Posted on June 8, 2012

print

Vice President of Strategic and Major Gifts

Work. Serve. Thrive.

Imagine a place where your talent can make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives.

Working at Feeding America is a uniquely rewarding experience in which our employees work together as vital parts of a much larger mission. We are innovative, mission-focused, diverse, collaborative, values-driven and focused on results.

We are a national, nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Located in the heart of downtown Chicago, our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

The Opportunity

We have an opportunity for a Vice President of Strategic and Major Gifts to join our Brand and Development Team. The Vice President of Strategic and Major Gifts will direct and lead Feeding America’s efforts to raise mid-level and major gifts from national office, collaborative, planned and annual individual prospects. The position reports to the Chief Brand and Development Officer and works closely with the President & CEO.

In this role, the Vice President:

1. Develops and implements fundraising strategies to meet annual and long-range goals among mid-level donors and prospects and major donors and prospects for gifts of $10,000 - $1 million+. The position will involve a strong focus developing moves management strategies to deepen relationships and increase giving from national and collaborative (shared national and networks member donors), planned and endowment donors. In-person solicitations and direct donor management will be a key function of the position.
2. Leads and guides the fundraising activity of the Feeding America Strategic and Major Gifts Team
3. Directly oversees the Director of Strategic and Major Gifts and Director of Annual and Planned Gifts and helps manage the work of the Manager of Strategic and Major Gifts and Manager of Annual and Planned Gifts
4. Conducts weekly meetings with the full strategic and major gifts department and one-on-one meetings with each direct report
5. Key responsibilities include:

• Direct and manage interactions with national office, collaborative, annual fund and planned gift prospects and review major gift request materials and family foundation grant requests
• Develop strategies with the President & CEO, executive team, senior staff and board to meet individual major giving fundraising goals. In partnership with the President & CEO and the Board Chair, direct and manage board giving and board members’ role in the individual giving program
• Lead and guide the development of integrated fundraising plans for major gifts prospects and high-value direct marketing donors
• Direct the development of the annual mid-level donor programs, including cultivations, solicitation and stewardship
• Participate in regular relationship management meetings with the Vice President of Corporate Relations and the Vice President of Foundation Relations. Work collaboratively to ensure consistency in messaging and coordination of fundraising asks among all philanthropy streams
• Oversee collaborative fundraising work with network members and personally manage up to ten network members’ activity and their prospects
• Collaborate with Philanthropy Operations team to ensure proper tracking, reporting, and research
• Oversee development and implementation of comprehensive individual major gift stewardship plans i. Personally manage relationships with 75 to 100 national office individual prospects ($10,000+/yr donors)
• Oversee the development of any individual giving societies and recognition programs

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following education, skills and experiences:

• BA/BS in a related field and/or high level fundraising certification.
• 10+ yrs experience in managing high level donor relationships and fundraisers.
• Ability to recruit strong fundraisers to the organization.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience in cultivating multi-million 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.
• A deep commitment to the mission of Feeding America.

Application Instructions

Interested and qualified applicants should submit an online application, including a resume and cover letter, detailing how their career experiences and interests meet the qualifications of the position. All applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.