Director of Strategic Gifts

Feeding America
Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix and San Jose, Illinois

Position Description

Feeding America has evolved from a grass roots operation of small, local food banks and agencies into one of the most sophisticated organizations for food distribution in the world. To continue implementing its core mission of ending hunger, Feeding America is planning a comprehensive, multi-year capital campaign that will address capacity building and infrastructure. Building and expanding sustainable major gift fundraising at the national office and network levels will help to ensure the campaign’s success, and Feeding America has therefore created a new position to address the major gift fundraising needs of the national office and the network, the Director of Strategic Gifts.

As a critical member of the Philanthropy teams of both Feeding America and the local network member, the Director of Strategic Gifts will be responsible for implementing campaign strategies in his/her network member location for the national office, and for managing a portfolio of local prospects with the potential to make six figure gifts for the network member. The Director of Strategic Gifts will report directly to the Vice President of Philanthropy/Strategic Gifts for Feeding America and will also maintain a “dotted-line” relationship to the Executive Director or designee of the network member. The Directors of Strategic Gifts will be located in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix and Santa Clara/San Mateo.

Job Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of 50 +/- strategic gift prospects. Strategic gift prospects are defined as those capable of giving a $1 million or larger gift to a strategic priority of Feeding America.
Serve as the sole relationship manager for that portfolio of prospects utilizing senior executives at Feeding America and network members and board members and volunteers as natural partners in cultivating and soliciting gifts.
Act as principal donor strategist for each prospect in the portfolio with specific responsibility to develop a written donor strategy and relationship record of all interactions.
Promote cross-collaboration with network members and other colleagues engendering trust in the donor management process.
Build a strong portfolio of prospects and donors attending to the balance between discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.
Generate a minimum of five strategic gifts each year from the portfolio. (Gifts may not reach the $1 million level to qualify). Raise at least $3 million from the portfolio each year.
Cultivate at least five donors within the portfolio for a gift of $10 million or more recognizing that these gifts may be multi-year or lifetime (bequests) in nature.
Mentor less experienced strategic gifts staff members in building and managing a portfolio or prospects.

Application Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in a related field from an accredited college or university.
Six years or more professional experience managing high level donor relationships.
Strong communication skills that are effective across a variety of constituencies, including donors, network members, the national office philanthropy team, and other staff members in the national office.
Experience cultivating multi-million gifts, including developing donor strategies, solicitation approaches and donor stewardship.
Ability to effectively screen prospective donors from information provided by network members and senior leaders within the national office.
Demonstrated personal leadership skills coupled with a strong team orientation, exemplary project management skills and a high customer service focus.
High degree of technological proficiency.
Deep commitment to the mission of Feeding America.