Job of The Week: Assistant Director of Development for the Wharton Center

This week, MSU Human Resources is featuring a job posting as an Assistant Director of Development/Development Officer I at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts (job posting 1009295). If you have a passion for the arts, success in fundraising, and are interested in making philanthropic connections, this may be the role for you. 

The Wharton Center for Performing Arts, celebrating its 42nd season, was founded with the intent to enrich the lives of Michigan residents through art, music, and entertainment. The Wharton Center engages the community through dynamic programming, outreach, and education, and has a mission of making life more meaningful through experiencing performing arts. 

In this position, you will focus on significant contact with prospects whose philanthropic capacity is between $10,000 and $100,000 and more. Additionally, you will manage a portfolio of 80 major donor prospects and average 12 to 15 strategic contacts per month. Your position will help result in greater engagement and movement toward major gift solicitation at an expected rate of 2 to 3 solicitations per month. You will work in coordination with University Advancement and tend to the needs of the Wharton Center verbally and in writing to better facilitate giving, enhance cross-collaboration amongst departments at Wharton Center and within Michigan State University, and maintain accurate donor/prospect records in the Ascend system. As Assistant Director, you will act as a public goodwill ambassador for MSU and the Wharton Center, prepare annual fundraising goals, and attend workshops and seminars to enhance professional development. Find a complete list of job duties on the MSU Careers website.

The education, experience, and skills required for this role include a degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, or Business, and one to three years of related work experience in professional fundraising, higher education fundraising, marketing, or similar. 

Desired qualifications include a strong ability to work collaboratively and individually, a demonstrated track record of financial development, excellent written and verbal skills, and strong interpersonal skills. You should also be available to manage some travel and work some nights and weekends as performance and donor schedules change throughout the events season. 

Learn more about the Wharton Center for Performing Arts here. To learn more about this position or apply, please visit the MSU Careers website. Applications require a resume and cover letter and should be submitted by April 21.

MSU Winter Events and Activities Round-Up

Staying warm this winter doesn’t have to mean sitting at home by the fire. Improve your health, be a lifelong learner and go see something new with these winter events and activities! 

Healthy Living

Outdoor Exploration

  • The winter months have much more flora and fauna to explore than you might think, and it is all worth writing about. The W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Bird Sanctuary has Zoom classes that teach you and your family about nature journaling and how to blend art and science! Register for one or all of the four classes in the series here.
  • The City of East Lansing’s longest walking trail is open for the winter! Bundle up and visit the Northern Tier Trail for almost five miles of trail and end your adventure in the Abbott Road Park with a snowball fight or an igloo building contest.

Learning

  • The February and March shows at the Abrams Planetarium have been announced and registration is now open. This month, check out Skywatchers of Africa and SkyTellers and next month you can catch Planet Nine: The Search is On and In my Backyard. 
  • MSU HR is always updating the online resources from Organization and Professional Development, so you can take a course on anything from Communication to Professional Development from the warmth of your own home. Check out the full list of course offerings here.

Performance and Art

  • The Broad Art Museum is open and always free to the public. Make a reservation online and visit to see the new exhibitions for 2022 including a feature by Beverly Fishman for Broad’s 10th Anniversary.
  • The Wharton Center is back and a great place to escape the cold with Broadway shows and incredible live performances including the long-anticipated run of Hamilton between March 29 and April 10, 2022. Buy tickets or view their upcoming shows here.

Along with staying warm this winter, stay safe by following all mask mandates on and around MSU’s campus and get your booster vaccine if you have not yet. Enjoy the winter wonderland, Spartans!

Job of the Week – Finance Assistant

This week’s job of the week is a Finance Assistant (#625730) for Performing Arts Facilities and Programs. This position is seeking an individual to assist the Director of Finance with daily actions to ensure compliance with the Wharton Center policy and procedures.

The responsibilities for this role include assisting with accounting and payroll responsibilities such as temp/on-call payroll processing, sales revenue deposits, processing accounts payable and receivable, and auditing payroll transactions. Additional responsibilities of this role include organizing monthly packets, printing financial reports for supervisor review, and initiating and processing travel reimbursements and internal billings.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired through a high school education; one to three years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in accounting, bookkeeping, records maintenance and/or experience in spreadsheet, word processing, and/or database software. The job may require knowledge of technical or medical terminology and/or technical training related to the field of employment; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

For more details on the responsibilities of this position, and to view all our current postings, visit careers.msu.edu. Internal applicants should access postings through the Careers @ MSU tile in the EBS Portal.