Major Gifts Officer (Principal Gifts)

A Commitment:

All OSF employees are expected to understand and embrace our mission statement. At OSF, our work is making exceptional art by centering the voices, inspirations, and processes of our artists, in particular through the cultivation of spaces and processes that respect and represent diverse ideas, races, genders, sexualities, abilities, cultures, religions, and traditions on stage and off. OSF is an institution that centers social justice and antiracism in all its operations and practices. OSF company members work in a manner that is consistent with this commitment and work to interrupt behaviors that hinder our diversity and inclusion efforts.

About OSF

OSF is one of the nation’s most important theatres and one of the few remaining large-scale theatres offering rotating repertory and a resident company. The organization is proud to have commissioned and produced an extraordinary and growing number of new plays, and the organization’s dramatic growth since 2010 has been mirrored by audiences of over 125,000 patrons each season. OSF has worked for the past decade to dismantle the constructs that center the status quo, including ever-evolving work from artists and staff to grow towards becoming an antiracist organization. OSF’s Board of Directors has also recently committed to centering antiracist practices in their work.

Over the last eighty-five years, OSF has been a destination theatre, with the majority of its audiences making a pilgrimage to Ashland from outside Oregon’s borders. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Nataki Garret, the organization is focused on being both a destination theatre and a leader in the digital performance landscape. OSF’s new digital platform, the O! seeks to reach beyond OSF’s traditional audience across regional, national and international borders.

Our digital platform, O! (https://www.osfashland.org/) was part of Nataki Garrett’s original vision for OSF. It launched in 2020 as a creative bridge for our artists and audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the last year, it has become an essential exploration and innovation space for the organization. With the announcement of our ambitious 2021 Season, O! is now our fourth official programmatic space, presenting OSF’s celebrated artistry to a worldwide audience.

OSF is driven by its values. These four core values imbue the OSF culture:

Excellence: We bring the best possible version of ourselves to our work onstage and to the organization, holding ourselves to high artistic, professional, and personal standards.

Inclusion: We include a diversity of people, ideas, and cultures in our work, enriching our art, our relationships with each other, our audiences, and our community.

Company: We sustain a safe and supportive workplace where we rely on our fellow company members to work toward excellence with trust, respect, compassion, and accountability.

Stewardship: We make wise, efficient, and responsible use of all the resources entrusted to us, sustaining our long-standing financial stability, the legacy of our organization's 8O-year history, and the health of our planet.

With 400,000 individuals served by our live programming annually and nearly 10,000 views weekly from 50+ countries on O!, OSF is in a prime position to become a global artistic force. Additional information can be accessed on OSF’s website. https://osfashland.org

Leadership

Nataki Garrett, Artistic Director

Nataki Garrett became Artistic Director of OSF in 2019, and since then, she has guided the organization through numerous transitions and crises while building toward a more sustainable producing model. In 2020, Garrett launched the O! (https://www.osfashland.org/) , OSF’s first digital stage. Garett’s forte and passion are fostering and developing new work. She has directed and produced the world premieres of many well-known and important playwriting voices of our time. Her bio may be found here.

David Schmitz, Executive Director

On September 1, 2020, David Schmitz became the Executive Director at OSF. Prior to joining OSF, he was with Steppenwolf Theatre for 15 years, having served as its Director of Finance and Administration, General Manager, and for the past five years as Executive Director. The full announcement may be read here: https://www.osfashland.org/en/news-multimedia/news-announcements/new-ed.aspx

Position Overview:

Reporting to the Director of Individual Giving, the MGO works closely with the Director of Development, the Director of Individual Giving, and others in the department to create a master plan for the major gifts program, and implement a comprehensive strategy to cultivate, solicit and steward relationships with donors and prospects. The MGO will leverage a portfolio of key relationships to ensure that the organization maximizes its contributed income potential and meets short- and long-term fundraising revenue goals.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions**):

• Participates in the creation and implementation of the annual development plan and strategy;

• Identifies and develops relationships with new and current donors;

• Works collaboratively with colleagues to coordinate prospects, strategies, and cultivation and solicitation opportunities;

• Manages all aspects of the relationship-building process with a robust portfolio of prospects;

• Engages with donors and performances at performances, special events, and other OSF programs, in person and virtually;

• Solicits prospects with specific funding asks related to the budget and priorities of OSF;

• Serves as an active, collaborative, and resourceful member of the Individual Giving team. Supports the success of the Annual Fund and key fundraising events (including OSF’s Annual Gala).

• Represents the theatre as an advocate and ambassador;

• Attends IDEA, sexual harassment, and any other anti-bias training and workshops as scheduled by the institution.

• Models and supports the mission and values of OSF.

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performs other duties as assigned by the Director of Development

** To comply with regulations by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the principal duties in job descriptions must be essential to the job. To identify essential functions, focus on the purpose and the result of the duties rather than the manner in which they are performed. The following definition applies: a job function is essential if removal of that function would fundamentally change the job.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.

Work Experience: 4+ years of demonstrated success in raising funds for and collaborating within complex organizations, preferably in the arts.

Qualifications/skills:

• Demonstrated success in establishing strong and productive relationships with patrons, audience members, and other constituents, as well as in developing and meeting measurable financial goals.

• Significant experience in fundraising in the major gifts arena, and evidence of a strong knowledge of and commitment to theatre and the arts.

• Proven success in running a major gifts program, campaign or annual fund;

• Positive attitude, flexibility, teamwork, and attention to detail;

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically;

• Strong verbal communication skills and ability to write and speak clearly and persuasively;

• Demonstrated ability to prospect, cultivate, and manage new accounts;

• Strong partnership-building and planning skills;

• Good computer skills and knowledge of fundraising database programs (knowledge of Tessitura is a plus);

• Ability to exercise professional discretion and confidentiality;

• Ability to see new opportunities and position the theatre to exploit opportunities to increase contributed income;

• A deep commitment to those who provide support to the theatre;

• Passion for the art form;

• Sense of humor and optimism about the inherent challenge of fundraising.

Physical Ability: No requirements.

Special Hours Requirements: The position frequently requires weekend and evening work.

• Benefits

Amazing health, dental, and vision coverage; 403b retirement plan, STD/LTD & Basic Life Insurance; paid vacation and sick time; paid parental leave; local discounts from stores & restaurants; tickets for our shows.

The salary range: $75-$85K

OSF is committed to creating an equitable, inclusive and accessible environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We have a clear vision to be the place where Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access build the foundation for talented people. Women, non-gender-binary/trans individuals, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and people with disabilities are STRONGLY encouraged to apply! Please join us as we shift the narrative and grow our organization into a true representation of Inclusion.