Senior Director, Advancement & Donor Growth

Association of Fundraising Professionals; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision plans

Short-term disability

Life insurance

Flex spending accounts

Pet insurance

401k

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Youth Guidance is seeking a Senior Director of Advancement to lead its Development function and drive the Bright Futures Campaign. This role translates strategy into actionable plans, coaches fundraisers, and builds the infrastructure for sustained philanthropic growth across markets.

Reporting to the Chief External Affairs Officer, you will oversee portfolio management, forecasting, donor engagement, and centralized writing while expanding frontline fundraising capacity and talent development

Qualifications

• 12+ years fundraising experience with at least 5 years leading and developing teams.
• Experience designing fundraising strategies and driving private revenue growth.
• Proven major gifts cultivation, solicitation, and closing success.
• Experience across multiple fundraising channels and functions.
• Ability to recruit, develop, and retain fundraising talent and build teams.
• Experience setting goals, managing portfolios, forecasting, and CRM-driven decisions.
• Excellent judgment, communication, and change-leadership skills.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategy into annual/multi-year fundraising plans with leadership.
• Lead day-to-day Development activities across gifts, relations, annual giving, and donor engagement.
• Set revenue ownership, portfolio assignments, milestones, and performance expectations.
• Monitor revenue, forecasts, donor activity, and pipeline; lead corrective action as needed.
• Collaborate with Finance to strengthen forecasting and revenue planning.
• Identify cross-market opportunities and coordinate leaders to pursue them.
• Provide direction, coaching, and accountability to Development leaders.
• Build a high-performing Development culture with growth opportunities.
• Clarify roles, workflows, and handoffs for donor relationships and support staff.
• Recruit, onboard, and develop priority Development hires.
• Assess capacity and plan future roles based on revenue opportunity.
• Retain talent by creating growth opportunities during change.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Portfolio management

Donor engagement

CRM data use

Forecasting

Team development

Strategic thinking

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

CFRE credential

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Youth Guidance is seeking a Senior Director of Advancement to lead its Development function and drive the Bright Futures Campaign. This role translates strategy into actionable plans, coaches fundraisers, and builds the infrastructure for sustained philanthropic growth across markets.

Reporting to the Chief External Affairs Officer, you will oversee portfolio management, forecasting, donor engagement, and centralized writing while expanding frontline fundraising capacity and talent development