Cultural attraction director of development job description
A cultural attraction director of development leads fundraising for a nonprofit zoo, aquarium, museum or garden. The director runs major gifts, grants, sponsors, membership and the gala. Every donor gets a thank-you, a proper receipt and a look at what the gift paid for.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a Director of Development to lead fundraising for our [zoo, aquarium, museum, or garden]. You write the annual fundraising plan, manage a group of major donors, oversee grants and membership, and see that every donor is thanked and told what their gift did. You work closely with the CEO and board on major gifts.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Write and run the annual fundraising plan across major gifts, the annual fund, grants, sponsorships, events, and membership.
Manage a group of major donors and prospects, and plan visits, tours, and asks with the CEO and board members.
Oversee grant proposals and reports to foundations, companies, and government funders, with budgets checked by the CFO.
Follow your gift acceptance policy and put gift agreements in writing for restricted, named, and planned gifts.
Steward donors with prompt thank-you letters and receipts, impact reports, naming recognition, and behind-the-scenes visits.
Supervise the Membership Coordinator, and plan the gala and donor events with the Events and Rentals Coordinator.
Keep the donor database clean and reconcile gifts with finance each month.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Call, email, or meet donors and prospects to set visits, thank them, or follow up on a proposal.
Write or edit a grant proposal, grant report, or donor letter.
Review new gifts and pledges, approve acknowledgments, and flag restricted gifts for finance.
Plan donor tours with [curators, keepers, or educators] so donors see the work their gifts pay for.
Prepare fundraising reports for the CEO and the board's development committee.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Contributed revenue against goal: [your target].
Donor retention rate: [your target].
Major gift visits and asks: [your target].
Grant proposals funded: [your target].
Gift acknowledgments sent on time: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
[5+] years of nonprofit fundraising, including major gifts and grants.
Experience with a donor database such as [Raiser's Edge, Tessitura, or your system].
Strong writing for proposals, reports, and donor letters.
Knows the rules for donor receipts, quid pro quo disclosures, and restricted gifts.
6. Preferred Experience
Fundraising experience at a zoo, aquarium, museum, garden, or historic site.
Has worked on a capital campaign.
Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential.
Experience with planned giving and corporate sponsorships.
7. Physical Requirements
Office work plus walking donor tours across the grounds or galleries.
Carry event materials up to [25] pounds and stand through evening events.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time, on site, with local travel to donor and funder meetings.
Evening and weekend donor events, including the annual gala.
Heavy deadline weeks around grant due dates and year-end giving.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new director of development gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes fundraising at a cultural attraction different
Here one supporter may be a member, a ticket buyer, a sponsor's contact and a gala guest. Each of those roles comes with its own tax rules, and the director keeps them straight.
Gala tickets need a value on them
Some payments are part gift, part purchase, like a gala ticket that includes dinner. When one of those is more than 75 dollars, you owe the donor a written statement. It says only the amount above the value of what they got is deductible, and it gives a good-faith estimate of that value. For any single gift of 250 dollars or more, the donor can't take a deduction without your written receipt saying whether they got anything back. Source: IRS Publication 1771: Charitable contributions, substantiation and disclosure requirements.
Sponsor signs follow tax rules
Companies like their names on exhibits, camps and concerts. If the sign only names the sponsor and shows its logo, the payment is a qualified sponsorship and isn't subject to unrelated business income tax. Add prices, comparisons such as "the best bank in town", an endorsement or a push to buy, and it becomes advertising, which can be taxed. Put the sign wording in the sponsor agreement. Source: IRS Publication 598: Tax on unrelated business income of exempt organizations.
Register before you ask in other states
Many states make a charity register with a state office before it asks their residents for money. In some states, a city or county wants its own filing too. An online appeal, or a mailing to members who have moved away, can reach people in states where you haven't registered. Check each state's rules before a campaign goes out, and keep the renewal dates on the calendar. Source: IRS: Charitable solicitation, state requirements.
Donors want to see the work
Many gifts here start with a walk behind the scenes: a keeper at the otter pool, a curator opening a storage drawer, a gardener in the greenhouse. The director plans those visits with the staff who lead them. The visits fit around animal care and collection rules, so a tour never pulls a keeper from a feeding or takes a guest where they shouldn't go.
Donor names stay private unless they agree
Your Form 990 is open to the public, but a charity that isn't a private foundation doesn't have to show the public its donors' names and addresses. Donors who give big but want no attention can stay off the donor wall and out of the annual report. Write naming rights, credit lines and any wish to stay anonymous into each gift agreement. Source: IRS: Public disclosure and availability of exempt organization returns.
How much cultural attraction directors of development make
The closest BLS group for cultural attraction directors of development is fundraising managers. Fundraising managers who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $116,040 a year ($55.79 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $125,470 median for fundraising managers in all industries. About 1,140 of the 38,810 fundraising managers in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Salary, sometimes with a bonus for goals set in advance with the CEO, rather than a cut of the money raised.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$116,040$116,040 median Middle half $90,830–$159,760 10th–90th $69,640–$210,120
All industries
$125,470$125,470 median Middle half $95,970–$169,990 10th–90th $75,130–$222,350
$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k$250k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$69,640
$90,830
$116,040
$159,760
$210,120
All industries
$75,130
$95,970
$125,470
$169,990
$222,350
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has carried a list of major donors and brought gifts to a close
Writes grant proposals and reports that funders renew
Keeps a donor database clean enough that finance and development match every month
Knows the receipt rules for gifts, gala tickets and sponsorships
Prepares the CEO and board members for donor visits and keeps them on schedule
Teach these on the job
Your collection or animal stories and which staff tell them best
Your gift acceptance policy and naming rules
Your donor database and gift coding
The history of your top donors and past campaigns
How your membership levels, renewals and upgrades work
Fundraising here runs on a donor database such as Raiser's Edge NXT, Tessitura or Altru, often tied to ticketing and membership so a member's visits and gifts sit in one record. Add a grant calendar, a prospect research tool and the gala's auction and ticket platform, and that is most of the kit.
Cultural attraction director of development interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Base each target on your giving history and this year's campaign plans, agree it with the CEO, and review progress monthly with the board's development committee.
Contributed revenue against goal
Gifts, grants and sponsorships against the year's goal, by source, from the donor database matched to finance each month. Report pledges and cash on separate lines so a big multiyear promise doesn't make one year look full.
Donor retention rate
Donors who gave last year and gave again this year, divided by last year's donors. Track members and major donors on their own, since they renew for different reasons.
Major gift visits and asks
Visits and formal asks logged in the donor database for each person who carries major donors, including the CEO and board members. Review the list with the CEO every month.
Grant proposals funded
Proposals funded out of those submitted, by funder type: foundation, company and government. Note the size of each award and why any proposal was turned down.
Gift acknowledgments sent on time
Days from a gift's arrival to the thank-you letter and receipt, from database dates. Spot-check receipts each month for the right wording on gifts that came with tickets or benefits.
Career path
Membership CoordinatorRuns renewals and learns who the site's most loyal supporters are.
Major gifts officerCarries a group of donors and makes the asks.
Director of DevelopmentLeads all fundraising for the CEO and the board.
Vice president of advancementLeads fundraising, membership and often marketing at a larger institution.
Should a director of development work on commission?
No. The Association of Fundraising Professionals' ethics code, last amended in 2024, tells members to turn down commissions, finder's fees and pay based on a share of the money raised. A bonus or merit raise is fine if it follows your usual pay practice, the board has approved the policy, and it isn't figured from the gifts raised. Commission can also push a fundraiser toward gifts that don't fit the mission.
How much does a cultural attraction director of development make?
Fundraising managers who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $116,040 a year ($55.79 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $90,830 and $159,760 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Is a CFRE credential required?
No. It's a nice-to-have in the template. CFRE stands for Certified Fund Raising Executive. To earn it, a fundraiser shows continuing education, months of work as a professional fundraiser and results such as money raised, then passes an exam, and must recertify every three years. It shows the candidate has done the work; it doesn't replace checking their gift record.
When does a cultural attraction need a capital campaign?
When the board approves a big project, like a new exhibit, a building or a major repair, that the yearly budget can't cover. Campaigns often start with a quiet phase, when the board and top donors give first, before the public launch. The director runs the plan, the gift records and the pledge reminders, while the CEO and board chair make the biggest asks.
How does a director of development work with the board?
Board members open doors, host events and give. The director gets them ready for each visit with a short brief on the donor, the ask and the project, then handles the follow-up. Expect to staff the board's development committee and report on giving at every board meeting.
