The client is seeking a senior Director of Philanthropy to lead and expand the individual giving program, reporting to the Chief Development Officer. The role grows annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, leadership giving, donor stewardship, and tax credit giving initiatives, and supports donors who give through donor-advised funds and family foundations. This hands-on position blends strategic development with frontline fundraising, including donor relationship management, proposal and communications writing, and stewardship activities to help achieve ambitious revenue goals.
Key responsibilities include developing and executing strategies to grow individual philanthropy across multiple giving areas; leading multi-channel fundraising campaigns such as direct mail, email appeals, and year-end initiatives while monitoring performance and optimizing results. The director will manage and expand a leadership giving society through targeted cultivation, recognition, stewardship, and engagement; identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects in partnership with organizational leadership; increase participation in the EITC/tax credit program through outreach, education, relationship management, and targeted marketing; and grow planned giving by promoting legacy giving opportunities and educating donors on charitable gift vehicles.
The role also requires building comprehensive donor stewardship and communications strategies that strengthen relationships, improve retention, and demonstrate philanthropic impact. The director will serve as a primary writer for fundraising materials including proposals, appeals, donor reports, presentations, and stewardship content, and will collaborate across development, marketing, communications, and organizational leadership to support planning and budgeting and represent the organization with donors and community partners. Qualifications include a bachelor’s degree, 5 to 8+ years of progressive fundraising experience in individual giving areas, strong strategy execution, excellent written and verbal communication, and demonstrated relationship-building, organizational, analytical, and project management skills; experience with donor databases is expected. The position requires required clearances and compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements, along with possession of a valid driver’s license and being at least 21 years of age.