INDIVIDUAL GIVING MANAGER at HOUSING FORWARD – Maywood, Illinois

JOB SUMMARY:

The Individual Giving Manager (IGM) is responsible for building and sustaining a strong base of individual donor support. This role manages a portfolio of individual donors and prospects, leads donor retention and upgrade strategies, and drives personal engagement through a disciplined moves management approach.

The IGM plays a critical role in strengthening philanthropic relationships, growing unrestricted revenue, and supporting major and leadership-level giving, including participation in the private capital campaign.

The Manager will also work with the Director of Major Gifts to support building a monthly giving program and major gift systems, processes, and communications which result in the successful growth of all stages of donations from individuals, including a three-year capital campaign. This position will work with the Board of Directors and a volunteer campaign committee to determine effective strategies to engage a larger pool of identified potential donors. The Manager will also have their own personal portfolio of prospects and will regularly meet with prospects and cultivate donor relationships. The Manager reports to the Director of Major and works closely with the Development Coordinator.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Individual Donor Strategy & Revenue Growth
• Manage and grow a portfolio of individual donors and prospects, including mid-level and leadership annual donors
• Develop and implement individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans using a moves management framework
• Execute strategies to increase donor retention, frequency, and gift size
• Collaborate with the Director of Major Gifts to identify and qualify donors for major gift cultivation

Donor Engagement & Stewardship

• Build authentic, mission-centered relationships through in-person meetings, calls, tours, and personalized communications
• Partner with Programs and Communications to develop compelling donor stories and impact reporting
• Create and execute on donor engagement plans (target asks, action steps, and due dates) for top tiers of prospects. Prepare, manage, and update prospect portfolios for CEO, CDO, and Director of Major Gifts. Schedule prospect debriefings as needed, support the scheduling of all action steps, and track/record outcomes in the agency’s CRM.
• Lead stewardship efforts, including acknowledgments, donor updates, and recognition activities
• Ensure timely, accurate, and meaningful donor communication and follow-up
• Draft compelling donor communications, proposals, and stewardship materials in collaboration with the development and communications team.
• Engage donors in your portfolio in planned giving, special campaigns, and special events as appropriate.
• Develop donor engagement materials to support cultivation and solicitation.
• Manage a portfolio of campaign prospects for face-to-face cultivation and solicitation.
• Oversee all aspects of individual giving donation entry, tracking and acknowledgement. Ensure timely and accurate reporting.

Annual Fund & Campaign Support

• Support monthly and annual giving initiatives, including targeted appeals, leadership annual giving, and donor renewals.
• Contribute to the planning and execution of a private capital or comprehensive campaign (e.g., $5M+), including prospect engagement and solicitation support
• Work with Development Coordinator to ensure accurate tracking, reporting, and analysis of donor activity
• Support Board of Directors involvement in individual. Track each member’s progress toward achieving commitments and with the Director of Major Gifts, provide materials, troubleshooting and reminders.
• Working with the Director of Major Gifts, develop individual giving materials to support the work of executive leadership and volunteer leaders.
• Develop Giving Cabinet meeting agendas, other meeting preparatory materials, meeting reminders and meeting minutes.
• Plan and successfully implement all aspects of donor cultivation, stewardship and thank you events, including guest lists, invitations, rsvp’s, food and beverages, program planning and related materials.
• Serve as the point person for campaign giving operations, ensuring major deadlines and deliverables related to the individual giving are achieved. Track progress against quarterly, annual and multiyear donation revenue goals and benchmarks.
• Serve as a key liaison to the Campaign Steering Committee and manage committee member involvement in the campaign.
• Oversee and support the completion of action steps and plan updates within desired timeframes.

Data, Reporting & Collaboration

• Maintain accurate donor records and activity tracking in the organization’s CRM
• Monitor and analyze donor performance metrics, including retention, upgrades, and pipeline movement
• Prepare regular reports and insights for Development leadership
• Work cross-functionally with Development, Communications, Programs, and Finance to align donor strategy with organizational priorities
• Work in partnership with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Director of Major Gifts to develop and operationalize an effective strategy to successfully raise $5 million from individual donors through the FORWARD Campaign, a three-year capital campaign.
• With the Director of Major Gifts, set and successfully achieve campaign donation revenue goals with the capital campaign timelines.
• Research donor prospects and in partnership with the Chief Development Officer (CD0) and Director of Major Gifts, draft prospect strategies based on “moves management” to motivate donors and prospects to make “stretch” gifts.
• Other tasks as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, or a related field is required.
• A minimum of three years of prior experience in fundraising/ development office; experience with capital campaigns is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate and steward multi-faceted, outcome-based relationships.
• Strategic and analytical skills and creative problem-solving ability.
• Ability to manage time effectively with multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven development department. Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive information effectively and confidentially.
• Strong strategic and analytical skills and creative problem
• Prior experience with a fundraising software and information management; experience with Salesforce is a strong plus
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) required.
• Ability to organize, prioritize work and work independently.
• Ability to present information concisely and effectively, both verbally and in writing
• Must have smartphone to utilize Agency communication and collaboration tools.
• Must provide own transportation.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms balance, stoop, kneel or crouch and use stairs. Must have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, and viewing a computer.

American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement: External and internal applicants, as well as position incumbents who become disabled, must be able to perform the essential job specific functions (listed within each job responsibility) either unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation to be determined by the organization on a case-by-case basis.

Housing Forward does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, citizenship, ethnic or national origin, age, disability, medical status, military status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, ancestry, or any legally protected status. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits and training. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, national origin, or disability.

Job descriptions are not intended and should not be construed to be all-inclusive lists of all responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with a job. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the job requirements, management reserves the right to modify, add or remove duties from particular jobs and to assign other duties, as necessary. This job description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.