Director, Corporate Philanthropy

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Title: Director, Corporate Philanthropy

FLSA Status: Salaried, exempt

Department: Advancement

Reports To: Chief Advancement Officer                                                         

Organization Overview

Chicago Cares is redefining volunteerism.  We are committed to community-driven service: service co-designed in partnership with Chicago’s most impactful community leaders and organizations on the south and west sides. We serve “with” not “to”.

Through community-driven service, we build connections and bridges among diverse people in the face of great division and disconnection. Our work to change hearts and minds isn’t a luxury right now.  It is a necessity for a just society.  We can’t legislate our way to caring about one another.  We must do it person by person.

Service can help us build the city we all deserve. It can be a force for a more caring and just society. Chicago Cares is building the empathetic and connected community that is required for an inclusive and healthy city. 

Position Overview

The Advancement team provides leadership and expertise to guide the organization’s fundraising, stewardship, public relations, marketing, and communications functions, consistent with Chicago Cares’ mission, strategic priorities, and the needs of our volunteers, donors, and partners.  The team leads organizational efforts to ensure a strong, healthy, and innovative development and brand strategy to deepen engagement and increase support for a stronger, more unified Chicago.

Through the Advancement team, Chicago Cares:

Raises sufficient revenue, including corporate donations, individual donations, and foundation and government grants, to ensure the organization’s strength and stability; and

Leads marketing, public relations, communications, and special events to maintain a strong brand presence in the community.

The Director, Corporate Philanthropy is a proven, respected, and effective leader, relationship manager, strategic fundraiser and coach. An essential leader in the organization’s growth strategy, the Director, Corporate Philanthropy is responsible for leading proposal development and execution, data-driven reporting, cultivation and stewardship of relationships with a primary focus on corporate donors, consistent with Chicago Cares fundraising and organizational strategy. The Director’s primary role is to lead the team’s efforts around influencing and inspiring stakeholders and donors to support and engage Chicago Cares’ movement to deepen and expand community-driven service and philanthropy. 

The role works both internally with colleagues and externally with stakeholders and donors to align Chicago Cares’ revenue to best-in-class community-driven service, learning and engagement. Their work builds the power, recognition and reach of Chicago Cares’ brand and expands its influence and support among donors. To that end, the Director will work closely with the CEO, CAO, and senior leadership team to build, steward, and expand Chicago Cares’ influence in the corporate engagement space.  They will own the corporate proposal process from development to evaluation and have a deep focus on internal and external alignment of stakeholders.  The Director has supervisory responsibility for our corporate philanthropy team and works to support and coach other team members in donor stewardship and influence.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include fund strategy and brand development, departmental integration, data management, relationship management, project management, and departmental leadership, included but not limited to: 

Fund Development Responsibilities

Fund Development:

Serve as a public representative of Chicago Cares and ensure Chicago Cares is positioned publicly to make continual progress on mission and strategy and to increase revenue potential.

Brand Development:

When requested, serve as the organization’s face and voice, locally and nationally, ensuring Chicago Cares is positioned publicly to make continuous progress aligned to mission and strategy and that the messaging and external relations of the organization reflect present priorities and future potential.

Fund Strategy, Planning and Road-mapping:

With the leadership team, formulate and execute comprehensive development strategies that will enhance revenue from major donors, corporations, foundations, and individuals. Develop and lead efforts to strategically grow revenue.

Fund Performance Management:

Lead the advancement team to set annual revenue projections and conduct regular reforecasts.

Develop and lead efforts to strategically grow corporate revenue.

Lead departmental budgeting, reforecasting, and expense management.

Data Management & Evaluation:

Ensure corporate focused data is provided to the Board and senior team accurately and within the requested timeline, and that requests from Board, staff, and/or funders are responded to in a timely manner.

Leverage data to evaluate and inform efforts related to fundraising health and sustainability, compliance, benchmarking, planning, forecasting, and risk-management.

Business Development, Prospecting and Cultivation

Business Development:

Diversify and continuously align fundraising and development activities to strategy and best and emerging practices in community centric fundraising, and Corporate Social Responsibility, developing the resources and relationships needed to do so.

Influence corporate partners to align service opportunities to community-driven service and philanthropy.

Positionality and Growth:

Serve as the organization’s primary prospector.

Know Chicago Cares’ constituents and environment, develop and execute strategy for donor relations – inclusive of corporate partnerships - and steward, cultivate, and grow the number of donors and partners that volunteer with and invest in Chicago Cares.

Develop an awareness of the landscape in our city and sectors that afford deeper engagement, particularly among foundations, corporations, and government.

Influence and Expertise:

Continuously develop expertise on current trends in corporate social responsibility, conducting research, networking with leaders in the field, and actively participating in the life of the foundation, corporate and government sector.

Ensure Chicago Cares remains a leader in volunteerism, civic engagement, and corporate social responsibility by developing compelling content for Chicago Cares’ donor audiences.

Operational Planning and Execution:

Participate and lead departmental specific strategic planning, budgeting, and evaluation processes to inform organizational strategy and action plans.

Manage the organization’s fundraising budget, including regularly reviewing fundraising expense reports and providing projections for annual budgeting and reforecasts.

Lead efforts to set annual revenue projections, conduct regular reforecasts and help raise the revenue goal of the annual budget.

Quality and Compliance Assurance:

Ensure the functions of the organization in your purview meet internal and external performance expectations.

Relationship Management Responsibilities

Donor Cultivation, Solicitation, and Stewardship:

Manage a portfolio of existing donor relationships and supervise a team of relationships managers who also manage a portfolio.

Strategically communicate Chicago Cares’ impact to prospective and current donors, in order to move them towards greater civic investment.

Steward partners through a continuum of high-quality, transformational experiences with Chicago Cares that lead to greater investment in community-driven efforts aligned to best practices.

Donor Accountability:

Ensure donor needs are met through the entire lifecycle of their relationship with Chicago Cares, including producing high-quality proposals, ensuring accurate data entry, planning, and executing volunteer engagements, and reporting on impact and invoicing.

Departmental Coordination:

Develop a strong, responsive, and collaborative relationship with departmental leadership across the organization to more effectively align operational priorities to the needs of other departments.

In partnership with the Programs and Community Strategy & Innovation teams, diversify sales offerings, and coordinate strategies to advance business objectives and create a stronger overall connection between internal departments.

Project Management:

Drive program development and departmental processes, establish effective timelines, documents and procedures that enable successful and impactful project execution.

Manage interdepartmental teams consistent with the annual action plans for innovative, hybrid and cross- departmental engagements

Teams and Supervision:

Provide daily people management support to team members, including hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, and performance management.

Cultivate a team through supervision consistent with Chicago Cares’ philosophy and strategic objectives with a focus on high standards, cultivation, and accountability. Engender employee retention.

Resourcing:

Guide and mentor staff to steward and manage relationships with donors in line with Chicago Cares’ mission and values.

Complete other duties as assigned.

Competencies Needed

Content expertise in nonprofit fundraising (institutional, and or major giving) or sales and the ability to cultivate relationships and prospects over a long horizon and effectively close.

Culture-setting and team building, ability to invest in and develop people.

Content expertise in institutional engagement, advocacy, or lobbying.

Cultural competence, a commitment to advancing equity and the practice of anti-racism.

Strong relationship development and management to ensure, when exposed to tension, relationships with partners, donors, vendors, and bureaucrats persist.

Cooperation and collaboration to align programs, advancement and finance, and operations functions.

Accountability, transparency and candor, a willingness to say and hear no, to take feedback productively and engage productive conflict.

Strategy, influence and negotiation as connector, advisor, pusher, and strategic risk-taker.

Power fluency and analysis and competitive analysis and ability to benchmark, plan, and forecast.

Corporate fluency and connection, without corporate interest and with ability to build bridges between interests.

Public speaking and public relations, particularly with an ability to have national reach and/or legitimacy.

Emotional intelligence, cultural competence, and diplomacy.

Requirements

Five to seven years of a proven track record in donor relations, fundraising, and/or sales.

Prior, proven leadership and management experience in job-related functional expertise: specifically, in fundraising, development, donor cultivation, or sales. Two to three years of leadership and management experience preferred.

Emerging subject matter expertise in messaging, donor engagement, and sustainability and geographic expertise specific to Chicago and metro region market and social impact considerations.

Strong coaching, staff development and change management skill sets.

Demonstrated commitment to service, civic engagement and/or social justice

Desire to support and nurture programs that connect people, communities, and causes.

Experience with Salesforce preferred.

Excellent PC skills, including Microsoft Suite, Office 365.

Strong ability to apply creativity and flexibility; strong problem solving, quantitative and analytical abilities.

Ability to take initiative, work independently, meet deadlines, and handle multiple projects in a rapidly changing, agile environment – including interruptions and adjustments to priorities.

Ease and experience working with individuals and groups from diverse cultural, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds.

Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills with ability to make effective oral presentations to large and small groups.

Commitment to working beyond traditional working hours and schedules.

Ability to adjust to various physical and environmental conditions as the position may require (computer work, sitting or standing for long periods of time, etc.).

Salary and Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt position with a starting salary of $85,000 - $90,000 per year determined by candidates’ skills and experience.

Benefits include:

Flexible work schedule.

Hybrid work environment – Currently, all staff must be in the office two days a week.

Group medical (PPO or HMO) for the employee (90% coverage) and dependents.

Group dental is available for employees and dependents.

Vision coverage for the employee (100% covered by CCI).

Group life insurance and LSTD insurance for the employee (100% covered by CCI).

Access to 401(k) retirement plan after three months with a 4% employer match.

Generous paid time off, wellness days and holiday pay.

Paid parental leave.

Access to sabbatical leave after three years of service.

Position Location

This offer is contingent on the successful completion of the pre-employment process and compliance with Chicago Cares Residency Policy, which states: employees are expected to establish and maintain residency in the Chicago Metropolitan Region and maintain residency throughout their employment with Chicago Cares. The six-county Chicago Metropolitan Region includes the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY

Chicago Cares is committed to a community driven, anti-racist approach to service and integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion meaningfully into our practices, structures, and culture. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, sex, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other category protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. We strongly encourage all interested candidates including all interested Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and others who identify as nonwhite, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and those with lived-experience with racism and/or misogynoir to apply for this role.  

January 2026