The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by love for God. Its mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
 
William Booth and his wife Catherine founded The Salvation Army in 1865 to serve London’s worst poverty-stricken districts. Today, nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through a range of social services: providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless, and opportunities for underprivileged children. Eighty-two cents of every dollar the Army spends is used to support these services in 5,000 communities nationwide, and as a branch of the Christian Church, the ultimate goal of all programs is the spiritual regeneration of all people.
 
Located in Hoffman Estates, IL, the USA Central Territory is one of four national territories and serves as the administrative head of 10 Divisions and 257 corps (program service sites) throughout the central United States. The Salvation Army is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 
 

The Opportunity: Territorial Director of Major Giving Programs
 
In response to a strategic cultural shift designed to invigorate philanthropy, The Salvation Army is creating a new leadership role to provide consultation, resources and guidance to Major Gift Officers (aka: Donor Relations Directors) within the Central Territory’s 10 Divisions. Major Gift staffing will grow over 300% in 5 years.
 
The Salvation Army has made a commitment to invest in and amplify the Major Gifts program with a goal of securing additional (new or renewed) leadership gifts. The collective portfolios in the 10 Divisions are comprised of more than 800,000 active donors, but less than 5% are giving at a Major Gift level. Leadership sees this as an enormous opportunity to grow philanthropy, both in volume and gift level. The Central Territory desires to provide guidance to each of its Divisions in identifying, retaining, and cultivating these donors to minimize attrition and maximize giving.
 
The long-term outcome will be a more focused initiative in each Division that has consistent training, leadership, and outcomes to transform donor investment in the Army’s mission. Such gifts fund operating, capital and endowment needs. Collaborating with key stakeholders, including officer and volunteer leadership, development professionals, and consultants, the Territorial Director of Major Giving Programs will serve as a visionary pioneer, offering tools and best practices to encourage a robust and highly effective Major Gifts program and team across 11 states. The Territorial Director of Major Giving Programs will report to J. Douglas McDaniel, Executive Director of Development for The Salvation Army Central Territory.
 
The Salvation Army seeks an individual with proven executive level experience managing a highly effective, decentralized major gifts team across a wide geographic area. As a resource to the Major Gifts team, the successful candidate will have past direct donor interaction experience resulting in the closing of six–seven figure and larger level gifts. The successful candidate will be responsible for coordinating between Territorial and Divisional leadership, planned giving leaders, and third party vendors, striving for collaborative solutions to encourage Major Gift growth.
 
Performance Objectives
 
Leadership

• Work closely with the Territorial Executive Director of Development and all relevant stakeholders to implement the newly adopted Major Gifts business plan with an end-goal of increased revenue over the next five years. Ensure program growth year after year, achieving targeted growth metrics specified within the plan.
• Serve as a face and voice of Territorial leadership, building consensus on philanthropic outcomes through increased communication and regular visits to each of the Divisions.
• Serve as a conduit and communication channel to support goal attainment and to remove major roadblocks on the path to achieving major gift success.
• Serve, by example, as a leader who continually learns and grows, staying abreast of industry trends and elements of the development process that integrate various development disciplines.
• Facilitate Divisional / cross-Divisional / Regional / Territorial / National / International asks in collaboration with major gifts officers and leadership giving officers when it makes sense, given a donor’s charitable interests and philanthropic capacity.
• Develop and maintain respectful, positive, collaborative and impactful relationships with Officers, donors, and other colleagues, partners and stakeholders.
• Develop and integrate gift crediting policies that incentivize collaboration between Major Gifts, Planned Giving, and Divisional/Territorial professionals.

 
Management

• Build an infrastructure, including a regional support structure, to support the overall program, which could include hiring additional staff such as a Prospect Research Manager, writers, and other outsourced staffing for oversight of frontline fundraisers. Serve as a supervisor to these positions.
• Conduct / facilitate ongoing professional staff trainings (major gifts cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, etc.) and professional support opportunities throughout the Territory and at conferences.
• Develop prescribed Divisional major gifts program accountability and reporting structure, with standard, Territory-wide reporting mechanisms and metrics.
• Review programs, practices, policies and staff, annually, to provide ongoing professional support for Major Gift program success and growth, in partnership with the Executive Director of Development and Divisional Directors of Development.
• Review with Divisional leadership realistic goals and expectations based on personnel abilities and the Divisional experiences and stage of development.
• Collaborate with Territorial donor data management staff to ensure robust and effective use of Territory-wide database when developed.
• Facilitate improved major donor / gift stewardship communication practices at Divisional levels.
• Monitor and evaluate program progress and revenue production.
• Manage vendor and consultant relationships related to advancing the work of the department in Major Gifts.

 
Internal Consultation

• Foster consistent interaction and communication with Divisional Development Directors.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to actively promote the strategic growth and development of the Major Gifts team.
• Work with and support Divisional supervisors for consistent implementation of best practices and effective management of externally-facing giving officers.
• Assist Divisions with professional recruitment and training, orientation and coaching of mid-level, major gifts and leadership giving staff for maximum success.
• With the end goal of annual philanthropic increase, work with Divisions and consultants to best identify appropriate caseload distribution amongst Major Giving personnel.
• Work with key professional staff and Army leadership to facilitate or support well-planned ultimate gift ($1M+) approaches to donors of leadership giving capacity.

 
Related Performance Areas

• Serve as key participant on leadership team(s) for any future Territorial capital / endowment campaigns or projects.
• With existing Territorial personnel, provide support and consultation to Divisional leadership to support successful capital and endowment campaigns.
• Develop, alongside Territorial Planned Giving staff, an effective case, communications materials and campaign-like push for increased gifts for program and operating endowment, with naming opportunities outlined.
• Develop a resource repository of case for support expressions, data, and materials, program and expense information, donor and client stories and testimonials, photos, proposal and templates, and other resources helpful to major gift personnel.

 
The Qualified Candidate
 
The Salvation Army seeks a strategic, goal-oriented leader with eight or more years of experience in soliciting and securing Major Gifts and at least three years of experience managing a team of gift officers. Preference is given to those who have served in a faith-based organization and/or a matrixed structure. It is imperative that the person who assumes the role fully embrace, support and reflect well on The Salvation Army’s mission and values through one’s professional responsibilities and behavior. The Territorial Director of Major Giving will be strategic and organized, with a willingness to listen and learn. S/he must be a strong communicator and be able to partner successfully with both internal and external Army stakeholders including Officers, colleagues and vendors.
 
Specific Requirements Include:

• Passion for The Salvation Army’s mission coupled with a strong commitment to know and understand the Army’s history, mission and structure, as well as its services, policies and procedures.
• A minimum of eight years of progressive experience in major gifts, with documented ability to manage staff and lead teams.
• A track record of success in securing six-figure major gifts from individual major donors in face-to-face settings, demonstrating a knowledge and ability to identify and develop potential donors and teach that process to others.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships with a variety of volunteers, public leadership, partner organizations and other stakeholders.
• Ability to audit, monitor, and evaluate and promote efficiency and effectiveness of ongoing projects and budgets.
• Highly effective interpersonal, conversational and presentation skills, demonstrating emotional intelligence and situational awareness in tandem with excellent writing abilities.
• Proven success in building strong and productive work teams with a focus on mentoring and nurturing staff development.
• Strong analytic and strategic-thinking skills, with demonstrated ability to create, implement, and monitor complex plans and translate those plans into goals and concrete strategies.
• Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Economics, Business, Marketing or Communications. Advanced degree, CFRE or other fundraising certifications are preferred.
• Career track record that shows stability with an organization and capacity to develop and strengthen relationships, culminating in overall success.
• Willingness to travel 30-40% of the time within the Territory, some overnight travel required. A valid driver’s license is required.

 
This position offers a competitive benefits package. The position will have access to a fleet vehicle for travel out to the Divisions. The finalist for this role will be required to submit to a full background and reference check.

The Salvation Army is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Minority/Female/Disabled/Veterans.  In compliance with the ADA Amendments Act, if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for this position, please call 847-294-2166.
 
To Apply
 
This search is being managed by Heather Eddy, President and CEO of Kistner Eddy Executive Services (KEES). Candidates may apply by clicking the APPLY NOW button below. To assure confidential tracking, no resumes will be accepted via email. Questions may be addressed to Dylan Tromblay at dtromblay@alfordexecutivesearch.com.
 
ALL INQUIRIES WILL BE HELD IN STRICT CONFIDENCE.
 
Kistner Eddy Executive Services (KEES) is a retained search firm dedicated to providing recruitment services of exceptional quality and strengthening the nonprofit community through professional staffing solutions.