Emma Bohmann (she/her) has been working at Arts Midwest since 2016, and is the Development Officer. Before that, she was a grant writer for a development and communications consulting firm, where she worked on fundraising efforts for more than two dozen nonprofit organizations.
At Arts Midwest, Emma spends her days cultivating relationships with partners and donors, writing and submitting grant requests, designing fundraising appeals, and reporting on Arts Midwest’s programs and activities. She oversees and leads the organization’s fundraising activities, including federal, corporate, foundation, and individual giving. She works closely with the President & CEO and Vice President to ensure Arts Midwest has the revenue needed to advance its mission, vision, and strategy.
Emma’s work requires collaboration with numerous team members. She works with the Communications team to design email and print campaigns. She works with the Grants and Programs teams to identify revenue needs, secure program support, track activities, and report on outcomes. She works with the Finance team to track organizational and programmatic spending. She also staffs the Board of Directors Governance Committee, through which she works with board members to identify, recruit, and cultivate prospective board members. To do all of this, she draws on her strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and project management experience. She also draws on her background in writing, editing, and proofreading to ensure that written materials are clear and persuasive. She is passionate about grounding fundraising in equity and social justice, and strives to incorporate the principles of Community-Centric Fundraising in her work.
A couple of Arts Midwest resources Emma loves to share include
- Fundraising 101: Fundraising from Scratch
- Storytelling as a Fundraising Tool
- Shifting Power in Your Organization and Community
A little more about Emma:
Some of Emma’s favorite Midwestern writers are Benjamin Percy, Rebecca Makkai, and Roxane Gay. She is creatively energized by nature and the outdoors, and she is a strong believer in the power of a good story.
When Emma isn’t working, she can be found running, biking, traveling, or curled up on the couch reading a good book. She grew up without television and therefore doesn’t get most pop culture references.
You can find some of her personal writing in The RS 500, a project that paired an original piece of writing with each of the albums on the Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
