New York Theatre Workshop - Development Associate

Development Associate

About New York Theatre Workshop:

At New York Theatre Workshop, we work relentlessly to empower visionary theatre‐makers and bring their work to adventurous audiences through productions, artist workshops, and education and community engagement programs. We're proud to be a home base for many of the most significant theatre‐makers of our time, nurturing groundbreaking writers like Nathan Alan Davis and Celine Song alongside powerhouse playwrights like Amy Herzog and Ayad Akhtar. From Rachel Chavkin and Lileana Blain‐Cruz to Whitney White and Rubén Polendo, we empower inimitable auteur‐directors and give invaluable support to tremendous talents in the earliest days of their careers. We've maintained decades‐long relationships with legendary theatre‐makers like Will Power, Ivo van Hove, Dael Orlandersmith, and Caryl Churchill, who have shaped our very understanding of what theatre can be.

Since our founding in 1979, we've produced over 150 fully realized productions including Jonathan Larson's Rent; Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul; Doug Wright's Quills; Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde; Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher; Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, and Enda Walsh's Once; and David Bowie and Enda Walsh's Lazarus. Enabling our artists to push boundaries generates work like Nathan Alan Davis's Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Anaïs Michell's Hadestown, Mfoniso Udofia's Ufot Family Cycle, Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me, Jeremy O. Harris's Slave Play, Kristina Wong's Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, and Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich's Here There Are Blueberries. NYTW productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, 29 Tony Awards, 2 Grammy Awards, and numerous Obie, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Awards.

But that's not what we're proudest of. We take the greatest satisfaction from the community we've built and the perspective‐shifting experiences we've delivered along the way. We think that theatre can bring people together, change the conversation, and have a profound impact. We feel fortunate to get to support it. If that sounds like something you're interested in, we'd love to meet you.

About the Team:

Our development team includes five full‐time employees and one Development Fellow led by the Director of Development, and they oversee all aspects of fundraising. The Development Associate reports directly to the Individual Giving Officer and Director of Special Events and works closely with every member of the development team to collaboratively meet our goals.

About the Position:

• Is a key member of the Development team, responsible for supporting all fundraising activities.

Donor Concierge Services

• Serves as a concierge to all individual donors, including Repeat Defenders (our patron program,) Young Defenders (our young patron program,) as well as Trustees, major donors, and special event attendees. Concierge services include sending invitations and tracking RSVPs, booking tickets, sending reminder emails, making phone calls, and tracking donor interactions in our database Spektrix, among other activities.
• Stewards meaningful relationships with NYTW's donors and assists in renewal outreach and communication.
• With support from the Individual Giving Officer and Director of Special Events, leads the Young Defenders, our young donor program. The Development Associate coordinates Young Defenders strategy, communication, renewals, event-planning, cultivation and stewardship.

Database Operations

• Responsible for all acknowledgement letters for individual donors, including accurately pulling and preparing data for mail-merges, as well as printing, packing and mailing letters.
• Conducts prospect research and wealth screening to help identify new potential funders for NYTW and its programs.
• Utilizes NYTW's CRM to pull various donor and gift reports for the Development department.
• Responsible for updating data in the CRM to support with moves management fundraising.

Event Operations

• Supports event planning, including communications with guests, vendor management, conducting research, and generating materials.
• Supports event set-up and tear-down alongside the Development team.
• Participates in cultivation and stewardship throughout events, and manages post-event communications.
• Contributes to the success of the annual Gala by helping to maintain pre-production systems and communications, supporting income and expense tracking, managing journal ads and table guests, overseeing check-in, supporting NYTW staff in-person on event day and the week leading up to the Gala, executing post-event analyses, and donor follow-ups, among other duties as assigned.

Administrative Duties

• Manages note taking and a comprehensive calendar, including calendaring and taking minutes for team meetings and donor and Board meetings/activities.
• Coordinates direct mail and email campaigns. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, list segmentation, securing print and mail house vendors, printing, mailing, delivery, and acknowledgement of gifts.
• Works with the marketing team to source and produce content for donor communications including appeals, website pages, and newsletters.
• Reviews and updates data for donor acknowledgement listings.

Additional Support

• Is an active participant in working toward the Development department's equity, diversity and inclusion goals and serves on the Audience Services Committee, a cross-departmental group that actively works on developing intervention and disruption protocols to mitigate harmful encounters and expand modes of feedback for audience members. This team also works to further NYTW's accessibility initiatives.
• May be asked to assist other Development team members in times where support is needed, with the approval of the Individual Giving Officer and Director of Special Events. Examples of potential tasks include prospect research for institutional giving, setting up for meetings, taking meeting minutes, assistance with ticket-booking, etc.

About You:

• You are committed to an equitable and inclusive community.
• You have an interest in fundraising.
• You have a passion for theatre and a desire to build meaningful connections between adventurous theatregoers and visionary artists.
• You are committed to open, proactive, and honest communication.
• You build strong, collaborative relationships with fellow staff, Board members, and donors alike.
• You are detail oriented and take pride in creating and engaging in efficient processes.
• You have some level of customer service experience.
• You are excited about digging into data, and fearless in mastering new data systems.
• You embrace technology and envision how it can be a tool for deepening connection.
• You enjoy a collaborative, team-focused working environment and have a goal-oriented approach to all tasks and initiatives.
• You are a nimble team member who exercises good judgement, and you are able to pivot and reprioritize as needed in a fast-paced environment.

Bonus:

• You have experience working in arts administration, event production, or another area of the theatre industry.
• You have experience with ticketing systems, database or project-management software and best practices. You have used programs like Spektrix, iWave/Kindsight, Tessitura, Salesforce, Raiser's Edge, Trello, Asana, AirTable, Microsoft 360, Social Tables, Canva, or others.
• You find ways to help you and your teammates work smarter.
• You have experience in fundraising.

This is a full-time non-exempt position with a salary range of $45,000-$50,000. Benefits include employer paid medical, dental and life insurance and paid time off. NYTW has several affinity spaces and a Core Team of staff members across the organization committed to moving specific initiatives forward in our focus on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Development staff are required to work a hybrid schedule in the office a minimum of three days and two remote days per week, with some weeks requiring additional in-person days, as determined in coordination with the position's managers. This role also includes evening and weekend work, and attendance at all in-person events is required. Given our active event calendar, in-office days and hours must remain flexible. As this position involves regular on-site responsibilities, candidates should plan to reside in the greater New York City area.

We know that there are great candidates that may not have all the qualifications listed above but possess intuitive knowledge or other fully transferable skills. So don't hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself if that's you.

NYTW is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). We are committed to diversity in all areas of our work, on and offstage. We encourage applicants with a unique cultural perspective inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, class, physical ability, and sexual orientation.

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter via the portal to the right no later than May 25th, 2026.

Benefits include employer paid medical, dental and life insurance and paid time off.