Director of Philanthropy
Title: Director of Philanthropy
Are you ready to save or heal a life?
Do you want to be the person that makes the miracle of donation and transplantation a reality? Do you want to turn tragedy into hope and healing? This is what we do every single day and we think you have what it takes.
Join a team that combines the fulfillment of an amazing mission with incredible benefits. This is not just another job or listing on your resume. Simply put, this job will change you, just like organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation changes the lives of donor families and recipients.
Every day, the Lifebanc team gets the opportunity to change lives forever. Become a part of our family as we work toward a world where everyone in need of an organ or tissue transplant receives the healing they deserve. Come be a life saver.
What is Lifebanc?
Lifebanc, is the federally designated organ, eye and tissue recovery organization that serves 20 counties in Northeast Ohio. Put simply, we facilitate and coordinate organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation in our community and educate the public on the importance of our mission. Our vision is pursuing a future where organ, eye and tissue donation is embraced as an honor and personal responsibility. Our mission is to save and heal lives.
Position Description:
The Director of Philanthropy serves as Lifebanc’s senior leader for fund raising strategy and revenue development and is responsible for building and leading a comprehensive fund-raising program. The Director designs and executes strategies centered on corporate giving, major gifts, social giving campaigns, planned giving, and public grant opportunities; is accountable for achieving annual philanthropic revenue goals; and develops long-term strategies that diversify charitable revenue, strengthen donor relationships, and expand Lifebanc’s funding base.
This role 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 Director coordinates with Community Relations to support aligned external outreach without assuming responsibility for Lifebanc’s broader community engagement, education, or awareness functions.
Essential Functions:
- Develops, implements, and evaluates annual and multi-year philanthropic strategies aligned with Lifebanc’s mission, strategic priorities, and approved financial plan.
- Establishes fund raising goals, key performance indicators, qualified pipeline expectations, revenue forecasts, and corrective action plans.
- Develops and maintains a compelling organizational case for support and coordinates corporate, social giving, and public grant campaign calendars.
- Builds and manages a portfolio of corporate giving prospects and partners, including identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Develops and manages a portfolio of major donors and philanthropic prospects, leading cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and gift renewal strategies
- Designs and executes social giving campaigns, including digital, peer-to-peer, employee, and cause-based giving initiatives, with clear participation, revenue, and acquisition goals.
- Engages executive leaders and Board members in corporate cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and grant support activities.
- Develops strategic relationships with corporations, foundations, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and other institutional funding partners.
- Secures corporate gifts, sponsorships, matching gifts, workplace giving support, and other partnership revenue for approved organizational priorities.
- Leads public grant strategy, including opportunity identification, internal coordination, application development, submission planning, award compliance, and performance reporting in collaboration with the Grant Writer and program leaders.
- Oversees donor recognition, acknowledgments, stewardship communications, impact reporting, and other activities that support donor retention and engagement.
- Evaluates and develops opportunities for planned giving, legacy gifts, and long-term donor engagement strategies.
- Partners with Marketing to develop campaign content and with Community Relations to coordinate external touchpoints, avoid duplication, and maintain clear departmental roles.
- Builds and develops the Fund-Raising Department, including defining its operating model, establishing roles and workflows, recruiting and onboarding staff, setting performance expectations, performing performance management activities, providing coaching and employee development, administering corrective action and disciplinary processes in partnership with Human Resources and leading, coaching, and evaluating team members as the function grows.
- Develops the annual department budget and monitors performance against revenue, expense, and net contribution goals.
- Prepares and presents fundraising performance, pipeline activity, forecast updates, opportunities, risks, and recommended actions to the Chief Financial Officer, executive leadership, and the Board, as appropriate.
- Uses donor data, prospect research, portfolio analytics, and campaign results to guide strategy, prioritize resources, and improve performance.
- Partners with Finance to support accurate gift processing, reconciliation, restriction tracking, financial reporting, budgeting, and audit readiness.
- Ensures compliance with charitable solicitation requirements, gift acceptance policies, donor privacy expectations, grant and sponsorship terms, naming requirements, and organizational financial controls.
- Develops, documents, implements, and periodically updates fund raising policies, procedures, standards, and departmental best practices in partnership with Finance, Legal, and other internal stakeholders.
- Maintains confidentiality, integrity, and appropriate use of donor and prospect information.
- Represents Lifebanc at donor, corporate, grantor, and fundraising meetings or events when directly connected to fund raising objectives.
- Promotes a collaborative, accountable, ethical, and donor-centered culture throughout the organization.
- Performs additional tasks, as needed to support Lifebanc’s mission and organizational objectives.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in nonprofit management, business administration, communications, marketing, public administration, healthcare administration, or related field required. Advanced degree preferred.
- Seven to ten years of progressive fundraising, philanthropy, corporate giving, grant development, or related nonprofit experience required.
- A minimum of three years of leadership or management experience, including responsibility for building or significantly expanding a philanthropy, fundraising, or related revenue-development function, required.
- Demonstrated success securing corporate gifts, sponsorships, public grants, or revenue through social giving campaigns required.
- Demonstrated success achieving annual fundraising revenue goals and managing fundraising pipelines with measurable results required.
- Experience with corporate partnerships, sponsorships, digital or peer-to-peer giving, government grant processes, donor stewardship, and fundraising events preferred.
- Experience developing fundraising budgets, revenue forecasts, performance measures, and reports for executive or Board audiences preferred.
- Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) designation preferred.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- 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, with the ability to build a department from an early stage and scale it responsibly.
- 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 at all times.
- 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.
Physical Requirements:
- Ability to lift 25 pounds and sit or stand for extended periods of time.
Compensation and Benefits:
When you join Lifebanc you can expect competitive salaries and a great benefit package. Our benefits include health, dental and vision insurance, health savings account, dependent care flexible spending account, short-term disability, and life insurance. We also offer a generous paid time off program, 401(K) retirement plan, parental leave, on-site fitness facility, tuition reimbursement and more!
Lifebanc is committed to a workforce that is diverse, inclusive and equitable. We encourage qualified candidates to apply.