Director, Individual Giving

ROLE TITLE: Director, Individual Giving

POSITION REPORTS TO: SMD, Development 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: The priority deadline for this role is Sunday, January 5th at 11:59 PM

LOCATION: Greater Chicago

WHAT YOU’LL DO

All prospect & donor management roles on Field Fundraising teams are responsible for cultivating, soliciting, stewarding, and managing a portfolio of donors in our local communities who share our commitment to ensuring that all children have access to an equitable and excellent education. As a member of the Field Fundraising team, you will be a part of a team-based effort charged with developing and executing on a long-term vision and strategy to achieve our development goals for private funding. In your role, you will partner with Executive Directors, regional advisory board members, and other front-line fundraisers to maximize giving, playing a key role in new donor strategy and acquisition over the next 3-5 years. The Director of Individual Giving will play a critical role in managing and growing relationships with individual donors, cultivating annual gifts, and stewarding donors with the capacity to transition into major giving levels over time. 

Reporting to the SMD, Development, you will be charged with raising $1 million or more from a portfolio of donors which includes private funding. You will work directly with the Executive Director or other field fundraisers to cultivate, solicit, and steward your portfolio of donors, and ensure the primary solicitor is well-positioned to engage with donors across fundraising streams and at all stages of the donor life cycle. We are looking for a true team player who can make a significant contribution across a local fundraising landscape. In partnership with local Executive Directors, the VP, Field Fundraising and other fundraisers in local markets, you will be a key contributor in developing and executing the strategy to acquire, cultivate, retain, and diversify your portfolio of donors.

WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

• 20% - Leverage broader vision set for the local fundraising landscape to build and execute a plan for cultivating a portfolio of donors with the goal of maximizing revenue to the organization as a whole and building pathways to major gifts. Design and manage the two primary regional fundraising campaigns (end-of-calendar-year and end-of-fiscal-year) in partnership with the Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana development team

• 45% - Manage, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of individual donors, ensuring that primary solicitors are well equipped to engage at all stages of the donor life cycle. Recruit, manage, and steward the Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana Leadership Circle, our pipeline for diverse executive board leadership for the education sector

• 20% - Work in close partnership with the Executive Director and other fundraisers to build the relationships necessary to advance fundraising efforts, which includes regional advisory board members and national partners, including TFA’s broader development cohort

• 10% - Consistently maintain donor, prospect, and fundraising activity information in our customer relationship management system (currently SalesForce) and leverage this information to track progress, monitor gaps, and adjust strategy and approach

• 5% - Steward team and organizational initiatives, such as the  Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana regional 25th anniversary in 2025, culminating in our 25th anniversary gala, EOCY (End-of-Calendar-Year) and EOFY (End-of-Fiscal-Year) campaigns

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role (minimum qualifications): 

• Relationship Building and Management 

  • Build strong relationships with prospects and donors and/or support the primary relationship holder/solicitor through a comprehensive relationship management plan

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills with a variety of internal and external constituents 

  • Ability to manage up and laterally to influence development teammates in service of donor stewardship 

• Fundraising and Development 

  • Have a solid foundation in best practices of development and fundraising 

  • Experience stewarding a portfolio of donors/funders from various funding streams, including developing comprehensive donor management plans