Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) seeks an energetic, strategic, and experienced fundraising professional to join the organization as Director of Development and oversee all contributed revenue generation efforts. The Director of Development will be a key member of LACC’s senior leadership team and will devise, implement, and manage strategies to grow the number of funders, cultivate external relationships, and expand overall contributed revenue.

The Director of Development will report to and work closely with LACC’s Executive Director, manage the Chorus’s contract grant writer, and lead staff, Board, and volunteers in achieving ambitious fundraising goals in support of LACC’s music education and performance programs. An individual with great enthusiasm for LACC’s commitment to inspiring and changing lives through music will find the work of this position to be enormously rewarding.

Responsibilities:

Strategy Development

·       Provide strategic leadership in the planning, execution, and management of LACC’s development efforts, including individual giving, special events, corporate and foundation relations, capital initiatives, planned giving, in-kind giving, and other new initiatives.

·       Develop and execute annual and multi-year fundraising plans with specific, quantifiable goals across all contributed revenue streams.

·       Participate in long-range strategic planning and ongoing strategy development with key stakeholders, including the Artistic Director, Executive Director, and Board of Directors.

Donor Engagement

·       Serve as one of LACC’s primary external ambassadors; develop and maintain close relationships with LACC’s family of supporters, including the Board of Directors, individual donors, corporate sponsors, institutional funders, and community leaders, and new prospects in each category.

·       Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of major individual donors and prospects, with an average of 4–6 donor visits each month.

Special Events

·       Oversee the planning, management, and execution of LACC’s annual spring fundraising gala in partnership with the Executive Director, Development Committee, and Gala Committee.

·       Conceptualize, plan, and run smaller cultivation, stewardship, and revenue-generating events throughout the year.

Corporate and Foundation Relations

·       Collaborate with LACC’s grant writer to identify new funding opportunities and secure significant foundation and governmental support.

·       Play a key role in managing relationships with existing institutional funders, including attending funder-organized events from time to time.

·       Build and steward relationships with corporate entities in a variety of sectors to secure monetary and in-kind support for programming and special events.

Communications

·       In concert with the Executive Director and Artistic Director, develop key messaging that is clear, comprehensive, and compelling in presenting an inspiring story about LACC’s mission, work, and dual commitments to artistic and educational excellence.

·       Collaborate effectively across the organization to ensure opportunities for strategic collaboration between fundraising initiatives and programmatic, marketing, and performance activities, in alignment with the broader organizational vision.

Other

·       Create and manage the development budget – set quarterly and annual goals, track progress, and oversee the creation of monthly reports for Executive Director and Development Committee.

·       Serve as primary liaison to the Board of Directors’ Development Committee; equip, mobilize, and support Directors as they fulfill their development responsibilities and play an integral role in the overall success of LACC’s fundraising efforts.

·       Oversee gift processing and acknowledgment processes, assuring timely correspondence, efficient internal systems, accurate record-keeping, fulfillment of funder benefits/recognition, and monthly reconciliation with LACC’s finance department.

·       Keep abreast of the latest research and trends in philanthropy, particularly those pertaining to the performing arts and music education.

·       Attend LACC performances; represent LACC at various civic, cultural, and other public events.

·       Other duties as determined by the Executive Director.

Required Qualifications:

·       Bachelor’s Degree, and 5+ years progressively responsible experience in non-profit fundraising, preferably in the arts and culture sector.

·       Exceptional writing, organizational, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to speak persuasively about LACC’s mission and work.

·       Highly organized and systems-oriented with strengths in delegation, volunteer, and resource management.

·       Polished, personable, donor-centric demeanor in all communications.

·       Good sense of judgment, tact, and diplomacy.

·       A highly motivated self-starter, with the ability to work both collaboratively as part of a close-knit team and independently.

·       Ability to successfully manage multiple projects simultaneously with a keen attention to detail.

·       Adept computer skills, including fluency in MS Office, experience with SaaS software and customer relationship managements databases (LACC uses Patron Manager).

·       Passion for the performing arts, particularly classical music and music education.

·       Valid California Driver’s License and access to a vehicle.

Preferred Experience:

·       Experience devising, implementing, and managing individual and institutional fundraising efforts, including experience with all facets of the donor cycle – from prospecting through to post-giving stewardship.

·       Experience managing a portfolio of major individual donors, with a demonstrable track record of successfully soliciting five- and six-figure gifts.

·       Event planning experience, including interfacing with vendors and negotiating contracts.

·       Knowledge of the Los Angeles philanthropic community.

Position:

The Director of Development is a full-time, exempt position that will be based at LACC’s office in Pasadena. In addition to a hybrid in-office/from-home schedule with regular business hours Monday–Friday, some weekend and evening hours throughout the year will be required for performances, meetings, and other events.

Compensation:
Salary range for this position is $90,000 – $105,000, depending on experience. Compensation package includes 100% employer-sponsored health, dental, and vision insurance and generous paid time off.

To apply:

Email cover letter, resume, and list of three references, as a single PDF, to J. Andrew Bradford, Interim Executive Director, at abradford@lachildrenschorus.org, by September 30, 2021. Include job title in subject line. No phone calls, please.

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus is committed to providing equal opportunity for all persons employed or seeking employment with LACC. Candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color are strongly encouraged to apply. LACC will recruit, hire, retain, promote, and otherwise treat all employees and job applicants equally, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, medical condition, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. 

About Los Angeles Children’s Chorus

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), widely recognized as one of the world’s preeminent youth choruses, has been lauded as “hauntingly beautiful” (Los Angeles Times), “the best children’s chorus I have ever heard” (Esa-Pekka Salonen), and “one of the true artistic gems of Los Angeles” (Gustavo Dudamel).

Founded in 1986 and led now by Artistic Director Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, LACC annually appears in more than 50 public performances, including its own self-produced concerts and in collaborations with leading organizations such as LA Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Pasadena Symphony and POPS.

The Chorus annually serves nearly 400 children ages 6–18 from 40+ communities across Southern California through its seven choirs and two first experience classes, First Experiences in Singing and First Experiences in Choral Singing.  

The Chorus appears on alumna Billie Eilish’s new cinematic concert experience Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles, and has appeared on John Williams’ 2017 recording, John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection, and on the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s critically acclaimed Decca recording, A Good Understanding. The subject of four documentaries by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Freida Mock, LACC is featured in the Academy Award®-nominated Sing!, about a year in the life of the choir. LACC has also performed with John Mayer on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and been featured on PBS’s “Great Performances,” BBC Radio, and Public Radio International’s nationally syndicated show “From the Top.” 

Recipient of Chorus America’s 2014 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the nation’s highest choral honor, LACC frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for Los Angeles on tours that have taken the Chorus across the country and to more than 20+ countries on 6 continents.