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Senior Manager, Development and Donor Relations Communications
Job Location:
Job Location:
Brooklyn, NY - USA
Monthly Salary:
Not provided by the employer
Monthly Salary:
Posted:
10 July 2026 (30+ days ago)
Posted:
Application Deadline:
14 October 2026
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Vacancies:
Job Summary
Senior Manager Development and Donor Relations Communications
Museum overview
The Brooklyn Museum is a world-renowned cultural institution dedicated to preserving and showcasing art history and heritage. Our mission is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration compassion courage and the will to act. Our vision is to serve as an institution where art is a powerful force for personal transformation and social change. Celebrating our differences and learning about our diverse communities through our collections exhibitions and programming is the core of who we are and what we do.
We are committed to creating and cultivating a community of talented passionate people who are inspired to make the Museum an important hub of community activity and a great global destination. Our staff have the opportunity to grow their professional skills and work collaboratively with colleagues they admire and respect. Read more about our story here.
About the Role
The Senior Manager Development & Donor Relations Communications is a senior role within the Development team reporting to the Director of Development Operations. This individual is a confident highly organized manager who generates compelling fundraising copy aligned with organization-wide priorities set by senior leadership oversees the Development teams communications and content calendar and provides direct supervision and operational oversight to a two-person team: a Donor Relations Manager and a Graphic Designer Development. The Graphic Designer maintains a dotted-line relationship with the Director of Graphic Design and Brand Creative for technical oversight and mentorship and the Senior Manager coordinates regularly with that office to maintain shared awareness of priorities and ongoing work. This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a pivotal moment in the Museums history as the Brooklyn Museum embarks on a significant capital campaign.
The ideal candidate brings significant experience in communications donor stewardship and relations a proven track record of managing staff and complex workflows and the ability to produce high-quality fundraising copy for a range of donor audiences.
Responsibilities
Generate Fundraising Copy & Coordinate Communications
- Develop and write compelling fundraising copy including proposals case statements impact reports appeals and stewardship communications aligned with organization-wide priorities set by senior leadership and tailored to distinct donor audiences: individual donors corporate partners institutional funders members and patrons. Depending on the project this may involve serving as primary author copyeditor and quality-assurance reviewer and/or coordinating with the Museums editors.
- Partner with the Director of Membership as a thought partner on direct mail and digital appeals for the Annual Fund (3-4 times per year) and large-scale membership mailings (100000 packages 23 times per year).
Manage Communications Calendar & Workflow
- Collaborate with Development team leadership to ensure alignment of fundraising communications with departmental and organizational goals.
- Build and maintain a centralized Development communications and content calendar tracking all outgoing communications by audience owner and deadline.
- Monitor and coordinate all communications flowing from the Development team to ensure consistency strategic alignment timeliness and no duplication or gaps across donor audiences (individual corporate institutional members and patrons).
Team Supervision & Project Management
- Provide direct supervision to a Donor Relations Manager and a Graphic Designer Development with full accountability for both roles performance priorities workflows and professional growth.
- Deliver structured performance management regular feedback and coaching to support both direct reports in meeting expectations and developing professionally.
- Manage project prioritization with the Graphic Designer Development ensuring that project assignments and workload are appropriately optimized/managed to meet departmental needs. The Graphic Designer role maintains a dotted-line relationship with the Director of Graphic Design and Brand Creative for technical design oversight and mentorship. The Senior Manager coordinates regularly with the Director of Graphic Design and Brand Creative to maintain open communication and shared awareness of priorities and ongoing work.
- Review and quality-assure donor-facing materials and other outputs produced by the team.
Cross-Divisional Collaboration
- Collaborate with non-Development Editorial staff to align on tone voice messaging and cadence for Development content and communications
- Foster collaboration with internal teams including Communications Marketing Curatorial and Learning and Social Impact to ensure coordination on messaging and outreach for key Museum initiatives.
- Engage with senior institutional stakeholders including the Museum Director curators Deputy Director for Art Director of Public Relations and Chief Marketing Officer to gather context that ensures fundraising copy accurately reflects institutional priorities and programmatic work.
Qualifications
- 5 years of direct experience in fundraising communications development grant writing or donor relations preferably within a cultural institution or nonprofit organization.
- 3 years of direct supervisory experience including managing staff performance providing structured coaching and overseeing team workflows in a fast-paced environment.
- Significant experience in donor stewardship and donor relations with a clear understanding of best practices in building and maintaining donor relationships.
- Excellent writing and copy generation skills with demonstrated ability to produce compelling content for a range of donor project and/or editorial management expertise with the ability to manage multiple concurrent workflows set priorities and meet deadlines.
- Demonstrated ability to build and manage systems calendars and tracking tools that improve team efficiency and communications coordination.
- Proven ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy managing up effectively while independently driving their own workload and team priorities.
- Knowledge of and commitment to the Brooklyn Museums mission history and programs and a strong affinity with Brooklyn.
- Familiarity with project management tools and software to track workflows assignments and deadlines across a team.
- Familiarity with digital marketing and email marketing platforms such as WordFly to design send automate and track email campaigns.
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities with a track record of staying focused and delivering quality work in a fast-paced environment.
Nice to Have
- Experience managing or closely partnering with graphic design workflows including understanding of production timelines and design review processes.
- Experience with direct mail or large-scale print fundraising appeals including project management of multi-step productions.
- Experience with customer relationship management (CRM) software such as Tessitura or similar tools.
- Experience or familiarity with copyediting
- Familiarity with annual fund strategies.
Application Requirements
- Resume
- Cover letter
- Writing Sample
Department: Development
Reports to: Director of Development Operations
Salary: $99188.41
Union Status: Non-Union
FLSA Status: Exempt
Position Type: Full-time
Schedule: 35 hours per week MondayFriday 9 am5 pm. This position is subject to occasional weeknight and weekend hours. This role is eligible for 3 days in the office and 2 days remote work.
FLSA Status: Exempt
Position Type: Full-time
Schedule: 35 hours per week MondayFriday 9 am5 pm. This position is subject to occasional weeknight and weekend hours. This role is eligible for 3 days in the office and 2 days remote work.
Benefit Offerings
The Museum provides competitive compensation along with generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Individual benefit offerings may vary based on position type and union status.
- Medical dental vision and life insurance
- 401(k) Savings Plan and Pension Plan
- Generous paid time off including annual vacation leave sick leave and 13 Museum holidays
- Short-term and long-term disability coverage
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) & Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for eligible pre-tax health care dependent care and commuter expenses
- Employee Assistant Program
- Free admission to various NYC museums and cultural institutions
- Early access to Museum exhibitions
- Invitations to staff-only programs tours and on-site engagement events
- Opportunities to participate in community initiatives and Museum programs
- 40% discount for staff in Museum shops
- 20% discount at Museum café
- All positions are based in Brooklyn New York with some eligible for a hybrid work schedule (three days on-site / two days remote)
Apply Today
We recognize that its unlikely that any candidate will meet 100% of the desired qualifications for a role. If much of this job description resonates with you we strongly encourage you to apply today. Were committed to welcoming candidates with a wide range of experiences and perspectives especially those who see themselves contributing to our mission to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration compassion courage and the will to act.
Required Experience:
Senior Manager
About Company
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York City's second largest in physical size and holds an art collection with roughly 1.5 million works.
