Jan 10th, 2025
Denniston Hill
Senior Manager, Development + Partnerships
( new york | Hybrid )
About the Organization
Denniston Hill was established in 2004, when artists Julie Mehretu, Lawrence Chua, and Paul Pfeiffer transformed a 150-year-old farmhouse and its surrounded 200+ acres of rolling farmland, wetlands, and protected forests (ancestrally known as the Lenapehoking) into an interdisciplinary arts organization guided by the principle that creative and critical voices are essential in shaping a more just and equitable society. In 2008, they formalized as a 501c3 whose core objectives are to offer a place where fellow queer and BIPOC creators see themselves mirrored back in the heart of an organization, and to ensure that the voices of the most vulnerable, risk-taking artists continue to be heard. Today, nearly 20 years in continuous operation, Denniston Hill’s residency program has welcomed artists from around the world to live, work, build new ideas, and better understand our shared human conditions, together. Our campus is a place of collective refuge for so many people who experience ongoing precarity in their lives, art-making, and activism.
We embrace a set of interdependent values that shape our organization and our programs, which we invite you to read in more detail on our website, linked here (https://www.dennistonhill.org/dhvalues).
As Denniston Hill continues its transition from an artist-led “startup” to an artist-founded organization, our visions for the future of the organization are rooted in expanding our role as a catalyst for social change through artistic practice. We plan to grow beyond our current identity as a residency program to become a multifaceted platform for civic engagement, ecological stewardship, and artistic innovation. Future programs include curated residencies that support important pillars of justice work (human rights, food, and the climate crisis) created in collaboration with mission-aligned organizations; a print publication shaped as a refuge for writers and public intellectuals; and a set of major sculptural interventions in the campus led by artists and architects to ensure that artists of all abilities can participate fully in our residencies, and which will set a new standard for accessibility in artist residencies worldwide.
Over the past three years, Denniston Hill has built out the infrastructure needed for this roadmap. We have hired our first full-time Executive Director, stabilized the residency program with a full-time Residency Manager, a revamped campus operations team, a fixed residency season calendar, IT backend and program management software, campus building upgrades, and more. We’ve expanded our fundraising capacity with fresh initiatives, including our first gala, cultivation events, and individual giving circles. Internally, our organization's growth focuses on an expanded Board of Trustees and governance structure; establishing 3 new full-time, salaried staff positions (for a total of 5 full-time, salaried staff members); launching a strategic plan (2025) and an endowment campaign (2026). As we step into this next exciting chapter of our journey, Denniston Hill aims to serve as a model for how artist-led organizations can evolve and scale while maintaining their core values and mission.
Job Description
Position salary range: 95,000
Position reports to: Executive Director
Denniston Hill seeks a Senior Manager, Development + Partnerships to steward the main pillars of our organization’s fundraising portfolio that center relationships: individual giving, donor cultivation, corporate and commercial partnerships, giving circles membership, and special events.
The Senior Manager, Development + Partnerships is an active, front-line fundraiser who directly contributes to individual fundraising efforts, donor stewardship, and major gift solicitation. Denniston Hill maintains a broad base and “rolodex” of donors who already generously support our work. Thus, the Senior Manager, Development + Partnerships will not be starting from scratch. Rather, we are looking for someone with a brilliant mind and an authentic, engaging demeanor to deepen existing relationships and use this base as a connective tool for expanding into new cultural scenes and developing new income streams.
The Senior Manager, Development + Partnerships is responsible for annually raising between $1.2 million to $ 1.7 million from public and private sources. Working with Denniston Hill’s Executive Director, Board of Trustees, and Advisory Board, the Senior Manager devises and executes fundraising strategies to advance the ambitious ideas articulated by stakeholders and defined by our operating budget, currently set at $1.2 million. Our goal is to “over raise” every year so that we can continue to build the organization’s cash reserve.
We are looking for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit who can harness Denniston Hill’s existing—and future—resources according to successful, for-profit business models. This includes developing programs for and securing revenue through corporate and commercial revenue channels and developing strategic partnerships to support the creative and/or operational needs for the organization. We invite you to dream big in this arena, as we all must reckon with a dramatically changing philanthropy field. Denniston Hill welcomes bold ideas and directions to maintain the long-term financial health of our organization.
A successful candidate will bring excellent interpersonal and written communication skills and a keen ability to prioritize within a creative work environment. They will serve as an important liaison to a broad community of individual donors, corporate partners and for-profit venture collaborators. We believe in coalition building. The Senior Manager, Development + Partnerships should be ready and willing to collaborate with other organizational leaders to generate and execute new fundraising and capital-driven initiatives that are both exemplary for, and service, our entire field.
Denniston Hill be concurrently hiring an Operations Manager to support the Senior Manager, Development and Partnerships with the core administrative, database, and correspondence tasks associated with maintaining a successful individual giving and partnerships portfolio.
This position is based in New York City. Candidates should be able to commute to our Manhattan office regularly. We are open to the possibility of part-time, remote work on a case-by-case basis.
Job Responsibilities
I. Fundraising:
• Work with Executive Director (ED) to create and implement fundraising plans designed to grow Denniston Hill’s annual operating budget, diversify funding streams, and prioritize multi-year opportunities;
• Identify and maximize key areas of potential fundraising growth and new contributed revenue streams;
• Research prospective donors, including individuals, foundations, and corporations and develop snapshot profiles for each, including recommendations for next steps in cultivation such as visits with current and prospective funders, and phone calls to build relationships and/or receive funder feedback;
• Cultivate and steward relationships with existing donors and new donor prospects;
• Lead donor meetings, presentations, and events;
• Steward Denniston Hill’s individual giving circles: the Residency Council and Alumni Council;
• Work with ED on giving circle offerings that demonstrate a personal connection to council members;
• Work with Denniston Hill’s ED, Operations Manager, and the Board of Trustees’ Fundraising Committee to plan and execute ticketed and cultivation events, including fundraisers in New York City, one summer gathering at Denniston Hill’s upstate campus, studio visits, and other gatherings;
• Prepare fundraising reports and donor event recaps;
Stay informed of fundraising trends, techniques, and technology. We’re ready to build!
II. Working with Denniston Hill’s Board of Trustees:
• Activate Denniston Hill’s Board of Trustees as ambassadors for fundraising through strategy sessions with the Board’s Fundraising Committee;
• In partnership with the ED, support Trustees’ annual “get” goals, including (as/if needed) cultivation of new donors, sponsorships, special events, planning and execution of annual trips, and more;
• In partnership with the ED, manage Fundraising Committee meetings and their planned events.
III. Corporate/Commercial Partnerships and Sponsorships:
• Develop and implement corporate and commercial partnership strategies and programs;
• Connect corporate marketing and/or PR goals with nonprofit benefits to shape shared opportunities;
• Activate and steward relationships in the corporate and commercial sectors;
• Partner closely with Denniston Hill’s ED and Board of Trustees to leverage our collective, existing networks;
• In partnership with the ED, serve as primary point of contact for corporate sponsors with Denniston Hill;
• In partnership with the ED, and as each sponsorship warrants, develop messaging for social media and publicity channels;
• Lead partnership contract processes with Denniston Hill’s Operations Manager.
Qualifications and Qualities (you don’t need to have all, and some are learned together!):
• Candidates should possess a commitment to Denniston Hill’s mission and values, working to advance its position within the field, and an ability to advocate effectively for the organization and its goals in professional and social settings.
• An outgoing nature and an affinity for collaborative work settings.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as the ability to demonstrate empathy and understanding with co-workers and external stakeholders;
• Experience in the practice of tactfulness, discretion, and diplomacy;
• Strong digital presentation skills;
• Attention to detail, excellent project management skills, including the ability to multitask, manage deadlines, and work efficiently both independently and as a team;
• Ability to take initiative and to think creatively, balanced by a willingness to learn.
• Enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, art that makes a difference.
• Willingness to work with artists;
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
• Proven ability to problem-solve using analytical and reasoning skills desirable.
• Compassion, flexibility, and a sense of humor are highly valued.
Additional information Benefits: $1000/month health insurance stipend; 4 weeks paid PTO
Contact email for applicants info@dennistonhill.org