Director of Individual Giving

at United Food Bank in Mesa, Arizona, United States

Job Description

Our Mission and Values:

We are passionate about our Mission of Uniting Communities to Alleviate Hunger. You are most likely to find success at United Food Bank if you are motivated to embrace our values:

We are Uniters – working together as one united team.

We are Cultivators – with a growth mindset and willing to try new things.

We are Optimists – with a positive attitude and a commitment to move our mission forward.

Position Summary:

The Director of Philanthropy serves as a key leader within United Food Bank’s Philanthropy team, responsible for leading the organization’s individual giving strategy, major gifts program, donor engagement efforts, and fundraising operations. Reporting to the Chief Philanthropy & Communications Officer, this position provides strategic and operational leadership focused on driving fundraising performance, strengthening donor relationships, and building a culture of accountability and philanthropy across the organization.

The Director of Philanthropy oversees gift officers, donor engagement staff, and fundraising operations support functions, ensuring consistent execution of donor cultivation, stewardship, pipeline management, and fundraising strategy. This role is responsible for establishing clear goals, performance expectations, and operational discipline across the philanthropy function while supporting the organization’s long-term philanthropic growth.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead, mentor, and manage philanthropy team members to achieve annual fundraising goals and performance expectations.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), portfolio standards, fundraising metrics, and accountability measures across the philanthropy function.
• Conduct regular portfolio reviews, pipeline reviews, moves management meetings, and forecasting discussions to ensure consistent progress toward revenue goals and effective portfolio management practices.
• Oversee portfolio strategy and assignment processes, including evaluating donor qualification, portfolio movement, engagement levels, and determining when donors should be reassigned, advanced, or removed from active portfolios.
• Build operational discipline and consistency across donor engagement activities, stewardship practices, reporting, and fundraising workflows.
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve fundraising effectiveness, operational efficiency, donor engagement strategies, and team performance through innovation, process improvement, and data-informed decision-making.
• Partner with the Chief Philanthropy & Communications Officer to develop and implement fundraising strategies aligned with organizational priorities and growth objectives.
• Foster a high-performing, donor-centered culture focused on accountability, execution, and measurable impact.

• Manage a strategic portfolio of major donors and high-capacity prospects through cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and long-term relationship management.
• Oversee donor pipeline management, forecasting, and fundraising performance tracking utilizing Salesforce and related fundraising systems.
• Develop and implement stewardship strategies designed to strengthen donor retention, deepen engagement, and increase philanthropic investment.
• Identify opportunities to grow individual giving and planned giving through strategic donor engagement, relationship management, and long-term cultivation strategies.
• Support the development and advancement of planned giving conversations and legacy giving opportunities with qualified donors and prospects.

• Provide leadership oversight for donor engagement initiatives, including mid-level giving, donor recognition, stewardship, and donor retention programs.
• Ensure timely, accurate, and meaningful donor acknowledgment and communication practices.
• Oversee fundraising reporting processes, donor data integrity, and portfolio management standards to support effective decision-making and fundraising execution.
• Utilize fundraising data, dashboards, and reporting tools to evaluate performance, identify opportunities, and improve team effectiveness.
• Support the ongoing optimization of fundraising systems, workflows, reporting structures, and operational processes.

• Ensure fundraising priorities and donor engagement strategies are aligned with organizational messaging and mission impact.
• Represent the Philanthropy Department in organizational initiatives that strengthen donor trust, fundraising effectiveness, and long-term relationship development.
• Work collaboratively with organizational leadership to support strategic philanthropy initiatives and revenue growth.

COMPETENCIES:

• Values Focused – emphasizes organizational values in their work activities and inspires co-workers to follow their lead.
• Analytical – synthesizes complex and/or diverse information.
• Problem Solving – makes timely and sound decisions based on logical presumptions that reflect information; prioritizes work tasks, goals, and objectives; considers confidentiality of information before sharing with others.
• Oral Communication – speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations, demonstrates group presentation skills, and conducts meetings.
• Leadership – inspires and motivates others to perform well and accepts feedback from others.
• Delegation – delegates work assignments, gives authority to work independently, sets expectations, and monitors delegated activities.
• Management Skills – includes staff in planning, decision-making, facilitating, and process improvement; is available to staff; provides regular performance feedback and develops subordinates’ skills, and encourages growth.
• Motivation - Sets and achieves challenging goals; Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; Measures self against standard of excellence; Takes calculated risks to accomplish goals and drives corrective actions as needed
• Quality Management – looks for ways to improve and promote quality and demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
• Judgment – displays willingness to make decisions, exhibits sound and accurate judgment, and makes timely decisions. From a leadership perspective, considers issues and/or opportunities by rising above the day-to-day activities, the standard or usual way of operating, conflicting personal and organizational goals, and personal relationships and loyalties.
• Planning/Organizing – prioritizes and plans work activities, uses time efficiently, and develops realistic action plans.
• Safety and Security – actively promotes and personally observes safety and security procedures and uses equipment and materials properly.

Physical demands and work environment:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and talk or hear. The employee is required to stand, walk and reach with hands and arms on a daily basis.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus
• The employee must lift and/or move up to 30 pounds
• Ability to sit at a computer for extended periods and perform repetitive motions with a mouse and keyboard
• Ability to travel (locally) up to 20% a year for off-site meetings and events

In instances of a federal, state, or locally declared emergency, United Food Bank is typically considered an essential service and emergency responder; all of its employees may be called in to perform regular or emergent duties.

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position.  Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor.