Recess is Hiring
Resource Mobilization Lead
About the Position
Recess seeks an experienced, dedicated cultural arts worker to partner with the Co-Directors to implement creative strategies for fundraising and sustainable growth. This role is rooted in relationship-building, storytelling, project management, and event planning, centered on cultivating authentic, values-aligned connections with individual donors and institutional funders. This position is ideal for a detail-oriented, relational, and mission-driven professional who thrives at the intersection of arts administration, community base building, and strategic execution. Reporting to the Co-Directors, this role enables Recess to creatively sustain an organizational budget of $2M and grow community networks in alignment with its abolitionist and artist-centered mission. The Resource Mobilization Lead will serve as a key member of the Recess team, contributing to overall institutional growth and financial health, providing strategic direction in deepening donor relationships and resource acquisition.
About Recess
Recess believes in artists and youth as visionaries within an ecosystem of care and accountability. We, therefore, work with artists, system-impacted individuals, and community partners to continually foster a holistic effort toward fairness and wellness across our organization. By pursuing new models internally (staff, operations, board governance) as well as externally (programs, fundraising, communications) we can realize our mission with integrity and proliferate this ethos of care that constantly strives toward the abolition of interlocked systems of harm.
Recess partners with artists, youth, writers, and their chosen publics to create transformative cultural experiences. Our programs welcome radical thinkers to imagine and shape networks of resilience and safety. By challenging dominant narratives and activating new forms of creative production, Recess defines and advances the possibilities of contemporary art. Recess is free and open to the public to serve as a meeting place to generate art, ideas and actions.
Responsibilities
Individual Donor Engagement
- Implement strategies for cultivating and stewarding individual donors, with an emphasis on trust and relationship-building across our community of supporters
- Oversee the individual giving program and initiatives that reach an abundantly diverse community of supporters, including planning engagement opportunities, managing communications, and tracking participation, utilizing a donor database (Kindful)
- Support the Co-Directors in engaging the Board of Directors and identifying prospective supporters, major gifts, and a community of advocates across our Session, Assembly and Critical Writing programs
- Steward dynamic external community partnerships and relationships with a focus on non-monetary resource exchanges Craft monthly donor newsletters and tailored impact updates year-round
Grants Management
- Write, edit and submit compelling grant proposal narratives, reports, and budgets that reflect Recess’s mission, vision, and programmatic impact. As needed, identify and manage contractual grantwriters
- In conjunction with the Co-Directors, creatively strategize and develop short and long-term funding goals and initiatives
- Maintain the grants calendar and ensure timely submissions, renewals, and reporting
- Research and identify new institutional funding opportunities
- Collate internal and external funding reports, data, and presentations on a quarterly basis
- Maintain active, values-driven communication with program officers and institutional partners
Events and Community Engagement
- Plan and execute donor-facing events — cultivation gatherings, Giving Circle events, and special programming — ensuring accessibility, care, and alignment with organizational values
- Manage logistics for donor and community events, including invitations, space planning, program production, and follow-up communications
- Support rental and community partnerships for the Recess space
- Research and implement non-monetary resource sharing, including mutual-aid and skill exchanges that amplifies our values and abolitionist approach
Operational and Team Collaboration
- Show up each day ready to do your best within an environment that will invest in your professional growth and greater well-being
- Actively contribute to a culture of mutual respect, care and accountability, working towards an abolitionist horizon
- Work collaboratively and intentionally with colleagues to build bonds and support one another towards individual and collective success, including ongoing open communication, self-reflecting and offering feedback to/with each other
- Along with the rest of the staff, care for our physical space, programs, and people by maintaining a clean space stocked with necessary supplies, provide building and event support, and facilitate harm-reduction measures for collective safety
- Actively participate in weekly staff meetings, monthly group ombuds, and periodic trainings, retreats, workshops, and other internal visioning/workings that enact Recess values
Requirements
- Passion for art, social justice, economic sustainability, and innovative strategies
- Commitment to–and/or willingness to learn–abolition and community based safety
- At least 3+ years of individual and institutional fundraising experience in a non-profit
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with at least 3+ years of grant writing experience
- Familiarity with economic and racial justice centered approaches to resource mobilization, including Community-Centric Fundraising principles and Just Transition framework
- Strong project management skills with proven track record of meeting deadlines and managing multiple workflows and relationships
- Flexibility and confidence in managing projects independently and with others
- Ability to thrive in both collaborative and independent work environments, including multitasking, problem solving, and prioritizing effectively
- Strong working knowledge of google suite; experience using Kindful, Bloomerang, or other similar donor database; experience with Slack or similar communication platforms
- Familiarity with New York City arts and donor communities
Reports to Co-Directors
—utilizing an abolitionist framework to embed shared power in our internal decision-making
Salary & Benefits: Recess two-tier universal salary at 90k; full health, dental, vision benefits (covered at 100% for individual); optional 401K plan; professional development and care & capacity funds; paid time off including vacation, holidays, and breaks
Position Start Date: November 2025
Schedule: Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm or 11am-6pm; hybrid work week with up to 2 days remote (Monday and Tuesday remote and Wednesday-Friday in person at Recess); Saturday shifts 1x a month; occasional events and programs outside regular hours
Application Instructions: Submit a cover letter, resume, and a writing sample (your text should illustrate your narration and storytelling style, via a snippet of a successful grant proposal or another form of writing material) as a combined pdf by email to employment@recessart.org with the subject line “Resource Mobilization Lead at Recess”
Application Timeline & Selection Process: October 8 | Applications are due October | Interviews (virtual & in person) Early November | Offer & Close Hiring Process
Recess is an equal opportunity employer and considers all candidates for employment regardless of age, color, sex, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin, ethnicity, race, religion, veteran status, housing status, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or previous homelessness or legal system involvement.
Note: Statistics show that individuals coming from historically excluded or oppressed groups apply to jobs only if they meet all qualifications. Recess invites you to skew that statistic. Applicants rarely meet 100% of qualifications. We look forward to hearing from you.