Director of Philanthropy

Lifebanc•Cleveland, OH

About The Position

The Director of Philanthropy serves as Lifebanc’s senior leader for fundraising strategy and revenue development. This role builds and leads a comprehensive fundraising program focused on corporate giving, major gifts, social giving campaigns, planned giving, and public grant opportunities, and is accountable for annual philanthropic revenue goals. The Director develops long-term strategies to diversify charitable revenue, strengthen donor relationships, and expand Lifebanc’s funding base. The Director builds, leads, and scales the Fund-Raising Department and provides leadership for corporate partnerships and sponsorships, major and planned giving, digital and peer-to-peer social giving campaigns, government and public grants, donor stewardship, and selected fundraising events. The role coordinates with Community Relations on aligned external outreach without taking responsibility for Lifebanc’s broader community engagement, education, or awareness functions. The Director establishes fundraising strategies, targets, performance measures, forecasts, and budgets; cultivates and solicits corporate partners and major donors; leads public grant strategy and donor stewardship; and uses data and campaign results to guide performance. The position also builds and manages the fundraising team, works with executive leaders and the Board, and partners with Finance, Marketing, Community Relations, Human Resources, Legal, and program leaders. The Director ensures appropriate fundraising practices, donor privacy, and compliance with applicable policies, grant terms, and financial controls. The role requires a bachelor’s degree in a related field and seven to ten years of progressive fundraising or related nonprofit experience, including at least three years of leadership or management experience. Periodic travel throughout Lifebanc’s service area and evening or weekend events are expected. Physical requirements include lifting up to 25 pounds and sitting or standing for extended periods.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in nonprofit management, business administration, communications, marketing, public administration, healthcare administration, or a related field.
Seven to ten years of progressive fundraising, philanthropy, corporate giving, grant development, or related nonprofit experience.
At least three years of leadership or management experience, including responsibility for building or significantly expanding a philanthropy, fundraising, or related revenue-development function.
Demonstrated success securing corporate gifts, sponsorships, public grants, or revenue through social giving campaigns.
Demonstrated success achieving annual fundraising revenue goals and managing fundraising pipelines with measurable results.
Strong knowledge of corporate giving, sponsorship development, social giving campaigns, public grant processes, donor stewardship, and professional fundraising ethics.
Ability to develop strategy and translate organizational priorities into clear, compelling philanthropic opportunities.
Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships with corporate partners, grant-making agencies, donors, executives, Board members, and cross-functional colleagues.
Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
Strong leadership, organizational design, hiring, coaching, team development, change management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Strong financial acumen, including the ability to develop budgets, evaluate fundraising return, forecast revenue, and interpret performance data.
Ability to analyze donor and campaign data, prioritize opportunities, and translate findings into actionable strategies.
Excellent organizational and project management skills, including prioritization, follow-through, and management of multiple concurrent initiatives.
Ability to exercise sound judgment, initiative, discretion, and independent decision-making.
Ability to maintain strict confidentiality and handle sensitive donor and organizational information appropriately.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment while maintaining attention to detail.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Experience with donor relationship management or fundraising database systems.
Ability to travel throughout the service area and attend periodic evening and weekend donor, corporate, grantor, and fundraising events.
Ability to lift 25 pounds and sit or stand for extended periods.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience with corporate partnerships, sponsorships, digital or peer-to-peer giving, government grant processes, donor stewardship, and fundraising events.
Experience developing fundraising budgets, revenue forecasts, performance measures, and reports for executive or Board audiences.
Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) designation.

Responsibilities

Develop, implement, and evaluate annual and multi-year philanthropic strategies aligned with Lifebanc’s mission, strategic priorities, and approved financial plan.
Establish fundraising goals, key performance indicators, qualified pipeline expectations, revenue forecasts, and corrective action plans.
Develop and maintain an organizational case for support and coordinate corporate, social giving, and public grant campaign calendars.
Build and manage corporate giving prospect and partner portfolios, including identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
Develop and manage major donor and philanthropic prospect portfolios, leading cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and gift renewal strategies.
Design and execute digital, peer-to-peer, employee, and cause-based social giving campaigns with participation, revenue, and acquisition goals.
Engage executive leaders and Board members in corporate cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and grant support.
Develop strategic relationships with corporations, foundations, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and other institutional funding partners.
Secure corporate gifts, sponsorships, matching gifts, workplace giving support, and other partnership revenue for approved organizational priorities.
Lead public grant strategy, including opportunity identification, internal coordination, application development, submission planning, award compliance, and performance reporting with the Grant Writer and program leaders.
Oversee donor recognition, acknowledgments, stewardship communications, impact reporting, and donor retention and engagement activities.
Evaluate and develop planned giving, legacy gift, and long-term donor engagement opportunities.
Partner with Marketing on campaign content and Community Relations on coordinated external touchpoints and clear departmental roles.
Build and develop the Fund-Raising Department by defining its operating model, establishing roles and workflows, recruiting and onboarding staff, setting expectations, managing performance, coaching and developing employees, and administering corrective action and disciplinary processes with Human Resources.
Develop the annual department budget and monitor performance against revenue, expense, and net contribution goals.
Present fundraising performance, pipeline activity, forecasts, opportunities, risks, and recommended actions to the Chief Financial Officer, executive leadership, and the Board as appropriate.
Use donor data, prospect research, portfolio analytics, and campaign results to guide strategy, prioritize resources, and improve performance.
Partner with Finance on gift processing, reconciliation, restriction tracking, financial reporting, budgeting, and audit readiness.
Ensure compliance with charitable solicitation requirements, gift acceptance policies, donor privacy expectations, grant and sponsorship terms, naming requirements, and financial controls.
Develop, document, implement, and periodically update fundraising policies, procedures, standards, and best practices with Finance, Legal, and other stakeholders.
Maintain confidentiality, integrity, and appropriate use of donor and prospect information.
Represent Lifebanc at donor, corporate, grantor, and fundraising meetings or events tied directly to fundraising objectives.
Promote a collaborative, accountable, ethical, and donor-centered organizational culture.
Perform additional tasks and other duties as assigned to support Lifebanc’s mission and organizational objectives.