Director of Institutional Giving

Communities In Schools (CIS) of Chicago is seeking a Director of Institutional Giving, a vital leadership position in the Development department at Communities In Schools of Chicago. The position leads a high impact team and is responsible for all fundraising from institutional funders (foundation, corporate and competitive government grants). The role will create and drive the overall strategy, implementation and metrics related to institutional giving.

This position is integral to attaining the organization's $55 million campaign goal by June 2026 and positioning the organization to sustain growth undertaken during the campaign, by creating a strong pipeline to support increased fundraising post campaign. This position reports directly to the Chief Development Officer and works with the Chief Executive Officer and CIS of Chicago Board of Directors to leverage relationships; and is external facing in cultivation and development of donors and prospects.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Fundraising

• Create and drive the overall strategy for meeting current and future fundraising goals related to formal foundations, institutional corporate and competitive government grants
• Successful attainment of annual fundraising goals for team (including self and direct reports)
• Actively manage a portfolio of 30 - 40 institutional donors and prospects
• Identify and cultivate prospective donors; solicit, close and steward gifts within portfolio
• Support the identification of new prospective donors for the annual fund to ensure a sufficient pipeline of potential new donors at all levels of cultivation and solicitation, during and post-campaign
• Work with our Board of Directors and other volunteer leadership groups to leverage and manage donor relationships
• Support the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Development Officer in outreach and fundraising activities
• Write/tailor letters of request, donor proposals, and other donor communication for portfolio
• Support a culture of strong donor stewardship, based in gratitude
• Lead and manage all tools and events focused on institutional donors designed to engage, cultivate, and steward donors and prospective donors
• Review and approve proposals and reports created by direct reports, and/or contracted writers
• Create proposals and reports, as needed

Operations

• Collaborate with Development Operations team members to ensure accuracy of grant agreements, donor moves management functions, awards, and other grant compliance details are entered into the donor CRM database and other locations, as necessary

Management

• Manage direct reports and contractors, providing ongoing support, encouragement, and critical feedback on progress toward clear performance goals, as established on an annual basis
• Ensure Institutional Giving team maintains high levels of Development client satisfaction by delivering excellent stewardship
• Partner with the Development Operations team to track activity metrics for the giving dashboard and provide monthly assessment of progress for goals for the team's Institutional Giving portfolio, collectively

Leadership

• Build and maintain strong relationships across the organization
• Serve as a member of the senior development team
• Serve as part of the Supervisor Cohort for cross-departmental team building and organizational leadership and team building
• Represent the organization at external events

Other

• Other duties as assigned as part of a collaborative team

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree required
• Ten plus years' experience in institutional fundraising, with strong track record of success with direct fundraising
• Superior writing and editing skills
• Demonstrated ability to meet fundraising or sales goals
• Previous supervisory experience within a professional setting
• A criminal background check and verification of employment and degrees is required

See full job description for details and organizational information.