HOURS

Reading Room & Genealogy Institute
Mon-Thurs: 9:30am-4:30pm

Exhibit Spaces
Mon-Wed: 9:30am-4:30pm
Thurs: 9:30am-8pm
Fri: 10am-3pm
Sat: Closed
Sun: 11am-5pm

Make sure to check our holiday closures prior to visiting.

Last entry to the Center for Jewish History exhibition spaces is 30 minutes before closing.

Employment Opportunities

The Center for Jewish History is home to five partners—American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The partner collections total more than five miles of archival material and span nearly a thousand years of history. When the Center opened its doors as the new "Library of Congress of the Jewish people," it made a commitment to preserve the treasures that live within its walls and make them accessible to scholars, students, and diverse audiences. The Center relies on philanthropic support to do this work.

The Center is currently looking to fill the following position/s:

Center for Jewish History seeks the appointment of a Chief Advancement Officer to help fulfill the mission to preserve the world's largest archive on Jewish history and culture and mobilize it in the service of public history. 

Reporting to Rio Daniel, CEO, the CAO create and oversee a comprehensive development effort inclusive of major gifts, planned gifts, annual fund, institutional giving, corporate sponsorship, membership, donor relations, government support, and special events. The CAO will inspire and lead a team of five in the Development department, which includes management of communications/marketing, which the Center sees as intrinsic to development. The CAO will be entrepreneurial, well-versed in donor portfolio management, and an enthusiastic advancement partner to the CEO, President, Vice President, and Board. A key priority of the incoming CAO will be to raise philanthropic support from individual donors.

In its 23-year history, the Center for Jewish History has raised $250M and is now debt free and mortgage free. The Center has a $13M endowment and last year development raised approximately $5M. The goal for 2023 is $8M. The Center hosts one signature gala event, which raises approximately $500,000-1.0M annually.

The CAO will set high standards and lead, develop, and direct a comprehensive and integrated fund development and communication plan to secure unrestricted and restricted contributed income to advance the vision, mission, strategic plan, and annual goals of the Center for Jewish History.

The salary range for this position is $175,000 – $200,000.

Responsibilities

  • Motivate, mentor, and manage a team of five.
  • Serve at the Chief fundraiser for the Center for Jewish History.
  • Maintain a personal portfolio of major donors. Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward individual gifts, personally raising $3M annually.
  • Oversee all fund development programs to raise $8M in coordination with others, taking on the responsibility to create or revise approaches as necessary. Programs to include major gifts, planned giving, annual fund (direct mail and affinity group strategies), online giving, special events, cause related marketing, institutional giving, corporate giving, grants (including matching opportunities), and an upcoming capital campaign.
  • Monitor philanthropic trends and develop short- and long-term fundraising strategies aimed at maximizing contributed income from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies, as appropriate.
  • Create a vision to increase philanthropic support to $10M.
  • Work closely with the President, CEO, Vice President, Board of Directors, and department heads to assess fundraising needs as determined by business plan goals, operating needs, and annual plan priorities.
  • With the President, CEO, and Vice President, prepare the annual income plan for unrestricted and temporarily restricted funds; collaborate to develop annual fundraising budgets; prepare and monitor income projections, progress reports, and long-range/business plan forecasts.
  • Keep all fundraising data management systems and fundraising records up to date.
  • Manage the Marketing and Communications Department to develop and publish fundraising-related materials (annual report, newsletters, brochures, website content). Ensure effective communications around activities including special events, honorees and spokespersons, and cultivation and marketing opportunities. Ensure that all communications are driven to support the development function.

Required Qualifications

  • Seven or more years of experience, or equivalent, in diversified fundraising with demonstrated experience in strategic philanthropy, individual and major gift solicitation, donor stewardship, long-range fund development planning, and proposal development and presentation.
  • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
  • Exceptional interpersonal skills. Keen observer of others, especially donors, with the ability to establish good rapport quickly and remember details.
  • Strong leadership and collaboration skills, with the ability to create and sustain strong working relationships with donors, Board members, and staff.
  • Demonstrated success in a leadership role.
  • Ability to serve as an articulate and compelling spokesperson for the Center, with a clear understanding of and interest in our mission.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Exceptional organizational skills.
  • Interest in Jewish history.
  • Experience in museums, libraries, archives, or similar organizations preferred.

For more information, please visit: boyden.com.

The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

Review of applications will begin immediately.  To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to Wendy Wilsker, at wwilsker@boyden.com. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. No phone calls please.

Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, the Institutional Giving Officer will join a team of five advancement professionals who are part of the intentional and important effort to invigorate and elevate philanthropy for the Center for Jewish History.

The Institutional Giving Officer will play a key role in expanding the Center’s overall fundraising program by taking the lead on expanding corporate sponsorship at the Center and managing a distinct portfolio of private foundations. Equal parts research, coordination, and strategy, this role is ideal for an innovator seeking a place to grow and build their own profile as an outstanding fundraiser in the nonprofit arena while making a tremendous impact for an organization with a high-stakes mission and ambitious plans for the future.

In its 23-year history, the Center for Jewish History has raised $250M and is debt free and mortgage free. The Center has a $13M endowment. Last year, development raised approximately $5M. The overall philanthropic goal for 2023 is to raise $8.3M, with a $2M goal for institutional giving.

This position is based at the Center for Jewish History on 16th Street in New York City. The work can be partially hybrid, but regular onsite time is required.

The salary range for this position is $75,000 - $100,000.

Responsibilities

  • Expand the Center’s institutional giving program; grow and manage the Center’s corporate sponsorship program.
  • Proactively identify, research, and evaluate foundation and corporate institutional giving opportunities. Prioritize institutional giving opportunities for Center leadership based on advancement’s strategic plans.
  • Manage a distinct portfolio of private foundations that give between $5,000 and $25,000 annually, including establishing and maintaining strong relationships with foundation contacts; ensuring that the Center maintains good contact and rapport; inviting relevant institutional representatives to special events; supporting the Center’s leadership team with all meetings, pitches, and solicitations; scheduling and preparing meetings as needed for Center leadership; writing letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports in coordination with other Center staff; tracking all submissions and awards; and ensuring appropriate and timely stewardship.
  • Coordinate corporate sponsorships and this portfolio of foundations with all other fundraising activities, especially special events.
  • Maintain relevant donor data in donor management database Raiser’s Edge.
  • Work collaboratively with the Chief Advancement Officer and leadership team on high-level institutional gifts (over $25,000).
  • Contribute to the development team’s overall strategy for fundraising.
  • Work collaboratively with the Senior Advisor for Grants and Strategy on complex proposals and reports as necessary; coordinate on matching opportunities for major grants.
  • Support the Chief Advancement Officer and Center’s leadership team (Chief Executive Officer, President, and Vice President) with other special fundraising projects as needed.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Skills

  • The ideal Institutional Giving Officer candidate will be an excellent communicator and people person with a passion for connecting donors with meaningful causes.
  • Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree welcome.                               
  • Proven experience in securing philanthropic gifts in the non-profit, higher education, cultural heritage, or related sectors. Experience in a library, archive, museum, or similar research institute a plus.
  • Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to connect easily and professionally with other people and remember details.
  • Strong collaboration skills.
  • Close attention to detail.
  • Ability to collect and analyze information about a donor, foundation, or corporation and match donor interests to fundraising opportunities at the Center.
  • Ability to write clearly and persuasively: effective oral and written communication with all stakeholders including donors, administrators, and staff.
  • Ability to collect, synthesize, and analyze data about the Center as an institution and effectively articulate both its mission and its impact.
  • Ability to understand, create, and update budgets for proposals and reports.
  • Ability to multi-task and be the project manager on several institutional giving proposals and reports simultaneously.
  • Must be able to manage and deliver multiple (and often concurrent) internal and external deadlines.
  • Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and web search tools.
  • Ability to search and update data in a donor management database (Raiser’s Edge).
  • Comfort with electronic systems, portals, and databases.
  • Comfort with in-person and virtual meetings.
  • Interest in Jewish history, archives, libraries, and/or the humanities.

For more information, please visit: boyden.com.

The Center for Jewish History is committed to diversity and inclusion. Qualified individuals who bring diverse perspectives to the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

Review of applications will begin immediately.  To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to Lisa Vuona, at lvuona@boyden.com. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. No phone calls please.

Health Coverage at the Center

Legal Compliance: This link leads to the machine-readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data.