Key Responsibilities

Strategic and Operational Leadership

• Execute and continually refine a multi-year fundraising strategy that supports the school’s long-term priorities.
• Provide oversight across five integrated development programs:
    1. Annual Giving
    2. Major Gifts
    3. Planned Giving
    4. Alumni Relations
    5. Board Engagement
• Provide transparent, data-informed reporting to the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and members of the Senior Leadership Team.
• Employ segmentation strategies across all programs to ensure that communications, especially appeals, are constituent-specific, relevant, and meaningful.

Major Gifts and Campaign Readiness

• Manage a personal portfolio of high-capacity donors.
• Support the Head of School and key trustees in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding their own portfolios of major gift prospects.
• Collaborate on individualized cultivation plans that emphasize authentic relationship-building, timely communication of impact, and coordinated follow-up.
• Prepare the school for future capital campaign readiness through prospect research, pipeline development, and compelling case development.

Annual Giving and Fundraising Program Oversight

• Oversee the Annual Giving Program with a focus on clarity of purpose, effective messaging, and consistent, mission-driven appeals.
• Ensure giving opportunities are well-segmented and that all constituents understand how their gifts make a difference.
• Coordinate fundraising efforts across all five programs, ensuring integration with institutional communications, events, and stewardship priorities.

Constituent Engagement and Impact Communication

• Lead a coordinated strategy for engaging alumni, former parents, current parents, board members, and other key constituencies.
• Collaborate with the Communications team to shape and execute events that deepen constituent engagement, convey philanthropic impact, and reflect the values and voice of the school.
• Ensure that communications to donors and prospective donors reflect the school’s gratitude, mission, and integrity.
• Champion mission-rich storytelling across all five programs, ensuring that donors are consistently shown how their support translates into meaningful student, teacher, and community outcomes.

Board and Volunteer Philanthropy

• Serve as staff liaison to the Board Development Committee, helping shape its role in cultivation, stewardship, and philanthropic strategy.
• Guide and support trustees in building relationships with donors and in advancing the school’s fundraising goals in ways that feel authentic and impactful.
• Coordinate volunteer engagement efforts that align with development priorities and are respectful of staff and volunteer time.

Team Leadership and Infrastructure

• Supervise and mentor two direct reports, cultivating a culture of thoughtfulness, accountability, and collaboration.
• Oversee systems for gift documentation, timely acknowledgment, donor data accuracy, prospect research, and segmentation.
• Ensure development operations support excellent donor experiences, from initial engagement through long-term stewardship.
• Adhere to, update when appropriate, and promote the Development Office’s policies, procedures, and professional codes of ethics and standards, affirming the school’s commitment to fundraising integrity and donor trust.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 7–10+ years of progressively responsible experience in development, with a successful track record in major gifts.
• Strong leadership and team-building success, ideally at an independent school, educational, or youth development organization.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including written, verbal, and presentation abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate long-term donor relationships based on mutual respect and impact.
• Experience using segmentation and data analytics to shape strategy and strengthen donor relationships.
• Proficiency in donor database systems (e.g., Raiser’s Edge or equivalent) and commitment to data-informed planning.
• Belief in the mission of independent school education and the role of philanthropy in supporting student success.
• Culturally astute, with the ability to understand and navigate the school’s values, tone, and community norms with sensitivity and professionalism.

About Lycée Français de Chicago

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