Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) cultural organization located on the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, New York. Since opening in 2006, more than 4 million visitors have experienced our concerts, festivals, educational programs, and museum.
Rooted in a legacy of peace and music, we create extraordinary experiences, expand access to the arts, and steward the Woodstock site for future generations — continuing the work of being a place where peace happens.
This year marks our 20th Anniversary season — a celebration of two decades of artistic impact, cultural leadership, and community connection. Every role at Bethel Woods helps advance our vision of a world made better through the power of music and the arts.
Job Summary
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts seeks a dynamic, strategic, and relationship-driven fundraising leader to serve as Senior Director of Development & Advancement. This executive-level role is responsible for advancing the organization’s philanthropic vision and contributed revenue strategy while helping shape the next era of one of the nation’s most distinctive cultural institutions.
Located on the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival, Bethel Woods is both a globally recognized cultural landmark and a contemporary nonprofit arts organization encompassing a major concert venue, museum, arts education programs, community initiatives, and destination-based experiences. As the organization enters its third decade, the Senior Director of Development & Advancement will play a central role in strengthening donor engagement, expanding philanthropic support, and building long-term institutional sustainability.
Working in close partnership with the CEO, Board of Trustees, Development Committee, and senior leadership team, the Senior Director will lead a comprehensive advancement strategy that integrates major gifts, annual support, membership, sponsorship collaboration, campaign readiness, stewardship, analytics, and audience engagement into a cohesive fundraising ecosystem.
This position is ideal for a forward-thinking advancement professional who combines strong relationship-building instincts with strategic vision, analytical sophistication, and a passion for mission-driven cultural work.
Job Duties
Advancement Strategy & Leadership
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Lead the organization’s overall contributed revenue strategy, including annual giving, major gifts, institutional support, membership, planned giving, campaign readiness, and donor stewardship.
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Develop and execute multi-year advancement plans aligned with organizational priorities and long-term strategic growth.
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Partner with the CEO and Board leadership to cultivate, solicit, and steward high-capacity donors, foundations, corporate partners, and institutional supporters.
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Help foster a culture of philanthropy across the organization by integrating advancement thinking into institutional planning and decision-making.
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Serve as a senior organizational leader contributing to strategic initiatives, cross-departmental collaboration, and institutional growth opportunities.
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Oversee select programmatic initiatives and cultivate strategic partnerships with peer nonprofits, cultural institutions, and community organizations to extend mission impact and expand philanthropic opportunity.
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Personally manage and grow a portfolio of major and principal donors, leading cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of the organization's highest-capacity relationships.
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Develop compelling donor engagement opportunities connected to programming, education, preservation, accessibility, and campus initiatives.
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Identify and close transformational gifts including endowment and legacy giving initiatives.
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Collaborate with the CEO on principal gift strategy and key institutional relationships.
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Oversee donor stewardship systems to ensure thoughtful, timely, and impactful engagement at all levels of giving.
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Set strategy and oversee staff execution of mid-level and annual giving programs, ensuring consistent moves management and pipeline progression toward major-gift readiness.
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Lead the design and execution of signature fundraising events — galas, cultivation gatherings, and donor experiences — that drive both philanthropic revenue and long-term engagement, partnering with programming and operations teams on delivery.
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Partner with the Development Committee and Board of Trustees to strengthen the Board's active fundraising participation and giving.
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Assist in preparing development-related reports, presentations, dashboards, and fundraising updates for leadership and trustees.
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Support board prospecting, relationship mapping, and advancement engagement strategies.
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Provide strategic oversight of the organization’s Membership and Box Suite programs, ensuring exceptional donor and patron experiences, and membership upgrading giving.
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Develop strategies that strengthen audience-to-donor conversion and increase long-term engagement and retention.
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Collaborate with Marketing, Programming, Museum, Education, and Guest Experience teams to align advancement opportunities with institutional storytelling and visitor engagement.
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Evaluate membership and hospitality offerings to maximize both philanthropic and earned revenue potential.
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Ensure the organization maintains strong advancement operations, reporting systems, prospect tracking, and data integrity practices.
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Utilize fundraising analytics, audience insights, and donor data to inform cultivation strategy, portfolio management, and revenue forecasting.
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Oversee the effective use and strategic optimization of Raiser's Edge, Ticketmaster/Archtics integrations, and related advancement systems.
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Develop measurable fundraising benchmarks, dashboards, and performance metrics to track progress against organizational goals.
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Promote operational efficiency and accountability across advancement functions.
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Lead a development team of approximately six staff supporting major gifts, annual giving, membership, and operations.
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Lead, mentor, and develop advancement staff and volunteers while fostering a collaborative, high-performing, and mission-driven team culture.
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Establish clear goals, accountability structures, and professional development opportunities for team members.
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Encourage innovation, strategic thinking, and proactive donor engagement practices throughout the department.
Job Requirements
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Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or CFRE designation preferred.
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Minimum of 7–10 years of progressively responsible fundraising and advancement leadership experience, preferably within nonprofit arts, cultural, educational, or mission-driven organizations.
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Demonstrated success in major gift cultivation, donor relationship management, and contributed revenue growth.
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Strong strategic planning, organizational leadership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
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Experience working with Boards of Trustees, fundraising committees, and senior leadership teams.
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Exceptional interpersonal, written, and verbal communication abilities.
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Experience utilizing fundraising databases, CRM systems, and analytics platforms to drive fundraising strategy and operational effectiveness.
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Financial literacy sufficient to collaborate on departmental budgets, prepare fundraising financial reports, and translate donor and fundraising analytics into goal-setting and revenue strategy.
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Ability to balance strategic leadership with operational execution in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment.
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Evening and weekend availability required based on events, donor engagement activities, and organizational needs.
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Passion for arts, culture, education, and community engagement.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate:
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Sophisticated relationship-building and donor engagement skills.
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Executive presence and institutional leadership capability.
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Strategic curiosity and analytical thinking.
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Entrepreneurial mindset and comfort with innovation.
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Appreciation for the power of arts and culture to create community impact.
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Ability to inspire confidence among donors, trustees, staff, artists, and community stakeholders.
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A collaborative leadership style grounded in accountability, emotional intelligence, and mission alignment.
Compensation may vary depending on experience, demonstrated fundraising success, organizational leadership capability and ultimate scope of responsibilities.
