Manager, Development

Jobtailor; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Feeding America in Chicago seeks a fundraising professional to lead major gift cultivation, deepen donor relationships and develop strategic solicitation plans that secure gifts of $25,000 and above.

You will collaborate with development colleagues to create personalized stewardship for major donors and family foundations, and ensure accurate recording of all interactions in our donor management systems, supporting regional strategies.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of major gifts cultivation experience and donor stewardship.
• Ability to screen prospective donors from network lists to focus cultivation.
• Familiarity with donor relationship management tools.
• Ability to perform first-level prospect research using WealthEngine and coordinate with the team.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate with staff, volunteers, and donors.

Responsibilities

• Cultivates donors and secures gifts through personalized outreach and strategic solicitation plans.
• Manages donor pipeline, tracking progress through the development cycle.
• Partners with network fundraising colleagues to align regional strategies.
• Prepares briefing memos, proposals, and stewardship materials for donors.
• Records all donor interactions in Feeding America's donor CRM and ensures gift documentation.

Skills

Major Gift Cultivation

Donor Relationship Management

Prospect Research

Personalized Stewardship

Collaboration

Tools

WealthEngine

Donor CRM Tools

Job description

Responsibilities

• Actively identifies, cultivates and thanks donors, managing relationships and developing cultivation and solicitation strategies to secure gifts of $25,000+.
• Conducts high volumes of donor outreach through visits, phone calls and highly personalized communications to build relationships, advancing donors through the development cycle.
• Develops personalized stewardship plans for individual philanthropists and family foundations in partnership with colleagues in Development, Executive Leadership, program leads and Network fundraising colleagues with clarity, purpose and actionable next steps.
• Prepares materials for and delivers personalized solicitations including briefing memos, verbal asks, proposals and stewardship including thank you letters, reports and gift documentation.
• Evaluates giving vehicles and recommends charitable plans in alignment with policies and programs that achieve a donor’s philanthropic goals and meets Feeding America’s funding needs.
• Prioritizes a better together mindset collaborating with network members to cultivate, solicit and steward donors and create regional strategies.
• Co-creates regional strategy for major and principal gift development and Network partner engagement in assigned territory.
• Utilizes research tools and wealth screenings to prospect and prepare for donor meetings.
• Assures that all donor interactions in assigned portfolio are recorded in Feeding America’s database and all gifts are properly recorded by gift accounting staff.
• Supports Department wide initiatives to mobilize external partners through special projects and campaigns.
• Builds personal and team capacity through ongoing learning and innovation.
• Actively engages in and exhibits Feeding America’s commitment to inclusion and belonging in daily interactions and communications.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience with best practices for the cultivation of major gifts including developing donor strategies, solicitation approaches and donor stewardship.
• Ability to screen prospective donors from lists provided by network members and senior leaders to quickly determine which to direct cultivation efforts toward.
• Familiarity with donor relationship management tools and software.
• Ability to do first level prospect research using WealthEngine and other tools and to coordinate higher level prospect research with other team members at Feeding America.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively with all levels of staff, food bank network member colleagues, volunteers, donors and prospective donors.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in major gift cultivation, donor relationship management, and personalized stewardship strategies. Proficient in utilizing research tools for prospecting and developing collaborative regional strategies to enhance donor engagement.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Major Gift Cultivation
• Donor Relationship Management
• Prospect Research
• Personalized Stewardship
• Collaboration

Hard Skills

• Donor Strategy Development
• Solicitation Approaches
• Donor Stewardship
• Wealth Screening
• Prospect Research

Soft Skills

• Exceptional Interpersonal Skills
• Collaborative Work Style

Industry Keywords

• Philanthropy
• Fundraising
• Feeding America
• Charitable Plans
• Network Engagement

Tools & Technologies

• Donor Relationship Management Tools
• WealthEngine