Melissa Sandor
is a creative leadership and fundraising strategist in the arts, culture, and social justice sectors.
Melissa brings 30 years of hands-on experience, working with clients to build long-term donor relationships guided by trust, transparency, and mutual empowerment.
She has worked with over 40 organizations in NYC and around the world, including the Alliance of Resident Theatres/NY, Broadway Housing Communities, American Craft Council, New York City Ballet, Studio Museum in Harlem, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, Hawaii Public Radio, Central Park Conservancy, and Ballet Hispánico. She serves on the Boards of The Movement Theatre Company and Farm Arts Collective.
A writer of creative non-fiction, Melissa is an alum of the MacDowell and Millay residency programs and a 2018 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Arts Writing Fellow at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC). Her writing has appeared in Ploughshares and BOMB Magazine.
CURRENT + PAST CLIENTS
“The Actors’ Fund of America
American Ballet Theatre
American Craft Council
Americans for the Arts
A.R.T./New York
Asian American Arts Alliance
Ballet Hispanico, Inc.
The Billie Holiday Theatre
BOMB Magazine/New Art Publications, Inc.
BRIC Arts Media
Broadway Housing Communities
Buffalo Spree Magazine
Central Park Conservancy
City as Living Laboratory
Chess-in-the-Schools
The Chocolate Factory
Coney Island History Project
Cormaria Retreat Center
Dora Maar Cultural Center
East Harlem School at Exodus House
FilmAid International”
“The Gillen Brewer School
Green-Wood Cemetery
Hudson Hall
Independent Film Project
LaGuardia Performing Arts Center
Meredith Monk/The House Foundation for the Arts
Millay Residency for the Arts
Nature Sacred
New York City Ballet
New York Public Radio/WNYC
New York Stage and Film
Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance
Ping Chong & Company
Queens Museum of Art
Queens Theatre in the Park
Recess Activities, Inc.
Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children, Inc.
The Studio Museum in Harlem
Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling
Technology Association of Grantmakers
Trisha Brown Dance Company, Inc.
Tribeca Film Institute”
“Melissa has the relationships, writing skills, and strategic insights necessary to build sustainable partnerships between nonprofit institutions and funders. Above all, she is invested in the health and vitality of the institutions she serves and brings her humor, empathy, respect, and deep love of creative communities to each project.”
— Hallie Hobson, Director of Institutional Advancement at the Studio Museum in Harlem
"Melissa’s vast experience and deep engagement with New York City’s arts and funding communities give her a clear advantage in fund development. She’s a strategic thinker with exceptional communication skills and a consummate professional—a true partner in our work.”
— Tammy Dillon, Co-Director, Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House