Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Selects Lindauer to Find Chief Development Officer
March 2, 2020 – Executive recruitment firm Lindauer has been selected to find a chief development officer for the renowned Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The assignment is being spearheaded by Libby Roberts, senior vice president, and Faith Eutsay, senior consultant.
“The Gardner is seeking a chief development officer to ensure that the vision of Isabella Stewart Gardner continues to thrive and to support new efforts to interpret the core collection and its benefactor’s legacy of progressive civic leadership,” said Lindauer.
The CDO will report to and work closely with museum director Peggy Fogelman, who joined the Gardner four years ago to pursue an innovative and focused vision for programming and audience engagement to enhance the Gardner’s relevance to Boston’s communities. The CDO will be expected to be one of the director’s most trusted partners, joining a senior change management team of five and working together on strategy and vision.
“To achieve these goals, the CDO will be a straight-shooting, collaborative, tactically strong, and non-territorial manager, who can organize and align fundraising, leading a team of five direct reports and a total team of 15, which is responsible for raising approximately $10 million annually,” said Lindauer.
To Lead and Mentor
The CDO will be charged with working closely with other senior staff, curators, trustees, advisors, patron, and volunteers to help realize the museum’s mission. Also critical will be helping the museum to achieve its fundraising goals for endowment and contributed income in support of a more than $20 million operating budget and special capital projects. The CDO will lead and mentor a staff of 15 to raise about $10 million annually, overseeing the areas of prospect research and management, individual and institutional giving, special and private events, and planned giving in addition to membership and board relations.
Candidates should have demonstrated leadership ability, said the search firm. Comprehensive knowledge and experience setting strategy and leading a successful fundraising effort is also required, as is a track record of engaging, soliciting and securing major gift donors.
Additional qualification requirements include: broad experience working effectively with boards, including helping to identify and secure new governance candidates; a bachelor’s degree (advanced degree preferred); 15 years of fundraising and governance experience in a leadership position; demonstrated success effectively managing successful teams; being strategic and results oriented; and having excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
An icon of Boston’s cultural community, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum houses a collection of over 20,000 objects and presents a wide array of historical and contemporary exhibitions, public programs, community engagement initiatives and multidisciplinary performances. Inspired by her travels around Europe and Asia, the museum’s collection represents Ms. Gardner’s eclectic tastes and features paintings, sculptures, tapestries, rare books, private letters, historical memorabilia, and more from close friends and famous artists, such as Rembrandt and Raphael.
The collection is housed in a custom-built, four-story Venetian palazzo-style building with a lush, seasonally curated courtyard garden as its centerpiece. The Gardner, which opened in 1903, welcomes over 350,000 visitors annually. In 1990, thirteen of the museum’s works were stolen; the crime remains unsolved and the works, valued at an estimated $500 million, have not been recovered. A $10 million reward for information leading to the art’s recovery remains in place.
Non-Profit Sector Recruiters
Lindauer serves higher and secondary education, hospitals and academic research centers, think tanks, research facilities and foundations, as well as advocacy, public service, social justice and other mission-driven non-profits. It has led searches for the Boston YMCA, Center for Applied Special Technology, Healthy Minds Innovations/Center for Healthy Minds, the University of Texas at Austin and the Cockrell School of Engineering, among others.
Ms. Roberts has extensive philanthropic experience at blue-ribbon organizations establishing relationships with diverse constituents, focusing on strategic planning, executive search, team-building and board development. Her signature clients at Lindauer since 2014 have included: Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Berea College, Brookings Institution, Cranbrook Educational Community, Emerson College, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mind Springs Health, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Museum of Arts and Design and University of Technology Sydney.
Ms. Eutsay has 20 years of development experience to help her meet client needs. A self-described generalist, she brings both frontline fundraising and management expertise to the Lindauer team. She has placed chief development officers, or the equivalent position, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Babson College, Western Connecticut Health Network Foundation, Society for Science & the Public and Whitinsville Christian School.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
