Philanthropy Officer

Suntimes; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Chicago Public Media is seeking a Philanthropy Officer to join WBEZ’s externally facing philanthropy team. You will manage a portfolio of major donors, solicit gifts, and deepen engagement to grow annual revenue.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Major Gifts, you will cultivate donors, identify prospects, and collaborate with colleagues across CPM to advance fundraising goals. The role requires five or more years in nonprofit development and a proven track record of closing gifts.

Qualifications

• 5+ years nonprofit development experience, frontline fundraising preferred.
• Proven ability to close gifts from individuals and families.
• Goal- and results-driven with strong time-management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, tact and discretion.
• Strong collaboration, influence, and relationship-building abilities.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of 125–150 major donors with $5,000+ gifts, including cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Develop personalized plans to retain and upgrade donors.
• Identify and qualify prospective major donors for discovery portfolios.
• Track solicitation activity in the Development database and provide timely follow-up.
• Meet annual visit targets and fundraising goals.

Skills

Nonprofit fundraising

Donor relationship management

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Collaboration

Emotional intelligence

Job description

About Chicago Public Media

Chicago Public Media is one of the nation’s largest local nonprofit news organizations. Home to WBEZ 91.5FM, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Vocalo. Chicago Public Media reaches more than 3.3 million people weekly across broadcast, print, and digital platforms. As a mission-driven organization, we aspire to be the most trusted news source Chicagoans turn to for understanding the people, events, and ideas shaping our community.

Chicago Public Media is a 100% community-funded newsroom powered by nearly 97,000 members whose support makes our journalism possible. This sustained community investment helped drive nationally recognized work in 2025, including 29 awards from esteemed organizations, including the Public Media Journalists Association, the Edward R. Murrow Awards, and the National Association of Black Journalists.

We believe independent journalism is essential to a healthy democracy and that access to objective, fact-based news is a right for every citizen. We serve the public interest by creating diverse content that informs and enriches our community, supported by a dedicated staff of approximately 250 professionals.

For more information, please see the Chicago Public Media Annual Report.

The Opportunity

The Philanthropy Officer serves as a key member of WBEZ’s externally facing philanthropy team and is responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individuals’ and families’ philanthropic support of CPM’s mission and objectives. Reporting to the Associate Director of Major Gifts, the Philanthropy Officer is responsible for building and managing a portfolio of approximately 125 – 150 individual donors/families for the purpose of deepening engagement among existing major donors, increasing giving among midlevel donors, and ultimately growing annual revenue and increasing the number of donors giving annually at the $5,000+ level to CPM.

Responsibilities

Frontline Fundraising/Relationship Management (85%)

• Manage a portfolio of 125 – 150 major donors with the capacity to make $5,000+ gifts, executing cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship moves for each assigned donor.
• Identify and execute personalized cultivation plans to strategically retain and upgrade assigned major donors.
• Identify, research, and qualify assigned discovery portfolio of prospective major donors.
• Track plans and outreach in the Development database to ensure transparency and effective pipeline management. Provide timely follow-up and debriefs after meetings.
• Proactively update and track solicitation data and review gift acknowledgments.
• Achieve annual performance metrics including visit targets and fundraising goals—to be set each year.

Other Fundraising Activity (15%)

• Participate in the hands‑on, team approach to shaping and executing donor cultivation, engagement, and stewardship opportunities. This includes building invitation lists and partnering on donor events, holiday card mailings, etc.
• As part of this work, may assist with and/or participate in high-level volunteer councils, meetings, and events (sometimes outside of business hours) related to the engagement of major gift donors.
• Actively participate in strategy sessions and help inform colleagues’ major gifts strategies.
• Actively build knowledge of CPM and relationships with colleagues across the organization by attending events and activities, reading and listening to CPM journalism, and pursuing other avenues for professional learning and growth.

Skills and Qualifications

• Ideal candidates will have 5+ years of nonprofit development experience, with two years in a frontline fundraising role.
• Track record of closing gifts from individuals and families, with demonstrated ability to take relationships with donors and prospects to a higher level and to move difficult cases forward.
• Goals and results-driven with the ability to meet deadlines and manage competing priorities.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written. Accountable with an attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills are required to relate to donors, volunteers, and colleagues. Must be able to consistently display tact, diplomacy, and discretion, and maintain confidentiality inside and outside of the organization.
• Understanding of fundraising industry standards, with regard to donor solicitation, confidentiality, gift crediting, stewardship, and financial principles that shape the work of fundraising professionals.
• Must have a demonstrable affinity for collaboration, leading through influence, and a high level of emotional intelligence. Must exhibit the patience necessary to advance solutions in a complex and collaborative organization.
• Exercises excellent judgment and models honesty, integrity, and collegiality.
• Proficiency with constituent management and fundraising software.
• Demonstrates a personal commitment to excellence.

Compensation

The expected pay range for this position is $80,000 to $95,000 per ANNUM.

Chicago Public Media provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the organization reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographical location, and external market pay for comparable jobs.

Working at Chicago Public Media

At Chicago Public Media, we care deeply about our employees as we know attracting, developing, and growing talent is key to our success and enhancing our impact.

Our culture is one where collaboration, diversity of ideas, and innovation are encouraged. We value colleagues who will enhance our culture by bringing new ideas, divergent experiences, and talents to our dynamic workplace.

At Chicago Public Media we believe dedication to a great workplace includes supporting our employees and their families. As a result, we provide a broad and generous benefits package for employees at hire and in the years to come.

Our benefits include a competitive salary and benefits package which includes medical, dental, vision, vacation, holidays, life insurance, disability coverage, retirement savings, and a commuter benefits plan.
Chicago Public Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we actively seek and welcome people from all backgrounds, orientations, and life experiences to join our team.

The essential functions described above are not all-inclusive and are not intended to create any contractual or other legal commitment. Chicago Public Media may change the content or format of this job at any time in its sole and exclusive discretion without notice.