HomeJob Description: Executive Director, The Authors Guild Foundation

Job Description: Executive Director, The Authors Guild Foundation

Overview

Working closely with the CEO and the Board, the Executive Director will be responsible for planning and executing the Foundation’s fundraising and cultivation programs, organizing the WIT Festival, overseeing educational programs, and supervising Foundation staff. As part of the senior management team, the ED will participate in long-range strategic planning for the Authors Guild Foundation and prepare annual operating plans and budgets.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary Range: $150,000 to $200,000

Responsibilities

Fundraising

The Executive Director will marshal the attributes, resources, and networks of the Authors Guild Foundation to achieve ambitious goals for the annual, endowment, and special project funds through:

  • A major donor cultivation, solicitation, and recognition program;
  • An annual gala including working with the board on finding honorees, presenters, hosts, sponsors, and guests, and overseeing the event with the VP of Programs.
  • Other fundraising and cultivations events, including annual giving campaigns, direct appeals, Guild Nights, Pascal Hall Authors Series, and the WIT Festival.  
  • Major gifts from foundations, and businesses with an abiding interest in literature and authors’ rights, including freedom of speech and copyrights, and empowering U.S. authors
  • Grants from local and national foundations and government agencies

WIT Festival

  • The ED will work with the WIT Committee to plan for the annual ideas festival.
  • Recruit presenters, dinner hosts, sponsors, secure accommodations, caters, and oversee the event with the development staff. 
  • Secure venue or venues for the various programs, receptions, book signings.  
  • Raise funds and sponsorships to support the activities, honoraria, and other expenses. 

Board Relations

  • With the Foundation Board Chair and the CEO, oversee the coordination of the efforts of various Board committees, 
  • Develop Board meeting agendas, and orientation for new board members, and other activities; 
  • Attend board meetings; arrange for fundraising training as needed; 
  • Encourage Board members’ involvement in a range of AGF activities, especially fundraising; 
  • Serve as a primary point of contact for all board members and major donors; handhold where necessary;
  • Provide support to and oversee the work of the Foundation board committees, including the Development. Gala, WIT, Nominating, and other ad hoc committees; chair committees and lead meetings as necessary;
  • Oversee the involvement, identification, training, and support of fundraising volunteers.

Experience and Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree required.
  • Minimum of three years of experience as a senior-level fundraising professional; capital campaign leadership experience a plus.
  • Special event programming and execution necessary. 
  • Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
  • Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.
  • Ability to shift between competing priorities quickly and handle stressful situations.
  • Ability to work well with multiple constituencies. 
  • Work environment is normally in an office in front of a computer screen, but the ability to walk up stairs, lift and carry as much as 40 pounds is sometimes required.

About the Authors Guild Foundation

The Authors Guild Foundation is the charitable and educational arm of the Authors Guild. It advocates for authors’ rights, educates authors across the country in the business of writing, and promotes an understanding of the value of writers.

The Foundation believes that an abundance of free literary expression is essential to our democracy, and that can only be achieved by protecting authors’ constitutional and moral rights to benefit from their work. It is the sole group of its kind dedicated to empowering all U.S. authors. Its founding members included Saul Bellow, John Hersey, Madeleine L’Engle, Sidney Offit, James A. Michener, Toni Morrison, Elizabeth Janeway, and Barbara Tuchman. Please visit https://authorsguild.org/foundation/.

Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@authorsguild.org.