Development Manager - Out of the Box Theatrics

Out of the Box Theatrics

Development Manager

• Position: Development Manager
• Reports to: Founding Producing Artistic Director
• Status: Full-time, exempt
• Start date: As soon as possible
• Location: St. Luke’s Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, New York, NY (primarily in person, with some evening and weekend performances)
• Salary: $80,000 to $90,000, commensurate with experience

About Out of the Box Theatrics

Out of the Box Theatrics is an Off-Broadway nonprofit theater company founded in 2016 and based at St. Luke’s Theatre on West 46th Street, where it also programs The Loft upstairs. The company is artist-centered and develops new work by artists from underrepresented communities, carrying a piece from a first cold reading through a full production. Its season runs in four stages: The Edit, a cold-reading series; Building the Box, a workshop program; the Loft Season of developmental productions; and two fully produced Mainstage shows each year. In 2025 the company welcomed 18,157 audience members and worked with 118 artists.

Accessibility runs through every part of the company. Out of the Box casts disabled and neurodivergent artists, is expanding captioning, assisted listening, ASL-interpreted and audio-described performances, and is planning accessibility improvements to the theater itself, including an accessible entrance, restrooms and backstage spaces.

The Role

The Development Manager is the company’s first dedicated fundraising hire and will build its contributed revenue program across individual donors, foundations, government and corporate partners. Most of the company’s contributed revenue comes from donors who first gave to a specific production. This role turns those relationships into lasting support for the company and its artists, builds a pipeline of institutional funders, and grows a broader base of donors from an audience of more than 18,000 people a year.

The position centers on proactive outreach and on running the processes that keep fundraising moving every week: prospect lists, cultivation plans, the grants calendar, follow-up, acknowledgments and clean records. The Development Manager works closely with the Founding Producing Artistic Director, who leads major gift solicitations, and with the Board of Directors.

Key Responsibilities

Individual giving and donor outreach (35%)

• Manage a portfolio of current, lapsed and prospective donors, with a documented next step, owner and timeline for each.
• Initiate outreach every week by email, phone and personal note, and invite prospects to readings, performances and tours of St. Luke’s Theatre before any ask.
• Match each donor to the program or initiative that fits their interests, whether new play development, a specific artist, or accessible performances, and prepare the Founding Producing Artistic Director and board members for each solicitation.
• Move production-specific donors toward recurring, named support of the company, such as underwriting an accessible performance or a developmental workshop.
• Run the year-end appeal and Giving Tuesday, and launch and grow a monthly giving program for the company’s audience.

Institutional giving and grants (20%)

• Own the grants calendar for foundation, government and corporate funders, including NYSCA and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and map each deadline to the season.
• Write and submit letters of inquiry, proposals and grant reports, and prepare the program budgets and outcome data each one requires.
• Build funder relationships before submission through calls, site visits and invitations to readings and performances, and keep every funder informed between grant cycles.

Stewardship and donor communications (15%)

• Acknowledge every gift promptly and personally, and set a consistent acknowledgment standard for gifts at each level.
• Keep donors close to the work between asks through artist updates, rehearsal visits, opening nights and impact reports.
• Coordinate curtain-speech appeals and in-theater giving across the season with the production team.

Database, process and reporting (15%)

• Own the donor database and keep gift records accurate, consolidated and free of duplicates across the company’s ticketing and giving platforms.
• Run the moves management system and the development calendar, and keep every open item on schedule.
• Produce a monthly report on pipeline, revenue by source against goal, and donor retention for the Founding Producing Artistic Director and the board.

Events, benefit and board partnership (15%)

• Manage the fundraising side of the annual benefit and cultivation events, including invitations, sponsorship and ticket follow-up, guest lists and post-event outreach.
• Make sure every guest at a company event receives a personal follow-up and a clear next step.
• Support board members in opening their networks: prepare introduction requests, track board giving and outreach, and staff development discussions at board meetings.

First Ninety Days

• By day 30: Learn the company’s season, artists and programs, meet every top donor and every board member, and take ownership of the grants calendar.
• By day 60: Take full ownership of the donor database and the moves management system, with a clear next step logged for every active prospect and funder.
• By day 90: Carry a full outreach portfolio, manage proposals and reports through submission, run the gift acknowledgment process end to end, and lead donor follow-up from the season’s benefit and productions.

Qualifications

• Three to five years of nonprofit fundraising experience, with direct responsibility for individual donors and a record of successful grant proposals. Experience in theater or the performing arts is a strong plus.
• A track record of building donor relationships through personal outreach, and comfort picking up the phone and asking for a meeting.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with consistent follow-through across many relationships at once.
• Clear, persuasive writing for proposals, donor letters, emails and appeals.
• Working knowledge of a donor database or CRM. Experience with Ludus, Pledge, DonorBox or AudienceView is helpful.
• A commitment to accessibility and to the work of artists from underrepresented communities.
• Availability for some evening and weekend performances and events.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $80,000 to $90,000, commensurate with experience. The position includes complimentary tickets to company productions and access to the company’s rehearsals, readings and workshops.

Hudson Ferris is conducting this search on behalf of Out of the Box Theatrics.

Out of the Box Theatrics is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds, including disabled and neurodivergent candidates. Reasonable accommodations are available at every stage of the hiring process; please let us know what you need when you apply.