Director of Development & Engagement

NWA Daily LLC; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

CACHE is seeking a senior Director of Development & Engagement to lead fundraising and storytelling, shaping a multi-year strategy and donor engagement across Northwest Arkansas. You will supervise the communications team, protect CACHE’s brand, and craft a compelling case for support that resonates with major donors and foundations.

The role combines remote and in-person work with travel up to 20%, requiring a seasoned leader who can move among diverse stakeholders and build lasting

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive nonprofit fundraising leadership.
• Track record securing major gifts and institutional funding.
• Experience supervising staff and contractors.
• Strong donor cultivation and stewardship.
• Storyteller with ability to turn mission and data into a case for support.
• Ability to engage high-capacity donors and civic leaders.
• Fluency with CRM systems, grant platforms, and data tools; ready to stand up an organization-wide CRM.
• Arts, cultural, or creative-sector experience preferred.
• Understanding of how arts investment fuels regional economy.

Responsibilities

• Lead CACHE’s comprehensive fundraising strategy and philanthropic investment program.
• Cultivate major donors and foundations.
• Build relationships across corporate and public sectors.
• Position CACHE as a fundable organization for smart philanthropy.
• Oversee communications team; protect brand and messaging.
• Design and implement CRM framework for donor tracking.
• Collaborate across stakeholders to ensure donor engagement.
• Travel up to 20% for donor meetings and partnership development.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

Major gifts

Donor cultivation

Grant funding

CRM systems

Storytelling

Team leadership

Stakeholder relations

Arts sector experience

Tools

CRM platforms

Grant platforms

Data tools

Job description

Creative Arkansas Community Hub and Exchange (CACHE)

CACHE was formed in 2019 to connect, support, and develop the people who make Northwest Arkansas a creative place to live. We work alongside artists, nonprofits, civic leaders, and funders to build an arts ecosystem that lasts. We’re looking for a Director of Development & Engagement to lead that work financially and tell its story well.

This is a senior leadership role, and it’s a true partnership. We’re looking for someone seasoned enough to bring their own expertise and run with it — to set the fundraising strategy, trust their own judgment, and make the whole organization stronger by being part of it. You’ll design and lead CACHE’s comprehensive fundraising and philanthropic investment strategy, cultivate major donors and family foundations, build relationships across the corporate and public sectors, and position CACHE as the kind of organization smart philanthropy wants to invest in.

You’ll also be the keeper of our story. This role supervises our communications team and protects CACHE’s brand, tone, and voice — owning the messaging framework, training the team to stay true to it, and making sure what goes out into the world sounds like us. You don’t have to be a communications wizard. You do have to be the kind of leader who builds the systems and holds the line.

We’re looking for someone with wisdom and real experience behind them. Someone who can sit in a room full of competing truths, land on a direction, explain why, and bring everyone along. Someone who can work a room of donors and then go build the CRM that tracks every one of them. Straight talk, steady judgment, and the discipline to follow through.

What we’re looking for

Experience and track record

7+ years of progressive nonprofit fundraising, philanthropy, or development leadership — this is a role for someone who’s done this before

A track record securing major gifts and institutional funding, and building comprehensive, multi-year fundraising strategies from the ground up

Experience supervising staff and leading teams of contractors, with a real gift for making the people around you successful

Strong instincts for donor cultivation and stewardship — you know how to build a relationship, not just close a gift

A storyteller at heart, able to turn mission and data into a case for support that moves people

Comfort moving among high-capacity donors, civic leaders, and influential community circles, building genuine trust and rapport

Fluency with CRM systems, grant platforms, and data tools — and the readiness to help CACHE stand up its first organization-wide CRM

Arts, cultural, or creative-sector experience strongly preferred

An understanding of how arts investment fuels regional economy, tourism, workforce, and quality of life

Who you are

Someone with wisdom and lived experience — grounded enough to hold a room where several things are true at once, land on a direction, and bring everyone along

A straight talker with steady judgment and the heart to follow through

A systems thinker who brings order and follow-through without losing the warmth

A collaborator who builds across the ecosystem rather than fundraising in a silo

Deeply committed to equity, access, inclusion, and belonging

Serious about the arts — and about building something that lasts in Northwest Arkansas

The work is a mix of remote and in-person across Northwest Arkansas, with travel up to 20% for donor meetings, conferences, and partnership development.

We recognize that pathways into philanthropy vary widely, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds who are serious about the arts and about building something that lasts here.

Creative Arkansas Community Hub and Exchange (CACHE) is an equal opportunity employer.