Executive Director of Major & Planned Giving

Company: Carthage College
Location: Kenosha
Posted on: February 16, 2026

Job Description:

Job Description Job Description The Executive Director of Major and Planned Giving plays a key role in securing substantial financial resources and gifts that enable the College to accomplish its mission and achieve its strategic objectives. The Executive Director is responsible for providing administrative support for all major and planned giving efforts at the College by overseeing Major and Planned Giving, Prospect Management, and the Stewardship of the College's major and leadership-level donors, while also managing a portfolio of major and planned giving prospects. Responsibilities: Builds and maintains the pipeline of major and planned giving donors ($100K), including donor stewardship. Capacity to work with the Carthage President, Vice President for Advancement, Trustees, and other leaders to develop strategies that yield greater affinity and philanthropy from donors. Leadership of team members focused on major and planned gifts, leadership annual gifts, prospect management, and donor stewardship, including goal setting, portfolio management, and solicitation strategies. Motivates and inspires colleagues through high professional expectations, encouragement, and direction. Documents meetings, writes briefings, proposals, and stewardship reports, as needed. Provides in-house charitable gift and estate planning counsel and maintains a network of external resources available to assist the College in this regard, as needed. Capacity to present complex information in a clear and compelling manner, both verbally and in writing. Ability to travel extensively. Experience with relational databases and demonstrates technological fluency. Performs other duties as assigned. Qualifications: A bachelor's degree for this position is required. Master's preferred. At least five years of experience in managing members of an advancement team and have a demonstrated passion for those characteristics that distinguish a Carthage College education. Excellent motivational, communicative, and supervisory skills, especially experience in mentoring team members new to the advancement field and/or in the beginning stages of their career. Demonstrated the ability to work well in a team environment, while also having the ability to show initiative and work independently, when necessary. The ability to exercise courtesy, tact, and flexibility. Apply Online About Carthage Located on the shore of Lake Michigan in the thriving Chicago-Milwaukee corridor, Carthage College blends the best liberal arts traditions with desirable degree programs, transformative learning opportunities, and personal attention from dedicated faculty and staff. Our beautiful campus, an 80-acre arboretum with stunning lake views, is home to 2,600 undergraduate students and 200 graduate students. Founded in 1847, Carthage is consistently named a Best Midwestern College by The Princeton Review and a Most Innovative School by U.S. News & World Report. All Carthage employees play a vital part in the success of our students, as we work together to create an environment where all can achieve their true potential. Grow with Carthage. Carthage College is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse community. We welcome applications from a broad spectrum of people, including members of ethnic minorities, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status or status as an individual with a disability. This position requires a background screening Job Posted by ApplicantPro

Keywords: Carthage College, Orland Park , Executive Director of Major & Planned Giving, Engineering , Kenosha, Illinois