Director, Philanthropy

Salary Range:  $72,000 – $85,000 annually

At United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent, we are reimagining what it means to serve our community in the digital age. While our promise to support children and families from cradle to career remains steadfast, we are driving change through innovation – modernizing our systems, harnessing data to deepen our impact, and exploring new and sustainable ways to fund our mission. Every role in our organization plays a part in this transformation toward a smarter, more sustainable future for our community.

POSITION SUMMARY
The Director, Philanthropy, is a results-driven leader responsible for shaping and executing a high-performing resource development strategy aligned with the organization’s strategic plan. The role focuses on achieving revenue goals through the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors and prospects, as well as strategic management of a diversified donor portfolio. This position builds and grows relationships with corporate, labour, foundation, and individual partners to drive sustainable revenue growth, improve donor retention and acquisition, and expand philanthropic investment across multiple channels.

The Director identifies and develops major gift opportunities and cultivates leadership contributors through workplace campaigns, community initiatives, signature fundraising events, and other engagement opportunities.

FUNCTIONS

30 %  Develop and implement comprehensive giving strategies for retention, growth and acquisition across key streams:
Women United, leadership donors, major gifts and grants

25 %  Lead on high-value cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities with corporate and labour partners, foundations and individuals

20 %  Develop and manage a dynamic pipeline of prospective donors and partners, with a focus on strategic alignment and mutual impact

15 %  Supervise a small team providing regular interaction to ensure effective progress towards outcomes & targets, engage in active team building and skill development efforts and provide day-to-day and formal annual performance reviews for all direct reports

10 %  Support cross functional collaboration across all departments and Coordinate with VP Development

CORE COMPETENCIES & DUTIES
Core Competencies –

Mission Steward:  Aligns all actions with United Way’s mission to create lasting change and actively promotes a culture of philanthropy that fuels community impact.

Community Collaborator:  Fosters inclusive, trust-based partnerships that elevate community voice, drive collective action, and inspire philanthropic engagement.

Values Champion:  Embraces and models United Way’s values of equity, innovation, compassion, and accountability, while cultivating a values-driven culture of giving.

Executive Functioning:  Demonstrates strategic thinking, prioritization, and strong organizational execution to deliver results and advance a high-performing philanthropic environment.

Duties

Develop and implement a comprehensive major and leadership giving strategy focused on acquisition, growth and retention, that aligns with the organization’s strategic priorities and the Development and Brand Experience Department’s plan, and revenue goals.

Establish annual and multi-year fundraising targets, forecasts, and performance metrics; monitor progress and adjust strategies as needed.

Analyze fundraising data and trends to inform decision-making and drive continuous improvement.

Donor Relationship Management, Major & Leadership Giving and Women United

Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a diversified portfolio of individual, corporate/labour, and foundation donors with a strong emphasis on major giving, leadership giving and, Women United.

Design and implement donor journeys for assigned donor portfolios to retain, grow their gift or acquire new donors.

Actively listen to donor interests and philanthropic priorities, aligning them with impact opportunities and identifying opportunities to cross-sell, upgrade giving, and grow new revenue streams.

Inspire donors to action by applying sound judgment to make appropriate, timely asks and secure financial…