Director of Philanthropy

Kesem; United States; Remote; USD 101,000 - 126,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental and vision benefits

403(b) retirement plan

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Healthcare concierge service

Flexible work scheduling

Telecommuting

PTO

Short-Term Disability

Parental leave

Job summary

Kesem seeks a Director of Philanthropy to lead major gifts, foundations, and strategic philanthropy across national programs and Chapter networks. You will cultivate high-value donors, drive comprehensive fundraising strategies, and partner with leadership to optimize stewardship and growth.

The role requires 7+ years of nonprofit fundraising, exceptional relationship-building, and the ability to translate Kesem’s priorities into compelling funding opportunities.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of nonprofit fundraising with major gifts focus.
• Experience cultivating, soliciting, and closing five- and six-figure gifts.
• Strong writing, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.
• Experience partnering with executives and boards on donor relationships.
• Experience with foundation proposals, LOIs, budgets, and reports.

Responsibilities

• Grow a qualified major-donor portfolio with cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, renewal, upgrade, and revenue goals.
• Cultivate, solicit, close, and steward significant gifts aligned with Kesem priorities.
• Develop Chapter-to-major-gift pipelines and relationship strategies with Chapters and Operations.
• Lead executive engagement with CEO/COO-CGO and Board members on donor relationships.
• Manage the Philanthropy & Prospect Development Coordinator and coordinate cross-functional teams.

Skills

Major gifts fundraising

Donor relations

Moves management

Foundation fundraising

Prospect research

Strategic partnerships

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

REPORTS TO : Chief Operating Officer & Chief Growth Officer

ABOUT KESEM:

We are a nationwide community, driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer with innovative, fun-filled programs that foster a lasting community.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

The Director of Philanthropy grows major gifts, strategic foundation partnerships, transformational philanthropy, and other significant funding opportunities.

The Director manages a portfolio of high-value donors and prospects, personally cultivates and solicits gifts, and develops foundation and philanthropic partnerships. A priority is building a pipeline of high-capacity Chapter-connected donors, working with Development and Chapter Operations to identify prospects, establish relationship strategies, and grow support for Chapter and National priorities.

The Director supports executive engagement, guides donor relationships, and manages the Philanthropy & Prospect Development Coordinator, who supports research, foundation fundraising, stewardship, and portfolio administration.

The Development Team shares accountability for overall fundraising goals, working across revenue streams to pursue the strongest outcomes for Kesem.

KESEM'S VALUES

The Director of Philanthropy must uphold and build a culture that continues to support and strengthen the following behaviors to help us realize our vision:

• Continuous learning - We operate with curiosity and a willingness to try new things, and we see our successes and setbacks as opportunities for growth.
• Accountability - We are individually and collectively responsible for advancing our mission.
• Resilience - We empower and support each other through challenges while fostering a spirit of joy and hopefulness.
• Empathy - We seek to understand and appreciate other perspectives and experiences.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Major Gifts & Chapter-Connected Philanthropy

• Grow a qualified major-donor portfolio with cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, renewal, upgrade, and revenue goals.
• Cultivate, solicit, close, and steward significant gifts based on donor interests, capacity, giving history, and Kesem priorities.
• Build a Chapter-to-major-gift pipeline with Development Operations & Revenue Intelligence and Chapter Operations to develop high-potential donors.
• Determine relationship leads and strategies for Chapter-connected prospects, partnering with Chapters or personally leading cultivation and solicitation as appropriate.
• Grow Chapter-connected major giving benefiting Chapters, National priorities, or both.
• Prioritize current and lapsed major donors, Board- and alumni-connected prospects, and other high-capacity relationships.
• Develop strategies for donor-advised funds, stock, QCDs, planned giving, family philanthropy, and complex gifts.

Foundation & Institutional Philanthropy

• Lead relationship strategy for significant private, family, community, healthcare, and other foundations.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward new, large, complex, or strategically significant foundation relationships.
• Develop strategies connecting individuals, families, foundations, and donor-advised entities.
• Translate Kesem’s priorities and growth into funding opportunities matched to strong prospects.
• Review significant proposals, budgets, reports, and multi-year strategies while the Coordinator manages routine applications, renewals, and administration.
• Monitor National and Chapter foundation pipelines to identify broader organizational opportunities.

Executive & Board Partnership

• Partner with the CEO and COO/CGO to cultivate, solicit, and steward Kesem’s highest-capacity and most strategic donors and funders.
• Build an executive engagement pipeline and identify opportunities for leadership involvement.
• Prepare executives and Board members with prospect strategies, meeting objectives, talking points, ask guidance, and next steps.
• Manage and prioritize the CEO’s philanthropy calendar with Coordinator support.
• Guide relationship strategy, timing, ask amounts, and involvement of Board members, staff, and Chapters.
• Lead major-gift and foundation pipelines and moves management, ensuring clear ownership, strategies, next actions, ask amounts, timing, and forecasts.
• Partner with Development Operations & Revenue Intelligence on wealth screening, segmentation, and prospect research.
• Establish standards for portfolio assignments, handoffs, and relationship ownership across Chapter and National fundraising.
• Ensure stewardship plans for major donors, foundations, and prospects, including camp visits, events, and executive engagement.
• Ensure donor commitments, restrictions, reports, recognition, and follow-through are completed accurately and on time.

People & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Manage the Philanthropy & Prospect Development Coordinator, overseeing foundation work, research, stewardship, and portfolio support.
• Partner with fundraising, Chapter Operations, Finance, Marketing, and other teams on cross-functional relationships.
• Apply Kesem’s rules for relationship and opportunity ownership, revenue designation, and contribution credit.
• Build repeatable systems and delegate execution to prioritize frontline relationship fundraising.

The duties and responsibilities described above are not intended to be an exhaustive list and may change based on organizational needs.

REQUIREMENTS

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of progressive nonprofit fundraising experience with direct responsibility for major gifts, institutional philanthropy, or related relationship fundraising.
• Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and closing significant five- and six-figure gifts.
• Ability to build relationships with individual donors and institutional/foundation funder s.
• Strong understanding of major gifts, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, moves management, and pipeline development.
• Experience with foundation proposals, LOIs, reports, budgets, and multi-year institutional relationships.
• Strong writing, communication, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.
• Experience partnering with executives and Board members on donor relationships.
• Experience using Salesforce or another CRM for portfolios, opportunities, forecasting, and reporting.
• Sound judgment regarding donor intent, relationship ownership, confidentiality, and ethical fundraising.
• Ability to develop staff while maintaining significant frontline fundraising responsibilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with private/family foundations, donor-advised funds, planned giving, stock gifts, QCDs, and family philanthropy.
• Experience developing Chapter-connected or geographically distributed major donors and institutional funders.
• Experience with prospect research and wealth-screening tools.

WORK EXPECTATIONS

• This is a full-time position requiring approximately 40 hours per week, with additional hours based on organizational needs.
• This is a fully remote position with no geographic preference, provided the employee is able to meet Kesem’s travel and work-hour expectations.
• It is expected that the Director of Philanthropy will maintain a reliable internet connection and professional remote work environment and will be available and actively working from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. in their local time zone, unless otherwise approved by their supervisor.
• This senior fundraising role requires flexibility to support time-sensitive priorities, donor relationships, incidents, Board responsibilities, and cross-functional needs.
• It is expected that the Director of Philanthropy will be available for staff calls, Board and committee meetings, donor and partner meetings, and other events that may occur outside of normal work hours.
• As a collaborative organization, employees are expected to demonstrate flexibility in supporting organizational priorities, including providing temporary coverage for colleagues during leaves of absence or other staffing needs, as assigned.
• Travel may include Board and staff meetings, donor meetings, fundraising events, camps, leadership gatherings, conferences, and other priorities, 10-15 times per year.

COMPENSATION

The salary range for this position is $101,000-$126,000. Placement in this range would be based on relevant professional experience in a similar career-level role. In addition, Kesem offers a benefits package for full-time employees including employer-subsidized health benefits, employee-funded dental and vision benefits, employee-funded 403(b) retirement plan, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a healthcare concierge service, flexible work scheduling, telecommuting, PTO, Short-Term Disability, and parental leave offerings.

DEI STATEMENT

Kesem’s mission of supporting children through and beyond a parent’s cancer, and our vision of ensuring that every child impacted by a parent’s cancer is never alone, can only be realized through an ongoing, steadfast commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in every part of our organization. To that end, Kesem makes the following commitments:

• To continually expand the communities we support and work with - our camper families, volunteers, staff, alumni, partners, donors, and boards - with attention to engaging communities we are not currently reaching.
• To strive for equity in delivering a transformative, fun, and empowering community that recognizes and embraces our differences.
• To aspire to create shared spaces that are safe for every member of the Kesem community to feel valued and respected.
• Kesem will engage in continued meaningful learning in order to better support our mission and our growing Kesem community.