Development Director

Mass Poetry, an arts nonprofit headquartered in Boston’s Seaport, seeks an experienced fundraiser with a passion for poetry to serve as its full-time Development Director. This full-time, salaried position will begin in Fall 2025.

About Mass Poetry:

Mass Poetry envisions a world where poetry catalyzes understanding and connection. We harness the power of words to engage diverse communities across our commonwealth. We envision a vibrant, inclusive community that lifts all voices.

Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, Mass Poetry serves as an arts-partner-in-residence at GrubStreet’s new Center for Creative Writing in Boston’s Seaport District. This pioneering initiative features a bookstore, literary stage, workshop space, podcasting studio, cafe, and is now set to become a literary hub for all voices. Our signature programs include the biennial Massachusetts Poetry Festival and our teen spoken word program and festival. Mass Poetry is also a founding member organization of the Poetry Coalition-–a national network of more than three dozen poetry organizations, spearheaded by the American Academy of Poets.

About the Development Director Position:

Mass Poetry’s first full-time Development Director will spearhead the final, public phase of our fundraising campaign as we seek to meet or surpass our $1.25M goal. To date, we have raised nearly $850,000 in gifts and pledges to support the next phase of our growth. This hybrid role involves weekly trips to GrubStreet's Center for Creative Writing in Boston's Seaport, so applicants must live within commuting distance of Boston or plan to relocate to the Greater Boston area.

The Development Director’s primary responsibilities will include:

• Partnering with the Executive Director (ED) to establish appropriate goals, timetables, benchmarks, plans and budgets for all fundraising activities;
• Along with the ED, engage and support the Mass Poetry Board of Directors in fundraising endeavors;
• Develop an annual fundraising plan and progress monitoring tool to drive decisions and actions by staff and the Board;
• Host fundraising events such as Evening of Inspired Leaders and donor house parties;
• Manage a development intern, a marketing and communications co-op, and a contract grant writer;
• Support marketing and publicity via social media, local and national media outlets, co-sponsored events, and Mass Poetry’s website;
• Cultivate new individual, corporate and foundation prospects and seek new funding opportunities;
• Coordinate and participate in meetings with high level prospects and donors in conjunction with the Executive Director;
• Plan and implement grant applications and reports as well as sponsorship requests;
• Lead fundraising content creation including writing proposals, supporting documents, and other correspondence;
• Oversee solicitation and acknowledgement processes, including managing our Little Green Light donor database
• Serve as a liaison to Mass Poetry’s board advancement committee, planning all related meeting agendas and generating materials as needed;
• Lead the creation of future-oriented multi-year fundraising planning including outlining key milestones such as funds raised, donor diversification, etc.
• Provides other services as reasonably requested by the ED.

Qualified candidates should be able to demonstrate experience with:

• 5+ years of experience raising funds for arts or education-related non-profits;
• Increasing responsibilities over a minimum of five years of full time work;
• Directing large-scale projects while managing the work of others;
• Collaborating and communicating well with others;
• Solving problems quickly and creatively;
• Engaging and motivating key stakeholders;
• Multitasking with ease and precision;
• Working independently and efficiently to meet deadlines;
• Developing easy-to-use methods for tracking key financial data; and
• Presenting user-friendly financial information to both internal and external stakeholders.