Director, Individual Giving

Minimum Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree preferred; five or more years of work experience including knowledge of fundraising for non-profit or educational organization preferred.  

• Strong knowledge base of all aspects of fundraising with a strong emphasis on individual giving programs.  

• Proven track record of funded gifts of $10,000+.   

• Experience using donor/relationship management software to track donors, establish goals, and generate reports (experience with Salesforce preferred).  

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with an ability to engage and inspire a wide range of audiences.  

• Authorized documentation to work in the United States of America  

• Criminal background history clearance to work with school-age children, depending on the position 

Responsibilities 

The Director of Individual Giving (DIG) will perform the following roles and responsibilities as described below:  

Individual Giving 

• Lead Individual Giving portfolio to raise approximately $900K in revenue towards the overall private revenue goal of $3.5M+ 

• Build revenue plan to retain and scale individual giving fundraising strategy 

• Develop and implement an individual giving strategy to increase the funding for City Year Chicago and position the organization as a premier education leader in the community  

• Partner with department leadership to set and monitor annual budget and individual and foundation fundraising goals   

• Support all individual giving efforts including Red Jacket Society, mid-level giving, the Associate Board of Young Professionals, and appeals/campaigns such as #GivingTuesday 

• Manage Alumni Board to meet memberships and fundraising goals. 

• Collaborate with the Executive Director and Managing Director of Development to create strategies to identify and secure new supporters, fully leverage existing relationships, and increase multi-year commitments  

• Ensure that asset-based language is used in all communications and that stories center our students  

Red Jacket Society  

• Oversee and lead strategy for Red Jacket Society portfolio to meet annual revenue goal of $700K for the program, with expectation to increase annually. 

• Build and secure Red Jacket Society membership of 45 donors, with expectation to increase annually.  

• Work closely with the Board, Development team, Headquarters prospect research, and site leadership, to identify, engage, and cultivate a pipeline of prospects that can make annual and multiyear investments at the $10,000+ level 

• Develop strategies to identify, cultivate, and solicit leadership-level support and multi-year commitments from new donors. Strengthen engagement and provide an experience for all members of the Red Jacket Society.  

• Manage all logistics of the RJS locally including planning for and running pipeline meetings, building out and executing on a stewardship plan, and working in partnership with HQ to move major gift work forward 

• Plan and execute Red Jacket Society membership events; including at minimum 2 school visits per year.  

Development Operations  

• Work with the Senior Manager of Development Operations to ensure accurate tracking and reporting of institutional gifts and engagement using City Year’s Salesforce CRM.   

• Partner with the Senior Manager of Development Operations and other team members to hold regular prospecting, pipeline, revenue forecasting, and moves management meetings.   

• Work closely with fellow Development team members to understand priorities and business goals and develop strategies to meet the organization’s needs.   

• Work with the development team to leverage events to increase giving, such as City Year’s Ripples of Hope fundraiser, service days (school beautification projects), and school visits for potential donors.    

• Represent City Year at external and partner functions to establish and deepen potential and current donor relationships.   

Preferred Qualifications  

• Demonstrated active listening skills and ability to uncover key priorities with stakeholders.   

• Strong presentation, negotiation and liaison skills are required.   

• Demonstrated tact and diplomacy in difficult or sensitive situations.    

• Ability to adapt and excel in diverse, high energy, entrepreneurial, and rapidly changing environments    

• Growth mindset, passion for City Year’s mission of education equity, resilience, persistence, committed to teamwork, enthusiastic with sense of humor.   

• Passion, understanding and appreciation for national service and City Year’s mission, values, and culture.   

• Strong understanding of the corporate philanthropic landscape and education policy in Chicago.   

• Experience and working knowledge of Salesforce, a plus.   

Competencies 

In order to succeed in this role, an applicant must have the following competencies:  

• Collaboration: Connects with stakeholders to identify shared interests; partners with others to incorporate different perspectives toward a common goal. 

• Understanding & Building Connection: Considers perspectives of others and cultivates relationships to strengthen interpersonal bonds with colleagues and external stakeholders. 

• Managing Change: Leads and/or demonstrates support for innovation; helps others successfully manage organizational change; holds others accountable for adjusting to change (if people manager). 

• Problem-Solving: Identifies opportunities to make improvements; gathers information; connects related and unrelated concepts; integrates findings into actionable solutions. 

• Strategic Thinking: Identifies multiple pathways to address complex and nebulous problems; anticipates barriers and opportunities; develops plans to address them. 

Working Conditions  

• Local travel required, including to local partner schools and events, and to other City Year sites and national conferences   

• Must have access to reliable transportation or the ability to navigate public transit   

• Occasional lifting or carrying of materials (e.g., event supplies, training materials) up to ~20 lbs.   

• Works a hybrid schedule, including typical 3-4 days in-person, with occasional periods of longer in-person commitments   

• Must have reliable internet access when participating in any required virtual meetings or trainings