Director, Philanthropy

Position Summary: The Director, Strategic Philanthropy leads Unity World Headquarters' philanthropy team and reports to the Chief Executive Officer. This position leads strategies to secure major, principal, planned giving, foundation, endowment, and campaign gifts that advance Unity's mission and long-term financial sustainability, while modernizing the department's approach through current fundraising technology and technique. The Director sits on Unity's Leadership Council and is expected to grow into broader organizational leadership as the department scales. While working closely with the CEO, Board of Trustees, executive leadership, ministers, and key volunteers, the Director cultivates strategic donor relationships and personally manages a portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects.

In partnership with the Chief Marketing Officer, this position ensures alignment between major and planned giving strategies and the organization's annual giving, donor communications, stewardship, and digital fundraising efforts. While Marketing and Communications lead broad-based fundraising initiatives, the Director focuses on identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding transformational philanthropic investments — bringing current, technology-enabled fundraising practices.

Essential Job Functions:

1. Strategic Philanthropy Leadership
   • Develop and execute a comprehensive, multi-year philanthropy strategy aligned with Unity’s mission, strategic plan, financial priorities, and future opportunities.
   • Establish annual and long-range fundraising goals, performance measures, portfolio expectations, and reporting practices for major, principal, planned, foundation, endowment, and campaign giving.
   • Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and Executive Leadership Team on philanthropy, donor engagement, funding opportunities, campaign readiness, and emerging fundraising trends.
   • Promote a culture of philanthropy across Unity by helping leaders understand their role in donor engagement, stewardship, and mission-based relationship building.
   • Represent Philanthropy on Unity's Leadership Council, bringing forward modern fundraising trends and cross-departmental collaboration opportunities to organizational leadership.
2. Major, Principal & Planned Gifts
   • Personally manage a qualified portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects through identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
   • Develop individualized donor strategies and compelling gift opportunities that connect donor interests with Unity’s mission and strategic priorities.
   • Lead the growth of planned and legacy giving, including bequests, charitable gift annuities, trusts, beneficiary designations, and other appropriate charitable gift arrangements.
   • Build and strengthen Unity’s legacy society and maintain productive relationships with donors’ financial, estate, tax, and legal advisors as appropriate.
   • Lead or support capital, endowment, special initiative, and comprehensive campaign planning and execution.
3. Collaboration with Marketing & Communications
   • Collaborate with the Chief Marketing Officer to align broad-based annual giving, mid-level giving, digital fundraising, donor acquisition, storytelling, and donor communications with the major and planned gift pipeline.
   • Clarify shared goals, handoffs, segmentation, data practices, and stewardship responsibilities between Philanthropy and Communications/Marketing.
   • Partner on case statements, donor impact stories, campaign messaging, proposals, presentations, events, and other materials supporting donor engagement.
   • Ensure donors experience consistent, mission-centered, and personalized communication across channels and giving levels.
4. Current Fundraising Technology, Data & Performance Management
   • Use CRM data, wealth screening, prospect research, predictive analytics, and portfolio management practices to identify opportunities and guide activity.
   • Develop and maintain executive dashboards measuring pipeline value, donor movement, proposals, gift commitments, retention, planned gift intentions, campaign progress, and return on investment.
   • Ensure accurate, timely, secure, and confidential donor records, gift documentation, contact reports, prospect assignments, and reporting.
   • Evaluate and implement appropriate fundraising technologies and AI-enabled tools to improve insight, efficiency, personalization, and donor experience while maintaining privacy and ethical standards.
   • Champion adoption of current giving channels and techniques, including digital and peer-to-peer fundraising platforms, mobile and text-to-give, recurring/subscription giving programs, and generative AI tools for donor communications, proposal drafting, and prospect research.
   • Build data-driven donor journeys using segmentation, marketing automation, and predictive/AI-enabled analytics to personalize outreach and improve donor retention and lifetime value.
5. Team & Operational Leadership
   • Recruit, lead, coach, and develop a high-performing philanthropy team with clear expectations, measurable goals, and accountability for results.
   • Develop and manage the department budget, staffing plan, vendor relationships, professional services, and other resources.
   • Create effective policies, workflows, and service standards for gift acceptance, donor stewardship, prospect management, planned giving, recognition, and confidentiality.
   • Represent Unity professionally with donors, churches, ministers, foundations, professional advisors, community partners, and national audiences.
   • Maintain regular attendance and adhere to all organizational policies, procedures, safety guidelines, and timekeeping requirements.