following link:

https://dsgco.com/search/22407-waterville-creates

Waterville Creates has retained the DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice of DSG Global to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) may be submitted via the following link or directed to the leader of the search team:

https://talent-profile.dsgco.com/search/v2/22407

Ian McCray

Managing Director

DSG Fundraising & Advancement

ian.mccray@divsearch.com | 802.989.3764

The annual salary for this role is expected to range from $130,000 to $150,000, commensurate with experience