Executive Director of Development

Christ Church; Oak Brook (IL); On-site; USD 135,000 - 163,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

401k plus 4% employer match

Paid Family Leave

PTO and Study Leave

Job summary

Christ Church is seeking a Development Executive Director to lead the church in building a culture of generosity. This role involves cultivating donor relationships, developing fundraising strategies, and ensuring financial sustainability.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree, over 10 years of fundraising experience, and strong interpersonal skills. Join us to inspire passion and generosity in the church community.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in professional fundraising or nonprofit development.
• Professional CFRE certification strongly preferred.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and public speaking skills.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate trusted relationships with major donors.
• Develop fundraising goals and donor engagement strategies.
• Oversee donor communication and relationship management.

Skills

Communication Skills

Relationship Management

Fundraising

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Relationship Management Systems (e.g., Touchpoint)

Job description

Development Executive Director

Compensation

$135,000 to $163,000 annually
Health, Dental, Vision, Life, Short and Long Term Disability
401k plus 4% employer match
Paid Family Leave
PTO and Study Leave

Vision

The Development Executive Director will be a key vision-carrier and relationship-builder who helps propel Christ Church into its next season of ministry by inspiring bold generosity and connecting people’s resources to Kingdom vision. This is a high-impact leadership role for a dynamic, faith-filled leader who loves people, believes deeply in the mission of the church, and can invite donors into something far greater than a transaction — a joyful, strategic partnership in life-changing ministry. Through vision, strategy, stewardship, and trusted relationships, this leader will strengthen donor partnerships, help resource bold ministry dreams, and inspire a church-wide culture where generosity is joyful, purposeful, and deeply connected to what God is doing through Christ Church today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.

Summary Of Position

The Director of Development will lead Christ Church in building a vibrant, mission-centered culture of generosity that fuels ministry today and strengthens the church for the future. As the primary fundraising leader, this role will cultivate meaningful donor relationships, inspire faithful stewardship, and develop strategic pathways for annual giving, major gifts, capital campaigns, and planned giving. This leader will connect people’s generosity to God’s work through Christ Church—helping donors see the eternal impact of their giving while ensuring the financial health, sustainability, and expanding ministry reach of the church. Through vision, strategy, relational leadership, and a deep commitment to the mission of Christ Church, the Director of Development will help resource life‑changing ministry for generations to come.

Essential Functions

• Cultivate trusted relationships with Christ Church’s leading giving households through regular, intentional personal engagement, including coffees, breakfasts, lunches, ministry conversations, and strategic donor touchpoints.
• Create opportunities that help individuals and families with the gift of generosity connect more deeply to the mission, vision, strategic priorities, and future ministry plans of Christ Church.
• Work closely with the Lead Pastor, CFO, and senior leadership team to develop fundraising goals, donor engagement strategies, campaign metrics, and clear pathways for resourcing the church’s ministry priorities.
• Design and implement an estate and legacy giving strategy that invites Christ Church members and friends to consider how their generosity can continue shaping ministry for future generations.
• Serve as a key leader in advancing capital campaigns and major giving initiatives, partnering with the Lead Pastor to cast vision, cultivate relationships, and inspire joyful participation.
• Build systems and relationships that help identify emerging donors, deepen engagement, and invite broader participation in the financial mission of Christ Church.
• Oversee thoughtful donor communication, gratitude, reporting, follow-up, and relationship management so that every donor may experience care, clarity, and confidence in the impact of their giving.

Other Key Responsibilities

• Engage fully in the life and culture of Christ Church. Participate in staff meetings, worship services, training opportunities, church-wide gatherings, and special events as an active and encouraging member of the Christ Church team.
• Serve the broader mission of the church. Support key ministry moments such as Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, outreach events, mission initiatives, and other church-wide opportunities where additional leadership, presence, and support are needed.
• Collaborate across ministries with a team-first spirit. Work with ministry leaders and staff teams to strengthen alignment, share insight and resources, and contribute to a unified, healthy, and mission-focused staff culture.
• Model the values of Christ Church in daily work and relationships. Demonstrate Christ-centered character, humility, teamwork, accountability, prayerfulness, and a commitment to serving others with excellence and grace.
• Continue growing as a leader and servant of Christ. Pursue ongoing personal, spiritual, and professional development through training, reading, mentoring, coaching, and other growth opportunities.
• Contribute to a culture of care, prayer, and encouragement. Help foster a staff environment marked by grace, trust, encouragement, and prayer by supporting colleagues, volunteers, and congregants as appropriate.
• Bring flexibility, ownership, and a willing spirit. Assist with special projects, emerging needs, and assignments outside the immediate scope of the role when doing so helps advance the mission and ministry of Christ Church.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree
• Experience: 10+ years of experience in professional fundraising, nonprofit development, or related fields (church-specific experience is often a plus).
• Professional CFRE certification strongly preferred
• Mission-Oriented: A dedicated individual who understands and aligns with the church's theology of stewardship and mission.
• Communication Skills: Strong interpersonal, written, and public speaking skills.
• Technology Proficiency: Familiarity with Relationship Management Systems (e.g., Touchpoint, ROCK RMS, Mortarstone).

Spiritual Development

• Support and model individual spiritual formation i.e. Worship, Grow and Serve. (Weekly worship, prayer, scripture reading, small group, volunteering/service, etc.).
• Regularly attends worship and participates in ministry events at Christ Church unless exempted by Christ Church leadership.
• Seeks opportunities and participates in authentic worship, exalting and enjoying God as one of life’s greatest purposes and pleasures.
• Loves as an attractive witness, living to draw others to Christ in personal, daily mission.
• Intentionally seeks to become like Jesus, growing purposefully and intentionally.
• Values and contributes to genuine community, doing life together with colleagues and congregation.
• Enrolls in genuine service, living a life of service, humility and generosity.
• Engages fully in life-changing love by loving people extravagantly.

Ministry Traits

• Detail-oriented with high capacity to manage multiple projects at high level of detail and organization.
• Desire to continuously learn and serve others.
• Honest and trustworthy.
• Integrity for work habits and results.
• Ability to discern needs and respond appropriately, sensitively and proactively.
• Appreciation for own and others’ giftedness.
• Ongoing desire and effort to grow more Christ—like in character.
• Able to keep high degree of confidentiality.
• High degree of professionalism.
• Approachable and accessible.

Work Schedule (and travel)

This position requires the ability to travel up to 30% of the year for donor cultivation, fundraising events, and meetings.

Core Competencies

• While not losing sight of the importance of the people the data represents, ability to work with numbers and analytics
• Maintaining a high level of confidentiality with personal data, individual giving and related information.
• Continually seeks to understand and exemplify the scriptures and components associated with stewardship and living generously.
• Communicates with clarity and warmth across diverse audiences
• Demonstrates integrity, humility, and alignment with Christ Church’s values
• Collaborates effectively across teams and ministries
• Organizes and prioritizes work to meet goals with excellence
• Learns quickly and adapts to new tools, systems, and challenges