Overview
Client: Levine Museum of the New South
Current Location: 200 East 7th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Founded: 1991
Reports To: President & CEO
Levine Museum of the New South — Organizational Description
Mission
Levine Museum’s mission is:
- To engage a broad-based audience in the exploration and appreciation of the diverse history of the South since the Civil War, with a focus on Charlotte and the surrounding Carolina Piedmont.
- To collect, preserve, and interpret the materials, sights, sounds, and idea that illumine and enliven this history
- To present opportunities for life-long learning about this history for the benefit, enjoyment and education of children and adults
- To provide historical context for contemporary issues and a community forum for thoughtful discussion.
- The Museum distills this mission into an essential statement: we use history to build community.
History
In the summer of 1990, members of the Mecklenburg Historical Association developed the idea of the Museum of the New South and approached community leader and cultural advocate Sally Robinson about organizing the institution. A working group of local historians, university professors, and community leaders were convened to consider the museum proposal. The organizing group settled on the name “Museum of the New South” as a reflection of Charlotte residents’ belief that the city exemplifies much of the history signified by that term.
The museum was incorporated in April 1991, and a diverse board of trustees was assembled. Those early leaders made the decision to operate without a building was made for financial and philosophical reasons. At the time, the board felt that operating without a permanent structure would offer flexibility in developing exhibitions and programs. However, in the spring of 1994, the Museum of the New South engaged in a long-term planning process that identified developing collections and installing a core exhibit as priorities. As a result, with the help of private funding, the museum purchased the building at 324 North College Street in Charlotte’s cultural district.
In 2001 the Levine Museum of the New South, renamed in honor of museum patrons Leon and Sandra Levine, opened in a 40,000-square-foot building located at 200 East Seventh Street in Charlotte. Its 8,000-square-foot permanent exhibit, Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South, explores the social history of the economic transformation of the Piedmont from a rural, agriculture-based society to the major financial, business, and industrial center that it is today. (source)
Levine Museum has always been as much about the present and the future as it is about the past, and has used its exhibits to convene people in dialogue across difference. With exhibits like COURAGE: The Carolina Story that Changed America, Without Sanctuary, an exhibit about lynching, and Changing Places, an exploration of Charlotte’s diverse population, Levine Museum became a hub for civic engagement and re-defined the role history museums play in community.
Opportunity
The importance of Levine Museum has perhaps never been more pronounced. Just a few short years after experiencing civil unrest in the wake of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting and national attention for HB2, Charlotte remains a community processing its pathway forward. The landmark study from Harvard University and UC-Berkeley that identified Charlotte as 50th out of 50 U.S. cities in its analysis of economic mobility serves to highlight the challenges the community continues to face as it asserts its place in the “New South.”
At the same time, changing audience demographics, income re-distribution and digital technologies pose formidable challenges and unprecedented opportunities for museums of all kinds throughout the country. As the Museum’s leadership contemplates its future, we are exploring new ways to bring history alive for audiences of all ages and to use the power of story to foster empathy and to build a stronger, more equitable community. Levine Museum now seeks to redefine what a history museum looks like in the digital era.
The Role
Reporting to the President & CEO, the Senior Vice President, Development and Marketing is a key member of the leadership team and a critical participant in articulating the Museum’s future direction. S/he is responsible for designing and implementing strategies to increase public awareness, foster engagement, and deepen philanthropic support for Levine Museum’s programs, exhibits and services. The Senior Vice President provides strategic direction for fund development efforts, as well as marketing and communications at a time of transformational change.
The successful candidate for this role will benefit from a four-person team that works cohesively toward pursuit of the Museum’s aims. A resource development plan is in place, providing a solid platform for the pursuit of earned and contributed revenue. Members of the organization’s board of directors are deeply committed to advancing the mission of the Museum and are deeply bought in to resource development and marketing strategies.
Levine Museum is at an exciting time in its history, and this role will be a critical one. There is the potential for a sizable capital campaign in future years, and an organizational constituency to make that effort a success. For the right candidate, this is an opportunity to cement a local reputation as an institutional leader and resource development change agent.
Professional Responsibilities
Development & Marketing Planning
- Provide leadership, strategic direction and strong business acumen for the Museum’s overall public engagement and development efforts
- Provide leadership and strategic oversight to the Marketing and Communications function to ensure cross-functional integration of efforts to support Museum exhibits, programs, and services
Team Management
- Create a quality work environment that is collaborative and respectful of the strengths of individual employees by establishing goals and expectations and conducting performance reviews
- Work across departments to build a solid working relationship with the programming and operations teams
Fundraising Efforts
- Manage a system of Identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of $1.5M+ annually through a comprehensive, multi-faceted fundraising platform
- Oversee the pursuit of individual gifts including the Leadership Membership Program, major gift, endowment gifts and legacy gifts, directly managing a portfolio of high impact donors
- Direct the acquisition and retention of corporate sponsorships including the Corporate Membership Program, exhibit and program sponsors and event sponsors
- Lead the submission of foundation and government grant proposals including exhibit and program grants, project-specific grant opportunities and organizational sustainability grants
- Manage the research, application and reporting for all grants, including the Arts & Science Council’s basic operating grant
- Manage the conception and execution of the Museum’s annual fundraising event, as well as other donor cultivation and appreciate events
- Provide support to the Board members in fundraising activities
Marketing Efforts
- Develop, evaluate, and adjust marketing and communications strategies for each programmatic initiative, tailored to reach targeted audiences and reinforce brand through a mix of print, broadcast, earned, and social media
- Management and oversight of digital communication including the website, social media, blog and podcast
- Oversee audience and market research efforts, seeking to understand what messages and themes motivate people to action
- Represent the Museum at external meetings, programs and events in the community throughout the year
Department Operations
- Develop and manage departmental budgets
- Oversee management of the Museum’s donor database system Altru (Blackbaud product)
Required Qualifications & Competencies
The ideal candidate would have the following capabilities and qualities:
- Bachelor’s Degree
- Commitment to the Museum’s mission
- 5 – 7 years’ experience in external relations or institutional advancement, including development, marketing and communications, and events management
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Strong leadership and strategic thinking skills
- Ability to make connections easily and create authentic relationships with a wide variety of individuals and groups
- Solid analytical skills and basic understanding of financial levers
- Familiarity with donor databases, Blackbaud products preferred
- Comfortable working with corporate and foundation executives
- CFRE preferred
Compensation
Compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience. Health and retirement benefits offered.
To Apply
Levine Museum of the New South is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in its work and staff. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable state or federal law. Levine Museum encourages candidates of all groups and communities to apply for this position.
Beginning September 17, 2018 all inquiries, nominations and applications are to be directed via email to Next Stage Consulting: search@nextstage-consulting.com. Applications must include a custom cover letter and CV to be considered. Please indicate in the subject line of your email the position and organization to which you are applying and where you learned of the opportunity. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
Please note that only those candidates invited for screening will be contacted