Development Operations Manager

The Grant Park Music Festival (the Festival) in Chicago, Illinois seeks a full-time Development Operations Manager to join our dynamic team of arts professionals. The Development Operations Manager (DOM) is a collaborative leader of the Grant Park Music Festival’s annual fund campaign activities and works to maintain procedures and processes that are central to a high-functioning development department. The DOM is a highly detail-oriented critical thinker that drives direct response fundraising strategies and ensures the accuracy of donor data for communications, reporting, and analysis.

Key Duties and Responsibilities  

Individual Giving

• Partner with the Associate Director of Development and Chief Development Officer to develop annual fund solicitation plans and metrics to measure progress.
• Lead and implement all direct response appeals including direct mail, telefunding, email/digital, mobile, and strategies to grow our Impresario Society of donors giving $2,500+.
• Serve as the main contact for annual fund vendors (mail house, designers, telefunding partner, etc.), coordinating project activities and deliverables to ensure deadlines are met.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Patron Services to execute membership add-on/round-up appeals and ensure a coordinated approach to fundraising and communications.

Development Processes and Procedures

• Use Tessitura and Excel to prepare segmented lists for solicitations, event invitations, donor recognition, stewardship mailings, pledge invoices and reminders.
• Oversee gift processing and provide backup support to ensure accurate and timely gift entry and acknowledgment, and work with Finance on reconciliation.
• Develop Tessitura Analytics dashboards and reports to provide up-to-date information for team members as well as executive and volunteer leadership.
• Coordinate with Tessitura users across the organization to maintain and refine standards and procedures for database usage and data integrity.

Donor Engagement

• Attend Grant Park Music Festival concerts as a welcoming presence, manage seating in the "VIP Box,” and work with Patron Services to fulfill ticketing requests from Impresario Society donors.
• Help the Special Event Assistants prepare the Impresario Terrace pre-concert donor reception for guest arrival, assisting as needed with deliveries, catering, and event set-up and tear-down.
• Participate in planning and executing donor events, track responses to invitations, handle related correspondence with invitees, and prepare guest check-in lists and name badges.

Candidate Requirements 

• Minimum three years of development experience, preferably in annual giving or operations.
• Skilled in CRM system(s); Tessitura a plus.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.
• Highly detail oriented with an exceptional level of accuracy with data.
• A strong track record of meeting deadlines and handling multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, verbal and written.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends as required throughout the ten-week summer Festival season and on select other dates throughout the year.
• Ability to adapt to changing conditions in a fast-paced performing arts environment.
• Don’t fit all of the qualifications listed above, but feel passionate about the position? Please apply anyway!  We are eager to work with enthusiastic and proactive people. You never know, you may just be the right fit for the role.  

Compensation/Benefits/Schedule 

• $55,000 - $58,000 annually, commensurate with experience. 
• Competitive base benefits package starts at ten days paid vacation, ten paid holidays, four personal days, paid sick leave, employer-sponsored health (75% employer-paid for employees and dependents), dental, vision and life insurance, and 403(b) retirement plan with 3.75% employer match after one year of employment. 
• Position Start Date: ASAP/November 2023 
• Hybrid Work Schedule Details: With the exception of the ten-week Festival season, staff members can elect to work from home on Fridays.