Director of Institutional Advancement
Chicago Yachad
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Orthodox Union (OU) is seeking an Institutional Advancement leader to steer fundraising strategy and operations. This role partners with program leadership to drive organization-wide fundraising excellence, develop staff, and coordinate initiatives across departments.
The position emphasizes building best practices, dashboards, and measurable results while fostering collaboration and accountability across teams.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required.
- Significant experience in fundraising strategy, advancement operations, nonprofit management, or a related field.
- Demonstrated success developing and executing fundraising strategies and improving fundraising operations.
- Strong knowledge of campaign planning, donor engagement, prospect development, stewardship, fundraising data, and performance measurement.
- Experience supporting multiple departments or programs within a complex organization.
- Strong leadership, project management, analytical, communication, and relationship-building skills.
- Experience with fundraising databases, CRM and peer-to-peer fundraising platforms, reporting tools, and related technology.
- Ability to translate strategic priorities into actionable plans and measurable results.
- Collaborative, service-oriented leadership style with a commitment to accountability and excellence.
Responsibilities
- Develop and execute comprehensive fundraising strategies aligned with organizational and departmental priorities.
- Lead the development of fundraising plans that include goals, audiences, donor pipelines, cultivation and stewardship strategies, timelines, and performance measures.
- Guide and support major fundraising initiatives, including major gifts, direct response, planned giving, corporate sponsorships, capital campaigns, and special events.
- Monitor fundraising performance, identify opportunities and challenges, and adjust strategies based on data and results.
- Ensure fundraising initiatives are coordinated across IA and program departments.
- Serve as a strategic fundraising partner to program departments, helping them assess needs and develop effective strategies.
- Ensure departments have access to tools, data, expertise, and shared services to achieve fundraising goals.
- Establish clear guidelines for determining when initiatives should be led by IA, a program department, or jointly.
- Strengthen collaboration and a coordinated approach to donor engagement across the organization.
- Oversee core fundraising operations, including prospect research, data services, gift processing, reporting, donor services, direct response, and campaign support.
- Establish workflows, service standards, responsibilities, and turnaround times.
- Partner with Finance, Data Services, IT, Marketing and Communications, and others to improve systems and processes.
- Ensure fundraising records, transactions, acknowledgments, and reports are accurate and compliant.
- Evaluate and improve fundraising systems, vendors, and processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
- Help build IA into an organization-wide Fundraising Center of Excellence with strategy, infrastructure, and support.
- Develop fundraising standards, tools, templates, policies, training, and best practices.
- Convene development professionals and program leaders to share knowledge and opportunities.
- Establish KPIs, dashboards, and reporting systems to measure fundraising results and operational effectiveness.
- Prepare regular reports and presentations for department head, senior leadership, and the Board.
- Oversee IA priorities, staff, and day-to-day operations.
- Lead and develop assigned staff with clear expectations and accountability.
- Foster a service-oriented culture focused on partnership, innovation, continuous improvement, and fundraising excellence.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
The Orthodox Union (OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for people with disabilities, localized religious study programs, and international units. The OU maintains a kosher certification service, whose circled U symbol, is found on the labels of many kosher commercial and consumer food products.
Institutional Advancement, this role provides strategic and operational leadership for the OU’s fundraising efforts. The position leads the development and execution of comprehensive fundraising strategies, supports major fundraising initiatives, oversees core advancement operations, and ensures that fundraising activities are coordinated across Institutional Advancement and program departments.
The role serves as a strategic partner to program leadership and helps build Institutional Advancement into an organization-wide Fundraising Center of Excellence by establishing best practices, shared resources, performance measures, and systems that strengthen fundraising effectiveness. This position leads and develops staff, fosters cross-organizational collaboration, and translates the OU’s priorities into measurable fundraising results.
- Develop and execute comprehensive fundraising strategies aligned with organizational and departmental priorities.
- Lead the development of fundraising plans that include goals, audiences, donor pipelines, cultivation and stewardship strategies, timelines, and performance measures.
- Guide and support major fundraising initiatives, including major gifts, direct response, planned giving, corporate sponsorships, capital campaigns, and special events.
- Monitor fundraising performance, identify opportunities and challenges, and adjust strategies based on data and results.
- Ensure fundraising initiatives are coordinated across IA and program departments.
- Serve as a strategic fundraising partner to program departments, helping them assess needs, identify opportunities, and develop effective fundraising strategies.
- Ensure departments have access to the tools, data, expertise, and shared services needed to achieve their fundraising goals.
- Establish clear guidelines for determining when initiatives should be led by IA, a program department, or jointly.
- Strengthen collaboration, reduce duplication, and promote a coordinated approach to donor engagement across the organization.
- Oversee core fundraising operations, including prospect research, data services, gift processing, reporting, donor services, direct response, and campaign support.
- Establish clear workflows, service standards, responsibilities, and turnaround times.
- Partner with Finance, Data Services, IT, Marketing and Communications, and other stakeholders to improve systems, reporting, and operational processes.
- Ensure fundraising records, transactions, acknowledgments, and reports are accurate, timely, compliant, and consistently managed.
- Evaluate and improve fundraising systems, technologies, vendors, and processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
- Help build IA into an organization-wide Fundraising Center of Excellence that provides strategy, expertise, infrastructure, and support.
- Develop fundraising standards, tools, templates, policies, training, and best practices.
- Convene development professionals and program leaders to share knowledge, address common challenges, and identify collaborative opportunities.
- Establish key performance indicators, dashboards, and reporting systems to measure fundraising results and operational effectiveness.
- Prepare regular reports and presentations for the department head, senior leadership, and the Board.
- Oversee IA’s priorities, staff, and day-to-day operations.
- Lead and develop assigned staff, establishing clear expectations and accountability, collaboration, and professional growth.
- Foster a service-oriented culture focused on partnership, innovation, continuous improvement, and fundraising excellence.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
- Significant experience in fundraising strategy, advancement operations, nonprofit management, or a related field.
- Demonstrated success developing and executing fundraising strategies and improving fundraising operations.
- Strong knowledge of campaign planning, donor engagement, prospect development, stewardship, fundraising data, and performance measurement.
- Experience supporting multiple departments or programs within a complex organization.
- Strong leadership, project management, analytical, communication, and relationship-building skills.
- Experience with fundraising databases, CRM and peer-to-peer fundraising platforms, reporting tools, and related technology.
- Ability to translate strategic priorities into actionable plans and measurable results.
- Collaborative, service-oriented leadership style with a commitment to accountability and excellence.
The salary range for this position is $180,000 - $220,000, commensurate with experience.
The OU offers health insurance through an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA). Instead of a single group plan, employees have the freedom to choose their own health insurance plan that fits their personal and family needs. The OU contributes a generous monthly amount directly toward your premium, making coverage more flexible, affordable, and tailored to you.
Employees enrolled in our health plan also receive an annual BeniComp stipend, a supplemental benefit that reimburses eligible medical, pharmaceutical, dental, and vision expenses.
In addition, the OU offers employees group dental and vision insurance through MetLife.
- 10 paid sick days
- 15 paid vacation days
- Paid Jewish and Federal holidays
- Short Fridays to accommodate for Sabbath observance
- Free life and disability insurance
- Discounted continuing education opportunities
- 403(b) retirement plan with a 5% employer match after 3 years (requires a minimum 2% employee contribution)
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