Director of Development, Donor Engagement and Qualification

About City of Hope

City of Hope's mission is to "turn hope into reality." Focused on eliminating cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, City of Hope has established itself as a world-class leader in transforming the future of health. Raising the philanthropic resources to fuel its leading-edge research, its exquisite and compassionate clinical care, and its advancement of biomedical education and training, is a vital component of the City of Hope model of success. Each member of the Office of Philanthropy is a stakeholder in this work, with personal accountability for his/her role in building a successful future of delivering new cures, treatments and education.

City of Hope's commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe diversity, equity and inclusion is key in serving our mission to provide compassionate patient care, drive innovative discovery, and advance vital education focused on eliminating cancer and diabetes in all of our communities. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ensures we bring the full range of skills, perspectives, cultural backgrounds and experiences to our work -- and that our teams align with the people we serve in order to build trust and understanding. We are dedicated to fostering a community that embraces diversity - in ideas, backgrounds and perspectives; this is reflected in our work and represented in our people.

Office of Philanthropy Vision Statement

Philanthropy is at the heart of City of Hope's mission in turning "hope into reality." We offer an extraordinary donor and volunteer experience, one that invites, delights, and deepens relationships over time. City of Hope Philanthropy is one of a handful of premiere, exceptionally-regarded, and top-producing programs in the country.

Recruiting and developing exceptionally talented team members are hallmarks of the Office of Philanthropy. We demonstrate our commitment to our people through continuous learning and development opportunities and aim to foster an environment where each individual can thrive, personally and professionally. We increase the effectiveness of our team through transparency and accountability, building trust within teams; celebrating diversity and inclusion; enhancing team communications and removing roadblocks to maximize activation.

Position Summary:

The Manager, Donor Engagement & Qualification will be a part of creating our evolution into a perpetually campaign-ready, donor-centered, leading industry program to support City of Hope's mission. In pursuit of this outcome, we are committed to growing careers within the Office of Philanthropy to attract and retain the most talented professionals in the country, and excel as a highly collaborative, efficient and creative team.

The Manager, Donor Engagement & Qualification is an integral part of Individual Giving's overall Discovery Program. The program will be under the oversight of the Associate Vice President, Individual Giving and will support prospects and donors through the consideration continuum until they are determined to be a prospect for a gift, at least at the Special Gift level.

Under the supervision of the Associate Vice President, Individual Giving the Manager, Donor Engagement & Qualification will help ensure the fundraising success of the philanthropic program by developing, utilizing and managing a strategy to assist in the qualification of gift prospects with a particular emphasis on placing outbound calls to donors and prospects in the pursuit of donor engagement, identification and cultivation of new gifts and discovery of information to advance the relationship with the Individual Giving team and the Office of Philanthropy.

Specifically, the Manager is a primarily frontline-focused role with high emphasis on qualifying gift prospects with the goal of generating gift commitments. This position is responsible for independently strategizing, developing, actively qualifying, managing and cultivating a portfolio of gift prospects.

Initially the Manager will be tasked with efficiently triaging prospects known to City of Hope. He/she will be responsible for facilitating the process, as well as satisfying specific metrics around the number of prospects referred to Individual Giving Officers and the number of prospects ultimately making a gift commitment to City of Hope.

The Manager will conduct outbound discovery/engagement phone calls as well as prepare and send donor letters and emails. The Manager will be responsible for collecting donor demographic and interest information for use by the Office of Philanthropy in tailoring communication and gift proposals. The Manager will also be a resource for prospects on general information regarding giving opportunities.

As a member of the Individual Giving team, the Manager will maintain an understanding and knowledge of various giving opportunities, for both planned and outright gifts.

This position requires the ability to work in a collaborative and consultative manner with Office of Philanthropy staff, physicians and other City of Hope staff to identify, qualify, cultivate, and solicit prospective donors. The Manager will develop strategy and exercise judgment in conducting discovery/donor engagement communications including phone calls, letters, e-mails and in the preparation, management, and development of fundraising proposals.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Assists the individual giving team in reaching its annual metrics and financial goals using collaboration, strategy and a focus on donor engagement to qualify and cultivate outright and planned gift prospects. Responsibilities include:
  • Creates, develops and ultimately meets appropriate metrics for annual activity and performance including individual accountability for the number of gift prospects referred to Giving Officer colleagues for solicitation. (see below for additional specific metric categories)
  • Conducts high level qualification of leads by placing outbound calls to donors and prospects. Qualifies donors for possible referral, cultivation and/or assignment to frontline fundraisers. Meets specific metrics for outreach efforts.
  • Independently develops, manages and utilizes a sustainable, mission-focused discovery process to develop and close the complete giving cycle for certain gift plans.
  • Serves as lead for qualified outright and planned giving leads requiring long-term cultivation. Accountable for developing, managing and utilizing a strategy to best steward and cultivate these donors.
  • Supports frontline individual giving fundraisers and extends the reach of the Office of Philanthropy Prospect Research team by conducting prospect research through conversations with prospects.
  • Independently strategizes and makes judgments to determine and utilize the appropriate cultivation for donors and prospects based on fundraising knowledge, understanding of strategic goals, interpersonal skills and expertise in discovery work.
  • Utilizes independent decision-making to provide prompt, personalized follow-up for supporters who respond to Office of Philanthropy outreach through mail, email or digital marketing.
  • Obtains demographic, funding interest and other information from donors to inform gift proposals and enable customized communication. Ensures accurate and timely addition of this information to the constituent database (AccessHope).
  • Contributes to maintaining the integrity of the donor database through careful management of donor records and ensure the accurate recording of all response information in order to provide the infrastructure necessary for analysis.
  • Collaborates with Prospect Development staff to refine and fine tune fulfillment process to achieve best results in identifying most promising prospects.
• Collaborate with Individual Giving team members. Includes:
  • Takes the lead in developing and suggesting best practices.
  • Works closely with Associate Vice President, Individual Giving, to periodically monitor and modify prospect discovery and referral criteria.
  • Develops and maintains strong working relationship with Office of Philanthropy Prospect Development team.
  • Meets established performance goals for team, including specific metrics around activity and dollars generated.
  • Develops and maintains productive relationships with Office of Philanthropy staff to support fundraising initiatives for COH priorities.
  • Possess thorough knowledge of the key fund-raising priorities for COH.
  • Demonstrates an ability to solve problems, overcome hurdles and navigate sensitive issues with discretion, tact and strong communication skills.
  • Maintains a positive image when dealing with enterprise and Office of Philanthropy leadership, donors, prospects, fundraisers and other City of Hope employees.

Follows established City of Hope and department policies, procedures, objectives, performance improvement, attendance, safety, environmental, and infection control guidelines, including adherence to the workplace Code of Conduct and Compliance Plan. Practices a high level of integrity and honesty in maintaining confidentiality.

Performs other related duties as assigned or requested.

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• Bachelor's Degree in business, philanthropy or related field. Experience may substitute
• 5 years in fundraising/development or related experience.

Preferred education experience and skills:

• Advanced degree
• Preferably non profit.
• Experience communicating and working directly with donors or business development prospects
• Experience in a complex medical or academic development setting is preferred
• Philanthropy background preferred

Additional Information:

• As a condition of employment, City of Hope requires staff to comply with all state and federal vaccination mandates.

City of Hope is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.