Assistant Director of Development, Individual Giving

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet; Crest Hill (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time-off benefits

403B retirement plan

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Long-term disability & Life Insurance

Flexible Spending Account

Job summary

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet seeks a mission-driven fundraising professional to strengthen donor relationships, increase philanthropic support, and advance the Agency’s mission of serving people in need. This role centers on growing individual giving and engaging donors as partners in service.

The Assistant Director of Development, Individual Giving will lead annual giving strategy, donor stewardship, moves management, and support for major and planned gifts, collaborating with the

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in a related field.
• Four or more years of fundraising/development experience; five years preferred.
• Experience in annual giving, donor engagement, and stewardship.

Responsibilities

• Lead the individual giving program, including annual appeals, donor renewal, retention, reactivation, and upgrade strategies.
• Develop and manage annual appeal plans with internal partners.
• Manage a portfolio of donors through outreach, meetings, stewardship, and solicitations.
• Maintain moves management and support major/planned giving efforts.
• Ensure accurate donor records and data integrity in Raiser's Edge NXT.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

Donor relations

Donor stewardship

Moves management

Communication

Relationship building

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Raiser’s Edge NXT

Microsoft Office

Job description

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet (CCDOJ) offers 43 paid days off per year, excellent medical benefits, and an employer-sponsored 403b plan that requires no contribution from employee. We prioritize your well-being and financial security.

We are seeking a mission-driven fundraising professional focused on strengthening donor relationships, increasing philanthropic support, and advancing the Agency’s mission of serving people in need and calling others of good will to do the same.

The Assistant Director of Development, Individual Giving serves in a lead role responsible for building, managing, and strengthening the Agency’s individual giving program. This position oversees annual giving strategy, donor stewardship, donor retention, mid-level donor engagement, moves management, and support for major and planned giving.

Working closely with the Director of Development, this position will increase the department’s relationship-based approach that supports long-term donor engagement, sustainable revenue growth, and greater accountability across individual giving efforts.

General Responsibilities

• Lead the individual giving program, including annual appeals, donor renewal, retention, reactivation, and upgrade strategies.
• Develop and manage annual appeal plans in collaboration with Development, Communications, Programs, and other internal partners.
• Manage a portfolio of individual donors and prospects through regular outreach, meetings, stewardship, and solicitations.
• Maintain a consistent moves management process to track cultivation steps, stewardship actions, solicitations, and next steps.
• Support major and planned giving efforts through donor research, briefings, proposals, follow-up, and stewardship.
• Ensure accurate donor records and data integrity in Raiser’s Edge NXT, including contact reports, gift information, coding, and segmentation.
• Collaborate with internal partners to gather stories, data, and impact information that strengthen donor communications.
• Develop donor-centered written materials such as appeals, acknowledgments, stewardship updates, proposals, and reports.
• Monitor individual giving performance including revenue, retention, average gift, appeal response, lapsed and upgraded donors, and mid-level movement.
• Represent the Agency at donor and community events including meetings, gatherings, and public functions.
• Supervise staff or volunteers as assigned, depending on departmental needs.
• Actively support supervised employees in achieving goals related to job performance, professional growth, and development, while fostering a culture of continuous learning and accountability.
• Other duties as assigned within the guidelines of this position.

Great Employer Provided Benefits

• Time-off: 14 Holidays - 15 Vacation days - 5 Paid Leave days and 9 Sick days
• Flexible Spending Account
• Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance
• 403B Retirement Plan with employer contributions
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Short-term Disability Insurance

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in a related field such as nonprofit management, communications, marketing, business, social services, theology or a related field.
• Four or more years of fundraising/development experience, with five years preferred.
• Experience in annual giving and donor engagement including stewardship, cultivation, direct response appeals, or major-gift support.
• Knowledge of relationship-based fundraising practices such as moves management, segmentation, donor retention, and pipeline development.
• Proficiency with donor databases; experience with Raiser’s Edge NXT preferred.
• Strong relationship-building skills with donors, prospects, volunteers, board members, and community partners.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and analytical abilities including writing donor-centered materials, public speaking to diverse audiences, managing multiple deadlines, and using data to inform strategy.
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Word, and Teams.
• Adhere to the Agency’s Code of Ethics and conduct all responsibilities in accordance with the standards outlined in the Employee Handbook.
• Passage of background clearance, valid driver's license, reliable transportation, and proof of liability insurance.