Major Gifts Assistant

New York City

Full Time

Mid Level

The Major Gifts Assistant supports Whitney’s Director of Major and Principal Gifts and Major Gift Officers (MGOs) with identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding their donor portfolios. This includes drafting correspondence, preparing team members for meetings and donor engagement, keeping donor experience top-of-mind in all their work, and ensuring pipelines and actions are updated in the database. The Major Gifts Assistant must be an organized self-starter with strong relationship-building, organizational, and writing skills.

Responsibilities

Provide administrative support to the Director of Major and Principal Gifts as well as MGOs by organizing meeting details and preparing thorough research and planning for high-level donor meetings and events.
Assist in developing donor cultivation and solicitation strategies; ensure timely follow-up with prospects.
Create and edit a variety of donor communications, including pledge agreements, billing statements, solicitation letters, invitations, stewardship reports, impact updates, and other correspondence as needed, in consultation with the Director of Major and Principal Gifts and MGOs.
Ensure the acknowledgment of major gifts and pledges; process gifts and draft acknowledgment letters, in partnership with Advancement Operations.
Track and review donor interactions, gifts, and strategy notes in Raiser’s Edge to maintain data integrity and support donor stewardship in partnership with Advancement Operations.
Prepare meeting-ready briefing materials and talking points for MGOs and senior staff, drawing on prospect research and analysis provided by Advancement Operations.
Support the Whitney’s planned giving program as needed.
Work collaboratively and effectively within and across departments.
Maintain an overarching knowledge of major donors and trustees to the Whitney
Attend relevant museum and Advancement events.
Support a collaborative and inclusive team environment aligned with the Whitney’s mission and values.
Must possess a high level of confidentiality as this person will have access to confidential documents such as museum strategic planning, funding strategies, pledge agreements, confidential donor records, giving history, constituent anonymity & personal information, and Advance Museum Exhibition Schedule.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree or commensurate experience.
2-3 years' experience in nonprofit advancement; experience in museums or cultural institutions a plus.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Raiser’s Edge or related software (or the ability to quickly learn new digital platforms).
Experience working independently and collaboratively with different leaders.
Self-starter with the ability to multi-task and manage multiple workstreams at once.
Strong organizational skills.
Expert written and oral communication.
Excellent customer service skills, with the ability to engage with Whitney community members as patrons and foresee their needs.

Unusual Working Conditions

Event hours: early mornings and evenings for patron events, private tours, Museum openings, programs, dinners, and other Museum-wide events.
Expected to have flexible hours for special projects that have certain deadlines.

Compensation & Benefits

Hourly rate is $31.44
Medical, Dental, Vision, 403(b) elections
Generous Paid Time Off benefits
Commuter benefits - parking and mass transit
Admission to world-renowned museums across the city and nationally
Pet insurance and discounted membership for Citibike
This position will be covered by UAW Local 2110

The advertised pay scale reflects the good faith minimum and maximum salary range for this role. The advertised pay scale is not a promise of a particular wage for any specific employee. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may be dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, special licensing or qualifications, and other factors.

If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates. Whether you’re new to arts and culture administration, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or take the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interest in the arts and culture space and what you hope to bring to this role.

About the Whitney

The Whitney Museum of American Art, founded in 1930 by the artist and philanthropist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, houses the foremost collection of American art from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. From her vision arose the Whitney Museum of American Art, which has been championing the most innovative art of the United States for 86 years. The core of the Whitney’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit American art of our time and serve a wide variety of audiences in celebration of the complexity and diversity of art and culture in the United States. Through this mission and a steadfast commitment to artists themselves, the Whitney has long been a powerful force in support of modern and contemporary art and continues to help define what is innovative and influential in American art today.

EEO Statement

The Whitney Museum of American Art is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Museum does not discriminate because of age, sex, religion, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage or citizenship, disability, marital status, pregnancy, partnership status, caregiver status, veteran status, gender (including gender identity), sexual orientation, genetic information, predisposition, or carrier status, arrest or conviction record to the extent required by applicable law, credit history, domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking victim status, or any other factor prohibited by law. The Museum hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled. The Museum encourages all qualified candidates to apply for vacant positions at all levels.

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