Director of Advancement

Columbia Museum of Art; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 115,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Parking provided

Retirement plan

Job summary

Columbia Museum of Art is seeking a Director of Advancement to lead contributed revenue and philanthropic engagement, reporting to the Executive Director and guiding a four-person Advancement team.

You will shape strategies across major gifts, sponsorships, grants, and memberships, build donor pipelines in Columbia and across South Carolina, and partner with the Board and Executive Director to advance CMA's mission.

Qualifications

• Progressively responsible advancement experience with leadership responsibility.
• Experience with major gifts, donor relations, and fundraising across revenue streams.
• Ability to lead a high-performing team and collaborate with executive leadership.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for advancement activities and develop plans.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and prospects.
• Oversee rentals, events, sponsorships, and donor engagement.
• Develop workflows across fundraising, membership, grants, and stewardship.

Skills

Major gifts

Donor stewardship

Strategic planning

Team leadership

CRM systems

Communication

Budgeting

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft 365

Job description

Position Overview:

The Director of Advancement is a senior member of the Columbia Museum of Art’s leadership team and serves as the museum’s principal strategist and leader for contributed revenue and philanthropic engagement. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Advancement develops and executes a comprehensive strategy that strengthens relationships with individuals, corporations, foundations, members, and community partners while building sustainable philanthropic support for the museum’s mission and long-term ambitions.

Position Responsibilities:

The Director of Advancement is an active frontline fundraiser and strategic partner to the Executive Director and Board of Trustees. The position leads the Advancement department, currently comprising four team members, and is responsible for strengthening the department’s structure, talent, systems, and capacity to support CMA’s future growth.

Leadership and Advancement Strategy

• Provide strategic leadership for all advancement activities and develop annual and long-term plans aligned with CMA’s institutional priorities.
• Establish ambitious, achievable contributed-revenue goals and the pipelines, forecasts, metrics, and accountability systems necessary to meet them.
• Build a diversified philanthropic program encompassing individual and major gifts, corporate and foundation support, membership, grants, sponsorships, special events, planned giving, endowment support, and other contributed revenue.
• Expand CMA’s prospect pipeline in Columbia, across South Carolina, and beyond the region where appropriate.
• Strengthen the museum’s readiness for future major initiatives and campaigns through donor development, case development, systems, and fundraising capacity.
• Foster a strong culture of philanthropy across the institution.

Philanthropy and Donor Engagement

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and prospects, maintaining an active portfolio focused on significant philanthropic support.
• Partner closely with the Executive Director on donor strategy, portfolio management, solicitations, stewardship, and follow-up.
• Develop cultivation and stewardship strategies that deepen donor relationships and encourage sustained and increased investment in CMA.
• Translate institutional priorities into compelling philanthropic opportunities and cases for support.
• Ensure appropriate donor recognition, stewardship, and reporting while maintaining the highest standards of discretion and professionalism.

Earned Revenue and Institutional Partnerships

• Provide strategic oversight of museum rentals and related earned-income activities within the Advancement department.
• Manage the team that coordinates rentals, events, sponsorships, corporate engagement, membership, and donor cultivation to maximize institutional benefit while protecting the museum’s mission, reputation, and visitor experience.
• Evaluate opportunities to strengthen earned revenue in ways that complement philanthropic priorities.
• Cultivate relationships with businesses, foundations, community organizations, and other partners that expand financial support and engagement with CMA.

Team Leadership and Department Development

• Lead, mentor, and support the Advancement department, currently comprising four team members.
• Assess and strategically develop the department’s structure and capacity to support CMA’s current priorities and long-term philanthropic ambitions.
• Establish clear roles, goals, performance expectations, and accountability while fostering collaboration, initiative, professional growth, and high performance.
• Develop effective workflows and systems across fundraising, membership, grants, sponsorships, stewardship, events, rentals, and database management.
• Ensure the team has the tools, information, and strategic direction necessary for success.

Executive and Board Partnership

• Serve as a trusted strategic partner to the Executive Director on philanthropy, donor engagement, revenue strategy, and institutional advancement.
• Partner with the Board of Trustees and Advancement Committee to strengthen Board engagement in philanthropy and support trustees as donors, ambassadors, connectors, cultivators, and, when appropriate, solicitors.
• Develop strategies for effective Executive Director and trustee engagement with key donors and prospects.
• Provide clear, timely reporting and analysis on fundraising performance, pipelines, opportunities, risks, and progress toward goals.

Advancement Operations and Financial Management

• Develop and oversee Advancement revenue projections and the department’s annual expense budget in partnership with the Executive Director and Finance team.
• Maintain disciplined fundraising operations, including prospect development, gift tracking, data integrity, forecasting, reporting, and stewardship.
• Ensure effective use of the museum’s customer relationship management system, currently Salesforce, to support strategy, relationship management, and decision-making.
• Oversee grant development and management, including proposal strategy, submission, tracking, reporting, and funder accountability.
• Ensure Advancement activities and gift administration comply with museum policies, donor intent, applicable requirements, and professional fundraising practices.

Institutional Collaboration and Communications

• Partner closely with Communications and Marketing on donor communications, case materials, membership messaging, sponsorship recognition, and institutional storytelling. Communications and Marketing is a collaborative partner and does not report to this position.
• Collaborate across Finance, Curatorial, Learning and Engagement, Communications and Marketing, and other departments to translate institutional priorities into opportunities for philanthropic investment and partnership.
• Ensure advancement communications are accurate, persuasive, consistent with CMA’s institutional voice, and appropriately tailored to key constituencies.
• Represent the museum professionally in the community and build relationships that strengthen CMA’s visibility, reputation, and support.

Knowledge and Experience

• Approximately 8–10 years of progressively responsible advancement, development, or fundraising experience, including significant leadership responsibility.
• Familiarity with Columbia and South Carolina’s philanthropic community strongly preferred, along with experience working in a museum or other cultural institution with an established membership program.
• Demonstrated success in major gifts, including personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant philanthropic support.
• Experience developing and executing comprehensive fundraising strategies across multiple revenue streams.
• Demonstrated ability to build, lead, mentor, and strengthen a high-performing team.
• Experience partnering effectively with executive leadership, boards, and senior volunteer leaders in fundraising and relationship development.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills and the ability to build authentic relationships with a wide range of constituents.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills, including experience with fundraising metrics, forecasting, portfolio management, and data-informed decision-making.
• Experience with CRM systems; Salesforce experience preferred.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and contemporary project management and collaboration tools.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent combinations of education and substantial relevant experience will be considered.
• Commitment to the mission of the Columbia Museum of Art and an interest in the role of art museums as cultural and community institutions.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as required for donor engagement, museum events, and institutional activities.

Job Type

Fulltime, 40 hours per week, exempt with supervisory experience.

Skills and Abilities

Be a positive employee and advocate for the museum, interacting courteously and respectfully with others, internally and externally. Should have passion for the job and the museum and is creative, innovative, agile, and flexible. A highly motivated team player who is enthusiastic and proactive, and who thrives in a fast-paced environment. Possesses a strong sense of urgency, priority, and follow-through. Can work independently, anticipate needs, and manage multiple tasks and assignments simultaneously. Ability to work collegially with other staff and partner across divisions to achieve common objectives. Discretion and sound judgment are required. Maintains the highest professional and ethical standards.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $115,000–$135,000 annually. Final compensation will be based on relevant experience, demonstrated fundraising success, qualifications, and other appropriate considerations. Benefits include Health, dental, life, and life and long-term disability plans, state retirement, paid PTO, holidays, and sick leave, and parking provided.

Application Process

The Columbia Museum of Art is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion. Confidential inquiries, applications, and recommendations are welcome.