senior director of corporate and foundation relations … · 2020. 8. 26. · chautauqua...

CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION RELATIONS PROSPECTUS | 1

Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Chautauqua Institution

Chautauqua, NYhttps://chq.org/

Send Nominations or Cover Letter and Resume to: Maureen Huminik Vice President [email protected] 617-262-1102

Introduction

Chautauqua Institution, in southwestern New York State, is a not-for-profit global convener of dialogue and debate on the most significant issues of the day through engagement across four programmatic and thematic pillars — arts, education, religion and recreation. Families, friends, couples, and singles gather each summer at Chautauqua to relax and renew in a quintessential lakeside community setting that has inspired minds and hearts, solutions and resolutions, for nearly 150 years. Some 100,000 people visit Chautauqua, some of whom are in residence the entire summer and year-round. Still more engage through an expanding online catalogue of recorded events and live-streamed programs. The full impact of Chautauqua is found in the mix of experiences between and among the pillars.

In May 2019, Chautauqua Institution’s Board of Trustees approved an ambitious new strategic plan titled 150 Forward. The plan is comprised of four key objectives: optimize the summer assembly season on the


grounds; expand Chautauqua’s convening authority year-round to broaden impact beyond the summer assembly season; drive the implementation of a comprehensive, science-based approach to improving the health and sustainability of the lake; and grow and diversify revenue to fund Chautauqua’s future. These goals are further informed by cross-cutting imperatives including development and growth of strategic partnerships, mobilization of

technology, and viewing all of their work through the lens of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). One major initiative currently underway to support this work is the hiring of the Institution’s first Chief Diversity Officer. This visionary plan will position the Institution to further its mission of exploring the best in human values and strengthen its origin as a national movement that convenes people for civil dialogue.

In 2020, facing a global pandemic, the board unanimously voted to suspend all in-person programming on Chautauqua’s physical grounds. This caused the goals of Objective 2 of the strategic plan – broadening impact beyond the summer assembly season – to catapult to the forefront of the Institution’s work much sooner than anticipated. Over the course of only seven weeks, Chautauqua created CHQ Assembly, a collection of five digital properties that embodies the online expression of its mission. This expansive online program offers year-round access to lectures, artistic experiences, master and enrichment courses, and conversations, and resulted in 2020 becoming the baseline from which Chautauqua’s presence outside the gates, and beyond the summer assembly season, is expanded and refined.

Education: Self-improvement through lifelong learning was at the heart of the impulse that motivated the Americans who founded Chautauqua in 1874. That tradition continues today with iconic morning and afternoon lecture platforms, continuing education courses, the Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle international reading community, writers in residence, and a public library. In particular, Chautauqua’s Special Studies program provides classes and other educational programs for the 10,000 lifelong learners who enroll in courses each summer. More than 300 teachers create a diverse assortment of courses for youth and adults, and those seeking inter- and multi-generational learning and enrichment experiences.

The Arts: As a community, Chautauqua celebrates, encourages, and studies the arts and treats them as integral to all learning. With symphony, opera, theater, dance and visual arts programs, and pre-professional schools in voice, music, art, dance, and theater, Chautauqua produces an unparalleled range and depth of arts programming paired with opportunities for engagement with professional and pre-professional artists and performers.

https://assembly.chq.org/videos/welcome-to-chq-assembly


Religion: At Chautauqua, religious faith is perceived, interpreted, and experienced as central to the understanding and expression of our social and cultural values. Chautauqua is a community that is open to individuals of all faiths and none, with a wide variety of services of worship and programs that express the Institution’s Christian heritage and its interfaith commitment. Recreation: Chautauqua embraces recreation and a balanced, healthy lifestyle as essential to the Chautauqua experience. The beautiful lakeside setting amplifies nature’s many gifts with world-class recreational amenities, along with an eclectic array of quiet places to kick back and relax. Opportunities include sailing, boating, fishing and swimming on Chautauqua Lake as well as a 36-hole golf course, fast-dry and hard-surface tennis courts, playing fields, playgrounds and fitness centers.

The Opportunity: The Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations (SDC&FR) will play a key role in expanding the reach of Chautauqua Institution outside the gates of the grounds and beyond the summer assembly season. In collaboration with Chautauqua leadership, the SDC&FR will be responsible for establishing new, and strengthening existing, relationships with the corporate and foundation community so that the Institution can realize its bold new vision. The successful candidate will provide expertise to advance institutional interests by researching and identifying sources of support and generating proposals based on corporate and foundation guidelines as sole author and/or collaborator with other CHQ faculty and staff. The Senior Director maintains a personal portfolio of corporate and foundation prospects, conducts personal visits, and solicits and secures major and principal gifts, grants, and gifts-in-kind, serving as liaison with other offices for corporate and foundation relations. Ideally positioned in the Institution’s Washington, D.C. office, the incumbent must be able to travel frequently between Washington and the Institution in Western New York. Envisioning a bold future that will expand Chautauqua’s impact in the world beyond the summer assembly season and the physical grounds, the leadership team is looking to broaden and strengthen its corporate and foundation initiatives and goals. It is an opportune time for an enterprising fundraising leader to bring new ideas and energy to this dynamic and important organization.

Specific Responsibilities: Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Major and Planned Gifts, this position will;

• Lead all aspects of Chautauqua’s foundation and corporate relations strategy for unrestricted operating funds, restricted programs, corporate sponsorships, strategic initiatives, and capital and


campaign projects. Coordinate with leaders, advancement staff, and program staff to acquire regional and national funding that advances strategic priorities.

• Work closely with the Vice President of Advancement, Associate Vice President for Major and Planned Gifts, and senior leadership to identify and cultivate key connections between Chautauquans and corporations and foundations that might champion funding in support of Chautauqua on a national level.

• Work with the research team to identify foundation and corporate prospects to develop a robust prospect pipeline; partner with gift officers, senior leadership, and volunteers to identify and cultivate connections with corporations and foundations to leverage the largest gift commitment to Chautauqua.

• Identify and communicate funding opportunities; develop strong working relationships and collaborate with partners inside and outside Chautauqua to translate innovative ideas into competitive funding proposals, stewardship, and grant funder reports.

• Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of donors; maintain an active personal visit schedule, in addition to those conducted by senior leadership.

• In conjunction with the Vice President of Advancement and Associate Vice President for Major and Planned Gifts, set annual and campaign dollar goals for corporate and foundation fundraising, and monitor progress on an ongoing basis.

• Accompany senior leadership to meetings with corporate and foundation prospects; develop strategy and briefing materials.

• Ensure and maintain coordination of all outreach and engagement of corporate and foundation prospects and donors, and oversee all cultivation and stewardship strategy, correspondence, and events.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field required. Master’s degree in relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred.

• Ten years+ of corporate, foundation or fundraising experience devising and managing corporate and/or foundation philanthropy programs.

• Proven ability to manage complex organizational relationships and work effectively with executive leadership.

• Program strategy development and execution experience. • Individual and team success in securing and maintaining seven-figure+ accounts and/or

philanthropy. • Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills. Demonstrated ability to write and

present persuasively. • Strong organizational skills. • Demonstrated effectiveness in outreach to volunteers, program managers, and other fundraising

partners.


Philanthropy Overview Since its founding in 1874, the Institution has provided an unparalleled, intergenerational experience that mixes artistic, intellectual, and spiritual energies. In 2016, the Institution successfully completed the single-largest campaign in its history. The Promise campaign, launched in 2011, exceeded its original goal of $98.2 million for a total of $103.5 million. The signature prize from this campaign is the $42 million Chautauqua Amphitheater. Now, as Chautauquans prepare to celebrate the Institution’s 150th anniversary, they stand as deeply committed as ever to their founding roots, and to preserving the treasure in their care. They look ahead more eagerly than ever to explore new ways of bringing their founding mission to life. To that end, Chautauqua will launch its largest philanthropic initiative ever; a $150-million campaign. Today, the Chautauqua Foundation endowment stands at almost $100 million with over 750 individual endowed funds. In addition, the annual fund has seen consistent growth over the last five years. In 2019, the Chautauqua Fund raised nearly $5 million.

History of Chautauqua Institution Chautauqua Institution is a National Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a nonprofit, 750-acre educational and cultural center on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State, where approximately 7,500 persons are in residence on any day during a nine-week summer season. Approximately 300 students each summer enroll in the Institution’s Schools of Fine and Performing Arts (pre-professional training). An education program akin to adult education classes at the local community college called Special Studies enrolls approximately 5,000 unique individuals who take about 10,000 classes annually. Chautauqua Institution, originally the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly, was founded in 1874 as an educational experiment in out-of-school, vacation learning. It was successful and broadened almost immediately beyond courses for Sunday school teachers to include academic subjects, music, art, and physical education.


While founders Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent were Methodists, other Protestant denominations participated from the first year onward, and today Chautauqua continues to be interfaith in spirit and practice. Chautauqua's Department of Religion presents distinguished religious leaders of all faiths from the U.S. and abroad, as preachers and teachers, and the Institution’s future focus lays in interfaith work under the direction of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, retired Bishop of New Hampshire.

The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC) was started in 1878 to provide those who could not afford the time or money to attend college to acquire the skills and essential knowledge of a college education. The four-year correspondence course was one of the first attempts at distance learning and soon was established throughout the country and, in time, around the world. It continues today as one of the oldest and strongest literary clubs in the nation; Chautauqua has added to its literary portfolio two national literary prizes which are awarded annually. By 1880 the Chautauqua platform had established itself as a national forum for open discussion of public issues, international relations, literature, and science. Approximately 100 lecturers appear at Chautauqua during a season, and those who have graced its iconic stage include US Presidents, other heads of state, key legislative leaders, and those at the pinnacle of thought leadership in the arts, science, religion, medicine, and culture. Music became increasingly important at Chautauqua as the Institution entered the 20th century. A symphony orchestra season became part of the regular program in 1920. The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1929, now performs thrice weekly with leading soloists in the 4,400-seat Amphitheater, Chautauqua's pre-eminent program center. Popular entertainers perform other evenings. Ballet companies, with representations of contemporary and classical ballet, also appear in the Amphitheater, sometimes with guest artists, while the Chautauqua Theater Company presents its season in Bratton Theater. The Chautauqua Opera Company, also founded in 1929, performs in Norton Hall.

Chautauqua plays a unique educational role today, offering studies on a vacation level, a more serious level, and a professional level. In addition, there are enhanced learning opportunities within Chautauqua's other programming. Music, the arts, religion, recreation, and the pursuit of knowledge are all available. Younger and older students often share learning experiences in an open, congenial atmosphere. Children and young people are also provided with their own special programs.


Chautauqua Institution is governed by a 24-member Board of Trustees that establishes the policies and direction of the Institution, electing the officers who are responsible for the operation of the Institution. Other historic points of interest include:

• Chautauqua has been visited by United States presidents from Ulysses S. Grant to Bill Clinton and by other prominent Americans including Booker T. Washington, Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, Margaret Mead, Karl Menninger, Kurt Vonnegut, Sandra Day O’Connor, and Ken Burns.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his “I Hate War” speech from the Amphitheater platform in 1936. • Ronald Reagan addressed the Third General Chautauqua Conference on U.S.-Soviet Relations via

satellite in 1987. • Carlos Roberto Reina, president of Honduras, was the first foreign sitting head of state to visit

Chautauqua. He spoke during the Second Chautauqua Conference on Central America in 1995. • Thomas Edison was the son-in-law of Chautauqua co-founder Lewis Miller. • George Gershwin completed his Concerto in F in a

Chautauqua practice shack in 1925. • Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle is one of

the oldest continuous book clubs in the United States. It was founded in 1878.

• The 152-room Athenaeum Hotel was built in 1881 and was one of the first hotels to be lit by electricity thanks to Thomas Edison, who was married to the daughter of the Institution’s co-founder.

• Chautauqua’s Boys’ and Girls’ Club is the oldest day camp in the United States.

• The Chautauqua Opera Company, founded in 1929, is the oldest continuously performing summer opera company in the United States.

Leadership

Michael E. Hill President Chautauqua Institution Selected as the 18th President of Chautauqua Institution on Nov. 4, 2016, Michael E. Hill began his work at Chautauqua on Jan. 1, 2017 and immediately set about ushering in a fresh, expanded vision for the 145-year-old Institution with an emphasis on building its brand and thought

leadership, a focus on expanding civil dialogue in the nation, an evolution to year-round programming and engagement beyond Chautauqua's physical grounds. Prior to his appointment at Chautauqua, Hill served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Youth for Understanding USA, dramatically expanding and diversifying programs. He co-led a historic civil rights trip


to Cuba with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. at the invitation of Mariela Castro, two weeks before diplomatic relations were restored between the United States and the island nation. An international educator, he has served as a panelist and speaker on issues surrounding international education and exchange. Prior to joining YFU, Hill served as Senior Vice President of External Affairs for United Cerebral Palsy. In that role, he led international public education, fundraising, communications, marketing, and branding efforts for one of the world’s largest healthcare charities. Hill led national development, communications, and volunteer efforts for Washington National Cathedral as Executive Director for External Relations and held a similar role at the Washington Ballet. Hill holds a bachelor’s in journalism from St. Bonaventure and a master’s in arts and cultural management from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. It was in his early life as a journalist, having graduated from journalism school in nearby Allegany, NY, where he first became a part of the Chautauqua community as an editor and reporter for the Institution’s daily newspaper.

George L. (“Geof”) Follansbee, Jr. Vice President of Advancement Geof Follansbee is the Vice President of Advancement at Chautauqua Institution, a position he has held since 2004. Until 2019, he also served as the CEO of the Chautauqua Foundation. In 2016, Follansbee and the Chautauqua Foundation helped Chautauqua Institution successfully complete the single-largest campaign in its history, the Promise campaign. Prior to joining the Chautauqua Foundation, Follansbee served as Assistant Dean for

Development and Alumni Relations at University of Michigan Law School. There, he oversaw the development, alumni relations and communications programs. He also managed the dean’s fundraising agenda and was responsible for a portfolio of major gift prospects. Before he arrived at University of Michigan Law School, Follansbee was Assistant Head for Advancement at The Williston Northampton School, a boarding day school, and prior to that served as Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs, at Marshall-Wythe School of Law, The College of William and Mary — the very first full-time development officer in the history of the Law School. Follansbee holds a juris doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University.


Amy Gardner Associate Vice President for Major and Planned Gifts Amy Gardner joined Chautauqua Institution’s Advancement staff in 2019 to lead the Major Gifts and Planned Giving team’s pursuit of the goals of the 150 Forward strategic plan. She also serves in the role of Campaign Director for the Institution’s upcoming capital campaign. Prior to joining Chautauqua Institution, Gardner was Senior Director of Development for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. There she managed a portfolio of major gift prospects and worked with the dean,

faculty, and volunteer leadership to raise annual, capital, and endowment funds for 14 academic departments and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in support of the $1.5 billion Fearless Ideas Campaign. Before arriving at Maryland, Gardner worked for ten years for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., overseeing individual giving, special events, and board relations through two capital campaigns and the opening of the Harman Center for the Arts in downtown Washington. Gardner has also served as Director of Development for Chorus America, the national service organization for choral music, and in major gift fundraising and board management roles at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Geneseo and is a Chautauqua County native. Gardner is based in Chautauqua’s Washington, D.C. office in the off-season. Location Chautauqua, NY: Chautauqua is a town and lake resort community in Chautauqua County, NY, with a population of about 4,500. It is located less than three hours from Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Niagara Falls, and Toronto, and within an easy drive from Buffalo and Erie. With four seasons, an elevation ranging from 500 to 2,000 feet above sea level, and five lakes including Chautauqua Lake, western New York’s largest inland lake, Chautauqua County offers plenty of outdoor recreation. Magnificent views and undisturbed landscapes can readily be found while hiking, cycling, birding, trail riding, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing.


Background Checks:

Prior to submitting your resume for this position, please read it over for accuracy. Lindauer does verify academic credentials for its candidates, and our clients frequently conduct background checks prior to finalizing an offer.

To learn more, nominate qualified candidates or send cover letter and resume, please contact:

Maureen Huminik, Vice President, [email protected] 617-262-1102

All inquiries will be held in confidence.

Setting the Standard in Nonprofit Talent www.LindauerGlobal.com

senior director of corporate and foundation relations … · 2020. 8. 26. · chautauqua...

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