Development executives work in film and television, for-profit business, and not-for-profit business. They must be creative and constantly work to improve their organization, whether it’s finding new creative material for film productions, generating more revenue for a business, or overseeing fundraising efforts for a non-profit organization.
A development executive can be in one of three different types of professional fields: film and television, for-profit business, or not-for-profit business. Executive development roles are therefore quite varied in scope. In all of these fields, development executives must display a great capacity for out-of-the-box, creative thinking in order to maximize an organization’s prospects. Development executives in all three fields are constantly working to improve their organization, expanding into new customers, exploring new creative opportunities, or developing a new market.
In the film and television industries, a development executive is responsible for finding and developing new creative material for film productions. Development executives conduct creative research by reading treatments, scripts, and source material such as books or comics to create a set of ideas for production. This research can also include searching the Internet or watching television to “discover” new talent or ideas that other companies have not yet captured. After scripts or proposals are accepted, development executives work with creative teams to oversee revisions and create final drafts for production.
In for-profit organizations, a development officer or business development executive works to improve the capability of a business. The ultimate goal of business development is to help a company generate more revenue, which is achieved in a variety of ways. Duties of business development executives include exploring new customer perspectives to attract more business, developing organizational infrastructure to enable greater customer loads, and creating strategic plans to expand into new markets and account types. This position depends on the cooperation of all departments, especially departments such as sales and finance that directly affect the company’s bottom line. Business development executives also work closely with marketing and customer service departments to ensure that creative and effective solutions are applied to all opportunities for economic advancement.
At nonprofit organizations, development executives are responsible for overall fundraising efforts, including cultivating grants and managing individual donors. In some non-profit organizations, especially small community organizations, this may be a part-time or even volunteer position; in larger organizations such as hospitals or educational institutions, a development executive may oversee a large department that includes designers, grant writers, public relations specialists, and event planners. Nonprofit development can include fundraising, cause marketing, direct mail campaigns, grant prospecting, and social media management. It may also include marketing, public relations outreach, special events, and donor management.
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