Boston, MA

Vice President of Individual Giving, Museum of Science, Boston

The Organization

For nearly 200 years, Boston’s Museum of Science has been the iconic cultural institution of New England. However, the scope and brand extend beyond a local, fun museum for a day, as the Museum is also a global STEM content provider: the reach of its Engineering is Elementary curricula surpasses annual Museum attendance, and exhibits like The Science Behind Pixar add to its global impact. With a growing digital footprint and partners like Roblox, the Museum is positioned to reach 100 million people a year by its bicentennial in 2030.

As science and technology continue to shape and reshape our lives, the Museum is transforming to meet challenges and expand opportunities. Among the world’s largest science centers, and New England’s most attended cultural institution, the Museum of Science engages more than 1.5 million visitors a year in Boston through science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) interactive exhibits and programs. Nearly an additional 2 million people experience the Museum annually through touring exhibitions, traveling programs, planetarium productions, and Pre-K to 8 curricula through the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center. Many look to the Museum as the leader in best practices of informal and formal STEM education and universal design.

Located at the center of Boston’s innovation hub and surrounded by high tech companies, cutting-edge research organizations, and world-renowned universities and health care institutions, the Museum is uniquely positioned to create experiences for all ages to imagine a better world and to inspire people to explore and develop their interests. It offers programs and exhibits addressing science and technology that invite, engage, excite, and empower all generations to ask questions, imagine what’s possible, and design solutions to shape the future.

In November 2021, the Board of Trustees and Museum Advisors approved a capital campaign called The Boston Science Common that will raise $225 million over the next 5 years for the Museum. BSciC builds a new capacity that will allow MOS to bring science to everyone at the pace of change, with content generated by the region’s leading scientists, made engaging, accessible, and fun by the Museum, and delivered out to the world through a three-channel approach. Content will focus on the most important and exciting STEM topics, including climate response, life sciences, and data science/AI.

Position Overview

The Vice President of Individual Giving (Vice President) will be joining the Museum at an exciting new phase of growth and development designed to broaden the participation of visitors of all ages, expand the Museum’s reach, and leverage the Museum’s position as the leader in Pre-K to 8 engineering and computer science curricula. This seasoned professional will be key to building a robust individual giving program as part of a long-range vision in support of the Museum’s capital campaign The Boston Science Common, as well as other transformations across the campus footprint. The Boston Science Common will completely transform the Museum into a future-facing, three-channel organization that helps decode the science of today and tomorrow for an inclusive and broad array of visitors. The new Vice President will be mission driven with a view of people as born problem solvers. This person will have a demonstrated track record of servant leadership that persuades and inspires individuals to give, and will possess a conviction for diversity, equity, and belonging that advances access for all.

Reporting directly to the Chief Advancement Officer, the Vice President of Individual Giving will supervise a seven-person individual giving team and serve as a prospect manager for a portfolio of highly rated prospects. The Vice President will coordinate with Museum and Board leadership and the entire Advancement team to identify, research, cultivate, and solicit top donors. They will bring a growth mindset to the role, driving new prospect identification, research, and fundraising across the individual giving team. The Vice President will work across the division to develop strategy for the timing and execution of all individual solicitations, including managing solicitation priorities for the President. The Vice President has a high-profile role, suitable for developing the relationships and insights key to the success of the institution.

While the Museum of Science will consider a broad range of backgrounds, the ideal candidate will have the following qualifications/experience:

  • Deep appreciation for the Museum’s mission: to inspire a lifelong love of science in everyone. A commitment to advancing human dignity and an understanding of its relationship to high-quality science learning.
  • 10+ years of progressive fundraising experience, with particular depth in leadership, planned, and annual giving programs. Experience working within a non-hospital, non-university setting to understand the level of entrepreneurship that comes with prospecting and donor cultivation at the Museum will be considered a plus.
  • Demonstrated success as an effective manager with the ability to empower others and lead, manage, and motivate staff to achieve results.
  • Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of how to build justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the development function; culturally competent with respect to issues such as racial, cultural, religious, sexual, and gender identity. Skilled at delivering solutions in evolving, multi-cultural environments.
  • Sophisticated understanding of best practices in managing individual giving programs.
  • Experience managing and growing an annual giving program, as well as demonstrated success growing donor relationships from annual gifts to leadership gifts.
  • Creative advancement professional, able to identify funding opportunities and match them with donor and prospect interest. Able to work collaboratively with program colleagues to develop opportunities for prospective donors, where appropriate.
  • Demonstrated success with high-level individual donors and prospects on gift cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, including six and seven-figure gifts.
  • Demonstrated judgment in assessing opportunities and analyzing issues; demonstrated experience working with major gifts staff using best practices and systems metrics.
  • Ability to identify when a prospect might be a suitable planned giving prospect; has successfully cultivated and solicited some planned gifts.
  • Experience setting and hitting goals, managing projects, collaborating, building trust, and motivating others.
  • Ability to align with and contribute to leadership’s priorities, vision, and goals.
  • Demonstrated experience cultivating, training, building relationships with, and working in collaboration with executives, senior staff, and volunteer leaders on development-related activities.
  • Ability to collaborate with Museum leadership in setting goals for planning future comprehensive campaign and rolling visionary initiatives.
  • Ability to integrate data into decision-making and to create and implement strategic plans in order to reach desired goals and objectives.
  • Bachelor’s degree.

The Museum of Science is an EEO/AA employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, protected veteran status, disability, or protected group status. Federal and State law prohibit employment discrimination.

It is the Museum of Science’s policy when recruiting, hiring, training, promoting, and terminating employees to comply with those laws which prohibit discrimination as to race, color, religion, creed, gender, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, citizenship status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, disability, military status, status as a disabled, recently separated veteran, Armed Forces service medal veteran, or other covered veteran or any other protected status under applicable law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment, and where employees, interns, and volunteer are treated with respect and dignity. 

Equal Opportunity Employer/Females/Minorities/Veterans/Disabilities

How To Apply

The Museum of Science has retained the DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice of the Diversified Search Group to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) should be directed to:

Gerard F. Cattie, Jr.
Managing Director and DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice Leader
Diversified Search Group
The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, 49th Floor, New York, New York 10174
gerard.cattie@divsearch.com | 212.542.2587

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