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MIT Museum

Development Officer

Position Overview:

The MIT Museum Development Officer is directly responsible for raising funds to support the Museum’s mission: making research and innovation accessible to all. The Museum currently relies on philanthropic gifts for 30% of its annual operating budget. With the recent arrival of the new Museum Director, the Museum envisions a significant fundraising effort in FY26 to garner support for a new vision and strategic plan. The Development Officer is primarily responsible for major gift fundraising to support Exhibitions, Collections needs, Engagement programs, and the Museum operating budget, while supervising staff that manage a Corporate Membership program, and development operations which include an annual appeal, board engagement, and grant fundraising.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Direction and Prospect Development (30%):

  • Collaborate closely with the Director, Deputy Director, and Finance Officer to envision, develop, and implement a robust fundraising infrastructure to support the Museum's mission, including creating and strengthening processes, building out a strategic development plan, growing the pipeline, and mapping pipeline to travel and events.

  • Strengthen relationships and collaborations between the Museum and the Office of Resource Development and the MIT Alumni Association, along with colleagues across the Institute, through a commitment to process, transparency, and attention to detail.

  • Develop and maintain a portfolio of prospects and move these individuals, foundations, and corporations through the donor engagement process by implementing cultivation and stewardship strategies to advance the Museum’s fundraising needs.

  • Identify and research prospective donors; grow and help manage the Museum’s pipeline of prospective donors, in accordance with MIT due diligence policies.

  • Strategically plan, develop, and oversee cultivation activities with donors, prospective donors, and corporate/foundation representatives, including visits to the Museum and special events.

  • Prepare written correspondence and briefing materials, as needed, to support the efforts of the Director and senior Museum staff; when appropriate, provide similar support to the Vice Provost, Arts and members of the Museum’s Board of Advisors as they help to fundraise for the Museum.

  • Evaluate giving trends and recommend targeted strategies for increasing engagement and financial support.


Major Gifts Portfolio Management (50%):

  • Strategically orchestrate meetings and other interactions between the Director or other Museum staff with existing donors and corporate partners, as well as new prospects, with the goal of six- and seven-figure gift commitments; maximize the director’s travel to engage with prospective donors and partners.

  • Monitor the exhibition calendar as well as other Exhibition, Collection and Engagement department plans to proactively identify opportunities of potential interest to donors and prospective donors.

  • Build the Museum’s $25 million endowment to provide a higher level of sustained support.

  • Work closely with the Director on fundraising and volunteer engagement for the MIT Museum Advisory Board with the MIT Museum Board Chair.

  • Serve as an ex-officio member of the MIT Museum Advisory Board, presenting on fundraising efforts, progress and goals. Selectively assist in the recruitment of new members.

  • Collaborate closely with the Recording Secretary's Office on gift designation and accounting and serve as the primary liaison for the Museum with the RSO.


Operations and Team management (20%):

  • Manage major development projects and initiatives such as: MIT Museum donor signage, donor crediting and the annual corporate giving program.

  • Review and approve correspondence with donors and foundations including annual appeals, annual reports, proposals and gift acknowledgements.

  • Provide guidance, mentorship, and performance feedback to team members. Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence within the team. Set ambitious annual targets for team members and coach staff to achieve them. The Development Officer manages:

    • The Development Coordinator for Corporate Relations who helps devise, implement and oversee an annual Corporate MembershipProgram, with a focus on gifts in the four and five-figure range. The Corporate Relations Coordinator is responsible for identifying, soliciting and stewarding these donors, as well as helping to build and expand the funding base, all under the direction of the Development Officer, Director of Development for the Arts, and MIT Museum leadership.

    • The Development Coordinator, Operations is focused on the daily development operations of the museum, such as gift tracking, gift acknowledgements, data recording, prospect tracking, gift processing, presentation preparation and overall development support for the Development Officer, Director of Development for the Arts, and MIT Museum Director.

  • Ensure work is appropriately documented within the Museum’s CRM and in the MIT fundraising database of record.

  • Collaborate with the communications team to ensure effective annual appeal or other relevant messaging/materials including high-level proposals.

  • Represent the organization at fundraising events and meetings.

  • Other duties as assigned, including those at a lower level if required.


Supervision Received:

This position will report to the MIT Museum Director and will work collaboratively with the senior management team as well as development colleagues in the Vice Provost, Arts’ office and central Resource Development. This position will receive guidance and some oversight from the Director of Development for the Arts in the Vice Provost, Arts’ office, a position that is currently vacant. The Director of Development for the Arts will provide input into the MIT Museum Development Officer’s annual review.

Supervision Exercised:

This position will supervise one Development Coordinator, Operations and one Development Coordinator, Corporate Relations. Additional supervision of outside vendors, such as a contract grant writer, may be required.

Qualifications & Skills:

REQUIRED: bachelor’s degree; five years’ direct fundraising experience, preferably within a museum, cultural institution, or higher education organization; two years’ experience managing a team, setting annual staff goals, and monitoring for performance; excellent interpersonal, organizational, project management, time management, and written and oral communication skills; entrepreneurial approach to developing a prospect pool; ability to manage multiple projects with confidentiality and discretion; high-level computer proficiency, including with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

PREFERRED: proven record of successful cultivation and solicitation of six-figure+ gifts; familiarity with CRMs software, particularly HubSpot; prior MIT experience; interest in science, innovation, technology and/or art.

Travel required ~20% of the time, both regionally and out of state.

Must be able to work evening and occasional weekend hours with some advance notice.


To apply, please visit the MIT Career Portal. This position is an MIT Pay Scale of 10.