JOB POSTING
Impact Officer
About Us
The Fund for the Arts’ vision is to create a great American city, through the Arts. A leader locally and nationally, the Fund for the Arts raises more than $8 million annually through the generosity of more than 20,000 donors. The Fund for the Arts invests in the Arts for community impact through economic development, educational attainment and a greater quality of life. We lead innovation, inspire excellence and promote effective resource utilization. We build bridges and identify shared opportunity. You will join a team comprised of empowered and talented individuals: results-driven fundraisers, passionate donor stewards and strategic community connectors who believe in the power of philanthropy and envision a stronger, more vibrant community through the Arts.
About the Job
The Impact Officer, a new role at the Fund for the Arts, will develop data-based strategies and tactics that drive, reveal and measure the Arts sector’s potential to create impact for the broader Louisville area and surrounding communities. This position will also coordinate grant applications and funding opportunities to support cultural planning and community development as well as directly manage key programming.
Responsibilities:
Impact Strategy
- Design and drive the measurement, tracking and evaluation of the impact of the Arts on this community – across the Arts sector, for the Fund for the Arts, and with the organizations that we support.
- Provide technical assistance and inspiration to arts organizations to help them collect and use data to drive community impact.
- Effectively communicate the collective impact of the Arts to target audiences and the broader community; help execute communications strategies and tactics as a key thought-leader for the organization and in alignment with the CEO to ensure consistent messaging.
- Guide and mentor Arts organizations in defining outputs and outcomes, identifying key measures of success, using data to inform programming and storytelling.
- Design processes and procedures for data and metrics management using currently available tools; help identify, secure funding for, and design/implement additional tools;
- Research and monitor a wide variety of local and national data sources that can be utilized to demonstrate the Art sector’s impact on our region and the points of intersections with other sectors;
- Conceptualize, design and conduct research that aggregates and analyzes Arts and culture sector data to inform strategy, policy and decisions of Fund for the Arts’ leadership, its partners and other civic stakeholders/influencers.
Program Management and Community Connections
- Design, coordinate and evaluate programs to bring the Arts into schools, community centers, etc. Ideally, expertise in Arts in Education-targeted programs. Program oversight of:
- Every Child Arts Education Initiatives – including 5×5, Teacher Arts Grants (TAG) and School’s Out = Art’s In
- Art for Kosair Kids Partnership
- EngAGING in the Arts in Senior Care Facilities
- Special donor-designated programming as developed.
- Optimize and quantify opportunities to increase ROI, encourage collaboration and leverage resources through strategic initiatives by Fund for the Arts and across the sector.
- Lead, support and/or advance research initiatives related to the Arts sector.
- Lead, support and/or advance technical assistance and organizational advancement initiatives across the Arts sector.
- Review current and recommend improvements, updates and extensions to shared services and collaborative marketing initiative, in alignment with the Fund for the Arts’ strategic objectives.
- Consult with small and emerging Arts organizations about available resources and tools to support their work and build capacity for growth.
- Along with the CEO, be a source of institutional knowledge within the Fund for the Arts about where new or invigorated artistic activity is taking place throughout the region; help weave this knowledge into larger strategies for increasing excitement about and connection to the Arts.
Grant-making
- Help improve, evolve, uphold and communicate Fund for the Arts’ grant-making frameworks, guiding principles, policies and processes.
- Collaborate with CFO to optimize the dollars available for distribution and oversee grant-making processes including proposal and report mechanisms and requirements, staff and panel review, tracking and data compilation and analysis.
- Work directly with Campaign Team to craft funding proposals for impact measurement and collective impact work; help cultivate relationships with key funders.
Campaign Support
- Identify or initiate opportunities with other civic, government or educational organizations to extend the Fund for the Arts’ reach or impact through unique, win-win solutions and partnerships.
- Support the Campaign Team in grant-writing and grant-reporting for program support.
- Work with Manager of Communications & Engagement to derive and document compelling and persuasive stories resulting from our grant-making. Help systemize and regularize story collection and dissemination to general public, donors and prospects.
- Work together with development and communications teams to define, develop, underwrite and allocate dollars across potential new thematic grant-making initiatives.
Other duties as assigned, including occasional help on weekends or evenings at Fund for the Arts-sponsored events
About You
Characteristics Needed
- Strong research, evaluation and analytic skills
- Ability to develop strong relationships with diverse constituencies and create positive community connections
- Ability to inspire confidence and convey authority for the subject matter through words, demeanor and appearance
- Demonstrated ability to both emphasize and persuade; advanced negotiating skills
- Demonstrated ability to influence and interact persuasively with senior leaders in business, nonprofit and government sectors
- Detail oriented, with effective organizational and administrative skills
- Aptitude for independent and cooperative decision making as well as proactive creative and strategic thinking;
- Strong teamwork skills with experience working collaboratively and sharing information
- Ability to multi-task, meet deadlines, and stay calm in a fast-paced environment
- Excellent oral, written, interpersonal and analytic skills
Qualifications Required
- Bachelor’s degree in urban planning, community development, urban studies, data analytics, or related field
- Experience in applied social science research, evaluation and/or impact-based grant-making
- Experience in applied measurement and evaluation as well as statistical analysis and an understanding of and facility with supporting technologies
- Passionate advocate and promoter of the Arts, and of this community or interest in learning about the Arts
- Outstanding oral, verbal and written communication skills including an ability to communicate data and technical issues to people with a wide range of data expertise
- Commitment to the mission, vision and values of Fund for the Arts
- Proficiency with MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint
About Your Benefits and Compensation
Competitive compensation and benefits, commensurate with experience.
If you are interested, please forward a letter of interest, resume and salary requirements by August 21, 2015 to Sibel Solagan by email at ssolagan@fundforthearts.com. In your letter of interest, please detail the following:
– Why you are interested in working with the Fund for the Arts and specifically in this position?
– What skills and experiences do you uniquely bring that will ensure your success in this role?
Interviews will be held in late August/early September and we hope to have the new Impact Officer in-house by mid to late September.
