Director of Planned & Principal Gifts - 2025251

Are you a person of compassion? An advocate for justice? Someone who stands up for the rights of the vulnerable and speaks out for the marginalized, the exploited and the forgotten?  Do you believe in our calling as Christians to welcome the least of these and love our neighbor?

If you answered ‘yes’, to any of the above, World Relief, and millions of people around the world need you.

At this pivotal moment in time, we are rapidly expanding and growing our team to meet the increasing needs of our world. We are looking for people who want to use their gifts and talents to make a real and tangible difference in our world and the lives of the suffering.

If you’re looking for a purpose-driven career in which you can grow your talents, while also standing up for the rights of the vulnerable, we want you to join us today.

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY

World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization whose mission is to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church. The organization was founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of war-torn Europe. Since then, for 80 years, across 100 countries, World Relief has partnered with local churches and communities to build a world where families thrive and communities flourish.

Today, organizational programming focuses on humanitarian and disaster response, community strengthening and resilience, and refugee & immigrant services and advocacy.

This position is reliant upon funding and may be subject to modification or termination based on resource availability.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of Principal and Planned Gifts will be a seasoned, strategic, and collaborative fundraising professional who plays a critical role in advancing the organization’s philanthropic goals. Reporting to the Senior Director of Partnership, this individual will develop and execute strategies to build long-term relationships with donors capable of making transformational contributions—both through immediate principal gifts and future-oriented planned gifts.  This dual role requires a deep understanding of donor motivations, gift vehicles, and tax-advantaged philanthropic planning. The Director will partner with legal, finance, and external advisors as needed to craft customized giving plans. Additionally, the Director may offer coaching and thought partnership to colleagues across the Strategic Engagement Team, particularly with the team of Strategic Partnership Directors, to elevate and expand the organization's capacity to close both current-use and planned gifts at the highest levels. 

• In their principal gifts capacity, the Director will serve as a visible, front-line major gifts officer, managing a portfolio of approximately 35–50 high-net-worth prospects and partners.
• The Director will lead the full donor engagement cycle—identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individuals capable of making million- and multi-million-dollar investments in support of the organization’s mission.   
• In their planned giving capacity, the Director will also identify and cultivate donors with the potential and interest to make legacy and other planned gifts, including bequests, charitable gift annuities, trusts, and other complex giving instruments.
• The Director will provide guidance and technical expertise to prospects, as well as collaborate across teams to integrate planned giving strategies into the broader fundraising efforts.
• Actively maintains a portfolio of 35–50 principal gift-level prospects with an associated annual revenue goal, inclusive of both current and planned giving potential.   
• Stewards each relationship according to established performance standards and metrics reflected by annual Lead Indicators, while also incorporating planned giving engagement benchmarks where appropriate.   
• Develops and grows relationships within the assigned portfolio through creating complex, customized fundraising plans that align donor passions with organizational priorities—including both outright and deferred gift strategies.   
• Strategically leads prospects through the qualifying, pitching, and closing stages of the donor engagement cycle, resulting in million and multi-million dollar gifts, including blended gifts (combining current and planned giving components).   
• Promotes and integrates planned and asset-based giving into conversations with donors and prospects, identifying opportunities for charitable bequests, beneficiary designations, charitable trusts, gift annuities, and other planned giving vehicles.   
• Demonstrates a strong understanding of financial planning, tax and charitable gift laws, and the strategic role of planned giving in supporting visionary or transformational gifts.   
• Oversees the preparation of funding proposals, pitch decks, talking points, briefings, engagement opportunities, gift agreements, endowments, and stewardship reports for assigned prospects—including documentation and illustration of planned giving options when appropriate.   
• Collaborates with legal, finance, and external advisors as needed to structure complex or deferred gifts in a manner that fulfills donor intent and aligns with organizational policies.   
• Ensures that all internal and external stakeholders are involved in key efforts focused on specific prospects, especially when navigating multi-faceted or long-term planned giving strategies.   
• Identifies and facilitates strategic opportunities for Principal Gift and Planned Giving prospects to interact with World Relief leaders, including the CEO, VP SED, board members, and administrators.   
• Provides spiritual leadership and pastoral care for all partners and prospects consistent with a deep commitment to faithfulness, day-by-day radical dependency on God, and trusting Him for fruitfulness—including sensitive discussions around legacy and end-of-life giving.   
• Embraces and develops values and practices of Principal and Planned Gifts consistent with World Relief’s overall fundraising values as reflected in Henri Nouwen’s The Spirituality of Fundraising.   
• Travels as necessary to meet with donors/prospects and execute strategic moves, including long-term cultivation and stewardship of legacy donors.   
• Represents World Relief at donor, community, and special events as necessary, including those focused on legacy giving, estate planning, or visionary philanthropy. 

• Mature and personal Christian faith
• Committed to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief
• Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities
• Able to affirm and/or acknowledge World Reliefs Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity and National Evangelicals For the Health of The Nation document
• Demonstrated Christian character and values, knowledge of the Bible and Christian worldview.   
• Demonstrated pastoral care and spiritual leadership gifts.   
• Ability to affirm World Relief’s core organizational beliefs, including For the Health of the Nation and Towards a Fresh Embrace of our Christian Identity.   
• Ability to integrate personal faith in Jesus Christ into all aspects of the position.   
• Proven track record of working well with healthy, diverse and high performing teams.   
• Strong leadership and team building and culture cultivating skills, including a participative and collaborative leadership style. 
• Five or more years of successful experience in fundraising, securing principal gift arrangements or other relevant experience.   
• Experience working directly with the most senior levels of an organization.   
• Ability to research complex and technical gift transactions as needed.   
• Ability to cultivate relationships with professional advisors (influencers of wealth) such as attorneys, accountants, financial planners, brokers, and trust officers.   
• Experience with and understanding of important Principal Gifts & Planning Giving vehicles including gift annuities,
• Charitable Remainder Trusts, Lead Trusts, and testamentary provisions.   
• Bachelor’s degree required

• Master’s degree preferred
• Excellent skills in interpersonal communication and written communication.   
• Strong strategic and sequential thinking skills.   
• Strong public speaking and storytelling skills and the ability to relate to an audience and connect with people one on one. 
• Natural persuasive personality and ability to share the blessing of financially supporting God’s work through WR.   
• Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities.   
• Strong commitment to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief.   
• Detailed-oriented, flexible, creative, discrete, professional, and resourceful.   
• Strong computer skills (Raiser’s Edge NXT, Microsoft, Project management tool. 

World Relief offers a competitive benefits package and employee discount program for full-time and part-time employees.

World Relief is honored to be recognized with the Gold-level Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation for exceeding the core components of our well-being program including leadership and culture, program foundations and execution, and whole person health.

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Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.

For World Relief staff, strong commitment to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief is essential, and Christian faith is a prerequisite for employment, based upon United States federal guidelines provided in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.