Director of Development, Midwest

At The Obama Foundation, our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We seek to build an active democratic culture where people are equipped and motivated to make change in the communities where they live, work, and play. Right here on the South Side of Chicago, we’re building a home for this vision, a global center for change with a range of opportunities - coordinated programming, community outreach events, educational moments, and more - that invite visitors from down the block or across the globe to turn hope into action.

Achieving our ambitious goals starts with an exceptional team built on our Hope to Action Values - Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope. A Framework that anyone, anywhere, can use to build trust, activate participation, and expand opportunity in their community.

Purpose of the Role

The Director of Development, Midwest will manage a short- and long-term strategy to grow the Foundation’s fundraising program across the Midwest. Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Development, Midwest, this person will cultivate, solicit, and steward six- to seven-figure gifts from individual philanthropists. With the support of the Senior Director of Development, Midwest, this person will collaborate with executive leaders to cultivate and close high-level prospects.

This is an ideal opportunity for a proven, fearless, and values-driven nonprofit fundraiser with experience tracking metrics and managing donor pipelines who is highly motivated to work collaboratively in pursuit of big goals.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Development Planning: Partner with Foundation leadership and key teams to build and execute a short- and long-term strategic fundraising plan that will establish a foundation for a long-term major gifts program across the Midwest region.
• Portfolio Strategy & Management: Manage a portfolio of 100+ seven-figure prospects and develop customized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans for each.
• Donor Relations: Maintain strong, long-term relationships with current and prospective donors. Collaborate with Foundation leadership to cultivate high-capacity donors. Provide exemplary stewardship and increase donor retention annually.
• Volunteer Management: Develop strong partnerships with select board members and members of the Development Committee, and provide support for their fundraising efforts in the region.
• Collaboration: Establish supportive and cooperative working relationships with other regional fundraisers, share best practices and new ideas, and collaborate on donor cultivation when needed.
• Philanthropic Relations: Represent the Development team in external settings (conferences and gatherings) and partner with other teams across the Foundation to help advance a culture of philanthropy.
• Operating Effectiveness: Enhance the team's culture of data-driven success. Use Salesforce to track and evaluate the team’s key metrics, using meaningful data to improve practices and continually inform decisions.
• Fundraising Collateral: With support from the Donor Relations team, ensure the timely creation and distribution of fundraising/stewardship materials, collateral and briefings, and highly personalized proposals.
• Events: Collaborate with the Development Events team to host high-capacity donor events and volunteer engagements.
• OPC Partnership: Partner with key organizational stakeholders to elevate the donor experience at the Obama Presidential Center through curated tours, donor events, and mission-aligned programs. Serve as the development liaison, proactively identifying, coordinating, and tracking strategic stewardship opportunities to deepen donor engagement and strengthen long-term relationships.
• Gift Closure: Secure roughly $10M annually to support The Foundation’s mission and vision.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Meet or exceed annual fundraising goal.
• Meet or exceed monthly activity targets.
• Manage and benchmark portfolio strategy, including volunteer engagement.
• Provide top-notch stewardship to donors and prospects.
• Execute seamless events.
• Provide stellar communication both internally and externally.

Required Qualifications

• 8-10 years of experience in fundraising or donor relations, including a minimum of five years managing high-capacity boards and volunteers while securing gifts directly.
• Advanced understanding of philanthropy, moves management, and gift closure.
• Advanced ability to cultivate, solicit, secure, and steward gifts and relationships.
• Mastery of and residency in the Midwestern territory.
• A track record of building relationships with major gift-level donors, including closing gifts of at least $1M+.
• Deep understanding of fundraising programs and high-level gift strategies.
• Excellent interpersonal and written skills with high emotional intelligence.
• Must have the ability to develop and maintain long-term, productive relationships internally and externally in a fast-paced, complex environment.

The salary range for this role is between $129,675 and $162,070.

This is a hybrid role based out of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, or remote for candidates located in the Midwest outside the Chicago metropolitan area.

For an overview of our benefits package, including insurance, paid time off, retirement & more, please visit https://www.obama.org/careers/.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at careers@obama.org if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.

Recruitment Security

The Obama Foundation will never ask for payment or personal financial information during the hiring process or training. All official job postings are listed and should be applied to at obama.org/careers. If you suspect a scam, please document details about the scam and report this information to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You may reach out to careers@obama.org to verify job posting validity or for support.

About the Obama Foundation

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our mission is to inspire those people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together.

That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home.

But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity.

As President Obama has said, “we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” So join us.

For more information, please visit www.obama.org.