Director of Advancement & Strategy

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental & vision insurance

401(k)

Life insurance (optional)

Cell phone/internet stipend

Free parking

Direct deposit

13 paid holidays

5 mental health days

2 weeks winter break

Job summary

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes seeks a visionary Director of Advancement & Strategy to guide fundraising growth and build sustainable systems. The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on fundraising, donor cultivation, and cross-team collaboration to advance the organization’s mission.

Responsibilities include designing multi-year strategies, cultivating major gifts, and ensuring CRM platforms optimize donor engagement, stewardship, and reporting.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years in nonprofit development with a track record of meeting annual fundraising goals of $500k+.
• Experience designing fundraising strategies, leveraging data to boost engagement and growth.
• Ability to cultivate major gifts, steward donor relationships, and engage foundations/corporate sponsors.
• Proven ability to partner across teams, supervise staff/consultants, and engage board members in fundraising.
• Bilingual fluency in Spanish and English preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-year fundraising strategy aligned with the organization's growth.
• Cultivate and solicit donors in partnership with the CEO and Board of Directors.
• Oversee donor engagement, stewardship, and reporting to inform strategy.
• Lead CRM design, workflows, and data integrity across fundraising systems.
• Supervise staff and consultants, coordinating campaigns and donor events.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

CRM optimization

Donor engagement

Major gifts

Board collaboration

Education

Development/fundraising certification

Tools

Network for Good

Classy

Job description

About LA Plaza

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is a vibrant community hub where people come together to celebrate Latinx culture through transformative exhibitions, music, dance, culinary arts, and multigenerational storytelling and art-making experiences.

Located in two historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles, adjacent to Olvera Street at El Pueblo de Los Angeles, LA Plaza features a museum, a 30,000-square-foot outdoor space with a performance stage, an edible garden, and LA Cocina de Gloria Molina—a teaching kitchen and flexible event space that highlights the history, culture, and influence of Mexican and Mexican American cuisine.

Established in 2011, LA Plaza is a Los Angeles County cultural institution and a proud Smithsonian affiliate.

About the Role

LA Plaza is seeking a visionary and results-oriented leader to guide its next chapter of growth as Director of Advancement & Strategy.

In this pivotal role, the Director will lead the vision, build the systems, and help secure LA Plaza’s philanthropic future by designing and implementing a comprehensive development strategy that advances the organization’s mission and supports long-term financial sustainability.

This position integrates fundraising leadership with systems-building excellence. The Director will serve as both strategist and executor—shaping high-level plans, cultivating donors, and driving day-to-day fundraising efforts while ensuring that organizational tools, processes, and workflows are optimized to support sustainable growth.

The Opportunity

LA Plaza is entering a pivotal phase of growth. Historically supported by robust grant and corporate funding, the organization is now positioned to expand its individual donor base and major gifts program. The Board of Directors is highly engaged and eager to deepen its fundraising role with the right leadership and infrastructure in place.

This is a unique opportunity to design and strengthen the systems that connect strategy, people, and processes—creating a more integrated, diversified, and sustainable development program.

The Director of Advancement & Strategy will ensure LA Plaza’s CRM platform is fully leveraged to support donor engagement, stewardship, and reporting, while fostering collaboration across teams to align messaging and outreach.

Primary Responsibilities

As Director of Advancement & Strategy, you will drive LA Plaza’s fundraising vision while building the systems and infrastructure that make growth sustainable.

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Shape and execute a multi-year fundraising strategy aligned with LA Plaza’s mission and organizational growth goals.
• Partner with the CEO and Board of Directors to cultivate and solicit donors.
• Ensure organizational leadership and board members are meaningfully engaged in fundraising activities.
• Monitor fundraising progress and performance against established goals.
• Adapt fundraising strategies as needed to keep the organization on track toward ambitious revenue targets.

Systems Building & Reporting

• Lead the design, development, and optimization of fundraising systems.
• Ensure CRM platforms and related workflows are fully leveraged to support fundraising and donor engagement.
• Establish scalable processes for donor tracking, segmentation, cultivation, and stewardship.
• Maintain strong data integrity across fundraising systems.
• Develop and generate timely reports to inform strategic decision-making, donor engagement, and organizational planning.

Donor Engagement & Stewardship

• Build and manage a portfolio of individual donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors.
• Develop meaningful relationships with current and prospective donors.
• Lead major gift cultivation and solicitation efforts.
• Strengthen LA Plaza’s philanthropic partnerships.
• Establish and maintain donor stewardship practices that foster trust, loyalty, engagement, and long-term donor commitment.

Grant & Sponsorship Oversight

• Provide strategic direction for grant proposals, grant reports, and sponsorship packages.
• Support the development of compelling institutional fundraising strategies and materials.
• Supervise the Corporate & Foundation Manager.
• Ensure excellence, consistency, and effectiveness across institutional fundraising efforts.

Campaigns & Events

• Oversee fundraising campaigns that inspire giving and support organizational growth.
• Oversee donor events designed to strengthen relationships and deepen engagement.
• Collaborate closely with Communications and Marketing teams.
• Ensure fundraising messaging, public outreach, campaigns, and donor communications are aligned across departments.

Team & Consultant Coordination

• Supervise staff and contractors involved in advancement and fundraising activities.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and shared responsibility.
• Serve as the primary liaison to fundraising consultants.
• Ensure external expertise and consultant support strengthens LA Plaza’s internal fundraising capacity and long-term sustainability.

Qualifications & Skills

LA Plaza is seeking a leader who combines strategic vision with hands‑on execution and who is inspired by the opportunity to advance the organization’s mission.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• At least five years of nonprofit development experience with a demonstrated track record of managing diverse fundraising portfolios and achieving annual fundraising goals of $500,000 or more.
• Demonstrated success designing fundraising strategies, optimizing CRM platforms, and leveraging data to increase donor engagement and organizational growth.
• Experience cultivating major gifts, stewarding long-term donor relationships, and engaging foundations and corporate sponsors.
• Ability to partner across teams, supervise staff and consultants, and inspire board members to deepen their involvement in fundraising.
• Deep knowledge of Latinx history, culture, and contemporary issues, with experience engaging multilingual and multigenerational audiences.
• Bilingual fluency in Spanish and English strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with Los Angeles’ philanthropic and cultural landscape and a passion for building meaningful connections between donors and mission.
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Office and project management tools.
• Experience using CRM platforms such as Network for Good or Classy.

Education, Training & Technical Proficiency

• Formal training, certification, or equivalent professional experience in Development, Advancement, Fundraising, or a related field.
• Proven leadership experience within nonprofit and/or cultural organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to guide teams, engage stakeholders, and deliver measurable results.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office and project management tools.
• Hands‑on experience with CRM platforms such as Network for Good or Classy.
• Knowledge of diverse fundraising strategies, tools, and approaches used to engage donors and sustain organizational growth.

• Salary: $80,000–$90,000 annually
• Individual health, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k)
• Optional life insurance
• $50 monthly cell phone/internet stipend
• Free parking
• Direct deposit
• 13 paid holidays
• 5 mental health days
• 3 paid days during Thanksgiving week
• 2 weeks during the winter holiday season (last week of December and first week of January)