Lois L. Lindauer Seeks Chief Development Officer for Museum of Arts and Design
September 11, 2018 – The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City has retained Boston-based recruitment firm Lois L. Lindauer Searches to spearhead its hunt for a new chief development officer. Vice president Libby Roberts is leading the assignment.
The museum is seeking a seasoned professional to lead and grow a comprehensive and modern fundraising program to support the institution’s unique exhibitions and programs. The CDO oversees a team of professionals responsible for maintaining and growing the museum’s base of individual and institutional support, said Lois L. Lindauer Searches. These areas include major gifts, planned giving, grants, corporate and foundation relations, annual giving and membership.
The new CDO will also be charged with building a sustainable philanthropic culture that is seamlessly integrated into MAD’s programmatic and marketing initiatives to further the museum’s overarching mission.
The Right Fit
The successful candidate will be an accomplished senior development professional with gravitas, a proven track record in building sustainable high-performing development programs and a demonstrated history of developing successful relationships with high net-worth individuals and institutional leadership, said the search firm. Candidates must have more than 10 years of fundraising experience in a sophisticated enterprise, preferably within an arts-related institution or organization of similar complexity, including a strong and documented record of solicitation and stewardship.
In addition, prospects must have a broad background in development with at least five years in senior leadership posts, including work in all core functional areas of fundraising, as well as broad-based knowledge of strategic planning, national and international caliber fundraising, donor acquisition, research, engagement, stewardship, reporting and overall management, said the search firm.
The successful candidate, the firm added, will possess a strong affinity for New York City and its cultural entities, knowledge of and passionate connection to the city’s art or design scene and deep experience within the metropolitan area philanthropic community.
Celebrating its 62nd anniversary, the Museum of Arts and Design has more than 250,000 visitors annually and serves 6,000 school students and over 7,500 members each year. It is devoted to craft across all forms of contemporary creative practice, from traditional techniques to cutting-edge technologies. The museum has a permanent collection of more than 3,000 objects that documents the history of the field from the mid-20th century to the present.
Veteran Search Consultants
Lois L. Lindauer Searches is a Boston-based national executive search firm serving the development/advancement profession. It serves the education, healthcare, science, arts & culture, advocacy and mission-driven non-profit sectors. 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.
Chief Development Officers
Virtually every industry needs top-drawer chief development officers. CDOs play a key role in planning, coordinating and administering capital campaigns, corporate giving and galvanizing new donors while keeping previous funders content. Implementing funding strategies that “keep the lights on,” according to recruiters specializing in the function, is job one.
Recruiters generally say that the best training for these positions is experience, noting that there are many industry conferences and summits that are beneficial for benchmarking and sharing of best practices.
Here is a sampling of recent search for chief development officer form the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
Vancouver, British Columbia-based PFM Executive Search placed Cynthia Kinsella as chief development officer of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. Most recently, Ms. Kinsella was vice president of employee support solutions for Morneau Shepell’s Western region.
Development Resources inc. (DRi) has placed Emily Tracy as the new chief development officer of Polaris, an anti-human-trafficking organization. Ms. Tracy most recently served as national director of development for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Executive search firm Caldwell Partners International placed Desikan Madhavanur as executive vice president and CDO of JDA Software in Scottsdale, AZ. Jim Bethmann, managing partner and co-leader of Caldwell’s TMT & IT services and information security practices, led the search. He previously worked at CA Technologies, where he served as senior vice president and business center head for data center orchestration.
Howe-Lewis International recruited Lori Abrams as vice president and CDO of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. She was previously director of development at the Valerie Fund. The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is a non-profit organization that works with medical and nursing schools, and in hospitals and other professional settings across the U.S.
Harvard Group International placed Mandy Nelson as the first ever CDO of After-School All-Stars (ASAS). Managing director and non-profit practice leader Cyndi Court led the search. Most recently, Ms. Nelson served for seven years as the associate vice president for development in the Pacific division of the American Red Cross.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
