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The Adrienne Arsht Center’s annual operating budget is about $40 million; approximately $20 million is generated by ticket sales, other earned income, and the reimbursement of facility related occupancy costs by Miami-Dade County. The immediate objective of the Major Gifts Officer is to enable the Adrienne Arsht Center to raise $8 million dollars through a combination of major gifts, memberships, sponsorships, and fundraising events. Longer term, the objective is build a broad, vibrant and enthusiastic donor base in a diverse and international community to support existing and new operations at the Center.

Basic Function

Reporting to the Vice President, Advancement the Major Gifts Officer will focus on raising gifts of $25,000 or more to meet the objectives of the Adrienne Arsht Center. The Major Gifts Officer will view all the organization’s activities, performances, programs, events, facilities, contacts and relationships as opportunities to market the organization and raise funding.

The Major Gifts Officer is responsible for raising gifts in the five- to seven- figure range for identified priorities of the Center. Working together with volunteers, administrators and other department colleagues, will identify, cultivate and solicit Arsht Center patrons capable of making major gifts.

The Major Gifts Officer will be a hands on and deeply involved fundraiser. Under the leadership of the Vice President, Advancement the Department comprised of 12 fundraising professionals is responsible for achieving specific goals. This is a highly collaborative environment that is results driven by strategic thinking, goal-oriented action, follow through and open communication.

Immediate Priorities

The Major Gifts Officer’s immediate priorities are to: • Responsible for achievement of short-term and long-term fundraising goals, specifically solicitations ranging from $25,000 to $1,000,000 gifts annually in support of the Center and its programs;

• Manage a portfolio of approximately 125 to150 major donors and prospects;

• Identify new major donor prospects with capacity to make gifts at $25,000 and above;

• Create a cultivation and solicitation plan for top 30 prospects/donors and update quarterly ;

• Conduct 10-12 in person visits per month; (some will be discovery visits to determine the capacity and the propensity for giving);

• Conduct 2-3 solicitations (followed by written proposal) per month with an anticipated acceptance rate of 30-60%;

• Increase the percentage of prospects who become new major donors each year;

• Increase the size of the average gift of your prospect/donor pool each year;

• Work closely with the Vice President, Advancement to support the cultivation of Board of Directors, Development Committee members; • Thoroughly understand the Adrienne Arsht Center – its history, culture, programs, performances, constituents, governance structure and brand; understand its base of financial support, identify and cultivate the short and long-term funding requirements of the annual operating budget.

Responsibilities

Counted among the responsibilities of the Major Gifts Officer will be to: • Engage in direct donor solicitations as appropriate and most effective with support of Adrienne Arsht Center staff, the President and CEO and members of the Board of Directors; • Personally raises major gifts by qualifying, cultivation, solicitation and stewarding major gift prospects; • Aggressively implement a structured program for fostering strong relationships with targeted individual and institutional donor constituencies, involving where appropriate the President and CEO, Trust and Foundation Board members, Adrienne Arsht Center team members, artists, performers and elected Officials; • Create and implement and ongoing donor-prospect cultivation program on evenings of performances; • Participate in the evaluation and analysis of comprehensive data and allocation of resources, and work collaboratively with other Arsht Center executives to ensure effective attainment of strategic and annual goals and objectives.

Ideal Experience

The Major Gifts Officer should have the following type of experience and qualifications: • Five to ten years of experience with a sizable institution and with the proven track record to solicit and close major gifts of $25,000 plus; • A clear high level of sophistication in all aspects of fund raising; • History of managing a qualified prospect pipeline and establishing meaningful major gift systems; • Exceptional communication skills in writing as well as verbally; • Initiative and resilience, and the ability to manage multiple ongoing projects are critical to success; • Experience using Microsoft office suite and working with a fundraising database; • A willingness to work outside of regular business hours when necessary; • Demonstrated management skills in motivating, directing and leading staff and consultants, and in coordinating and supporting the effective productivity of others.

Personal Characteristics

The Major Gifts Officer should be: • A big-picture thinker with a belief in and commitment to the mission of the Adrienne Arsht Center and the performing arts; who by example and with integrity sets and meets high standards of expectation and excellence introspectively and with others; • Resolute yet diplomatic; firm yet respectful of other’s concerns; flexible and creative in finding alternative solutions to challenges; • Skilled at listening; charismatic at communication with the ability to build trusting relationships with individuals and groups in this diverse community; • A coach and mentor dedicated to sharing success.