Gift Planning Counselor - Nebraska

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

LCMS Foundation in St. Louis, MO seeks a nonprofit development professional to visit prospects, assess gifting opportunities, and design charitable estate plans with donors and partners. The role emphasizes compassionate donor education and strategic collaboration with ministry partners.

The position requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, active LCMS membership, and willingness to travel, including overnight, to serve LCMS ministries nationwide.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical work experience.
• Active member in good standing of an LCMS congregation.
• Demonstrates integrity and professional discretion in confidential matters.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to motivate donors and partners.
• Ability to educate donors and others on financial concepts.
• Ability to develop and nurture relationships with ministry partners.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently, including overnight.

Responsibilities

• Visiting prospects in homes, churches, or other locations to understand families’ financial situations and generosity.
• Help create plans that maximize gifts to family and LCMS ministries.
• Assist in developing strategies to minimize taxes or provide income today.
• Collaborate with accountants, financial planners, attorneys, and others in designing charitable estate plans.
• Engage ministry partners such as churches, schools, colleges, universities, seminaries, and LCMS auxiliaries in gift planning work.
• Conduct presentations to ministries with donors to surface those ready to engage in Christian estate planning.

Skills

People skills

Communication

Donor education

Relationship building

Discretion

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Active LCMS member in good standing

Job description

Job Details: Job Location: LCMS Foundation - St. Louis, MO 63122, Position Type: Full Time, Job Category: Nonprofit - Social Services, The LCMS Foundation Mission

The LCMS Foundation Mission

• Providing planned giving services to LCMS members for the benefit of all ministries of the Synod.
• Providing investment management services for ministry funds and endowments held by congregations and other LCMS ministries and institutions.
• Providing training to others in the LCMS on how to do charitable gift planning.
• Receiving non-cash gifts, like land and securities, on behalf of any LCMS organization, so that they can convert those gifts into liquid assets.

Reporting Relationships

• Reports directly to the Vice President of Counselor Performance and Training and ultimately to the Senior Vice President of Gift Planning or his/her designee of the LCMS Foundation.

Essential Job Functions

• Visiting prospects, both individuals and married couples, to learn about their families and financial situation and desire to be generous. These take place in the home, at church or other locations.
• Helping these individuals create a plan that provides the very best gifts to their family and to ministries that they love.
• Assist in the development of strategies that can help minimize taxes and/or provide income today, according to desires and needs.
• Work with other professional advisors including accountants, financial planners, attorneys and others in the design and implementation of charitable estate plans.
• Interact as needed with ministry partner organizations such as churches, schools, colleges, and universities, the seminaries, LCMS auxiliaries and RSOs, etc., who are partners with the Foundation in gift planning work.
• Conduct presentations to ministries with donors in order to surface those ready to engage in Christian estate planning.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical work experience.
• Active member in good standing of an LCMS congregation.

Competencies (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)

• Possesses integrity.
• An outgoing, engaging personality with the ability to quickly build trust.
• People skills and communication skills, with an ability to motivate others.
• The ability to educate donors and others on financial concepts.
• The ability to develop and nurture relationships with key ministry partners.
• Professional discretion and judgement in confidential matters.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently, including overnight.

Supervisory Responsibility

• None