Development Lead, Arts & Film / Arts Education Fresh Films is a non-profit film studio that develops Emmy-nominated youth and family films, TV shows and documentaries, while engaging, mentoring and training underserved youth in the film-production process at all levels to build artistic, technical and 21st century/workplace skills like collaboration, problem solving and communication. We prepare and place youth into internships, jobs and career paths in the $771B media & entertainment industry (which includes non traditional jobs in social media as well as traditional producers) while driving diversity of storytellers and media-makers. Fresh Films alumni work on SuperGirl, on Chicago Fire, at Disney, BET, TBS, and in advertising, marketing and social media departments.
Recent productions include The AT&T Hello Sunshine Filmmaker Lab with Reese Witherspoon on DirecTV that had 41 teens girls on-set and THE STREAM featuring Rainn Wilson and Mario Lopez which had 165 teens involved in the production. Fresh Films is located on the campus of Augustana College, but serves teens in multiple locations including Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, NY/NJ, Los Angeles, the Quad Cities and nationally.
Position Summary Fresh Films is looking for a passionate, innovative, self-motivated professional to lead our Arts & Film and Arts Education fundraising both regionally and nationally. We are looking for an individual with a proven track record of growing contributed revenue and who can build and lead our development efforts at a time when the organization is focused on growth. The ideal candidate will have experience in development for film or arts with both regional and national funders, and have a proven track record of meeting fundraising goals with larger donations from national funders. Working with arts+youth is a plus.
Role and Responsibilities ● Identify and pursue new corporate and foundation contributions focused on Arts & Film and Arts Education (which may include related sectors of youth development, workforce development and STEAM.) ● Actively cultivate, solicit, and steward new foundation and corporate contributions through research, pitch creation, proposal, LOI and grant writing, meetings and reporting. ● For government grants, work with Managing Director to identify opportunities in Art/Art Education or Workforce Development and oversee outside grant writer’s submission. ● Develop and maintain an active calendar of foundation deadlines and proposal requirements. ● Innovate with Managing Director to identify new opportunities for program expansion and funding to meet donor needs. ● Spread the excitement and passion of Fresh Films’ goals, program model and successes to donors and key stakeholders. ● Work with Managing Director to build an arts/film advisory panel with the goal of raising Fresh Films’ profile in the landscape of arts & film, youth development, workforce development and STEAM. ● Oversee coordinator responsible for grant reports, submissions and tracking, as well as grant writer responsible for government grant submissions.
Qualifications ● Bachelor’s degree required ● Minimum 3-5 years of experience in fundraising with emphasis on corporate and foundation fundraising; with preferred experience with larger national funders in film/arts in securing complex six-figure grants. Additional experience in youth development, youth/arts, STEAM or workforce development a plus. ● Demonstrated ability to develop, manage, and grow donor relationships and contributed revenue. ● Self-motivated and disciplined with ability to meet deadlines and goals while working independently on multiple projects / grants concurrently; while concurrently communicating goals to Managing Director in remote location. ● Expertise in Internet research, specifically gathering and analyzing foundation and institutional funding programs, areas of concentration and grant guidelines/requirements, grant writing and budget development. ● Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with an ability to clearly articulate complex programs, present exciting partnership opportunities, negotiate & close deals and report on progress and outcomes. ● Solutions-oriented and intellectually curious with a passion to uncover opportunities ● Positive attitude with willingness to “roll up shirtsleeves” as a fundraising generalist expected to get the work done in fun fast-paced entrepreneurial environment! ● Filmmaking is a blast - and so is working with teens - you should love both! ● Must love to build! This development opportunity is a blank slate - you must be excited about bringing in new funders and building new relationships; each new grant is a new success story!
Working Environment ● This can be a remote position in any city for a person with the right track record of growing large donations and experience with national funders and/or funders in other regions (Chicago, Los Angeles, NJ/NY Metro area, Twin Cities, etc.). ● The position will travel as necessary, locally, regionally, and nationally. ● Open to part time or full time employees or contractors
To Apply Please email resume to [email protected] with subject “development arts/film” and attach your resume along with a brief cover letter* -- combining both into a single MS Word or PDF document and uploading only 1 file will be the best way to submit. In your cover letter please respond to the following 3 points: 1. Your salary requirements/expectations 2. Your experience as it directly relates to the requirements listed in the job description 3. Why you want to work for Fresh Films !
*Your cover letter is important. Candidates who express interest by following directions and providing the requested cover letter will be given priority!