Associate Director, Institutional Giving

The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center Inc. (JALC) is to entertain enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance education and advocacy. From college students to young stars from working professionals to celebrated masters we present quality jazz for an ever-increasing audience in an unprecedented range of activities and a variety of venues. We are dedicated to lifting audiences and bringing people together with substance and with integrity. JALC has created a dynamic platform where our key constituents jazz artists (beginner to grizzled veteran) fans (casual listeners to advanced scholars) educators (local band leaders to leading artist-educators) and advocates (local community advocates to important national promoters) can meet engage learn and work towards common objectives.

About the Role

The Associate Director Institutional Giving plays a pivotal role in advancing Jazz at Lincoln Centers mission by shaping and growing a robust portfolio of institutional supporters: foundations corporations and government agencies at all levels.

This is a dynamic opportunity for a development professional who combines analytical rigor with creative storytelling and enjoys the outward-facing aspects of relationship building. The Associate Director will design and execute strategies to cultivate solicit and steward funders in close partnership with the Director of Foundations Institutional Giving team and colleagues across the organization.

The ideal candidate thrives on connecting with people both internally and externally and brings experience managing 5- to 8-figure gifts from major institutional funders. This role is integral to sustaining and expanding Jazz at Lincoln Centers programs for audiences of all ages: on stage in classrooms and around the world.

Responsibilities

• Manage the complete grant lifecyclefrom prospect identification and proposal development to submission reporting and stewardshipfor a diverse portfolio of institutional funders.
• Create persuasive and inspiring written materials including proposals reports letters of inquiry and presentations.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records in Tessitura.
• Partner with colleagues across Development Finance and Programming to align proposals with organizational priorities and budgets.
• Conduct and oversee prospect research to identify qualify and cultivate new institutional opportunities.
• Develop and manage an annual grant calendar ensuring timely submissions.
• Collaborate with the Director of Foundations on Project Pioneer; a key initiative focused on cultivating new partnerships and re-engaging existing and lapsed foundation donors to expand institutional support.
• Support the Director of Foundations and Chief Development Officer in executing cultivation and solicitation strategies for near- and long-term goals.
• Partner closely with and provide direction to the Manager Institutional Giving to ensure smooth coordination of all institutional activities.
• Prepare concise briefing materials for senior staff and Board leadership; assist in developing and reconciling proposal budgets and narratives with Finance.
• Build and maintain a library of proposal templates metrics and reporting materials to streamline grant processes.
• Copyedit donor-facing materials to ensure consistent tone and accuracy.
• Oversee donor acknowledgments and institutional credit lines.
• Stay informed on philanthropic trends and institutional guidelines to ensure ongoing strategic alignment.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree and a minimum of four years of experience in institutional giving preferably within performing arts arts education or cultural nonprofits.
• Demonstrated success in managing and securing significant foundation corporate and government grants including 5- to 8-figure gifts.
• Exceptional writing editing and analytical skills with the ability to translate complex information into clear compelling narratives.
• Highly organized detail-oriented and adept at managing multiple priorities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office project management platforms (preferably Asana) and fundraising databases (preferably Tessitura).
• Strong financial literacy and experience partnering with finance teams to align budgets and reports with funder expectations is a plus
• Demonstrated curiosity about philanthropic trends and creative approaches to institutional fundraising.
• Familiarity with jazz music or the performing arts sector a major plus.
  
  

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including: generous PTO; medical dental & vision; a defined contribution plan and deferred compensation plans.

Work Location Expectations

At Jazz at Lincoln Center we believe the best work happens in person through collaboration spontaneous conversation and the kind of connection that reflects the spirit of jazz itself. While we do not offer formal hybrid arrangements we approach real life with understanding: when things come up we are flexible. That said staff are expected to be on site whenever their role or schedule requires it whether that is standard hours evenings or weekends so that we can do our best work together.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Jazz at Lincoln Center is an equal opportunity employer that affords equal opportunities to all applicants employees contractors and other covered persons and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws. Jazz at Lincoln Center is committed to creating an inclusive open and respectful culture that reflects and embraces diversity.

Writing Sample Requirement

As part of the application process please submit a professional writing sample that demonstrates your ability to develop compelling strategic and technically strong grant proposals. Please include a 24 page copy or excerpt from a complex proposal that you personally wrote and helped secure successfully. You may redact any confidential or proprietary details.

Optional (but encouraged):
You may include a brief (1-paragraph) note introducing the samplefor example the type of funder (foundation corporation or government) and your role in developing the proposal.

A cover letter is optional.