Strategic Giving Manager

Join Us in Transforming Lives

It’s an exciting time at The River Food Pantry in Madison, WI. Following a successful $12,000,000 campaign, The River opened our new facility in February and now we are building a best-in-class development team to fuel our next chapter of impact. This role is more than a fundraising position—it is an opportunity to join an extraordinary community, build meaningful relationships, inspire generosity, and directly support individuals and families facing food insecurity.

We are seeking top-tier talent who care deeply about people, believe in the power of community, and are motivated by the opportunity to connect generous donors with life-changing work. Every conversation, every campaign, and every gift helps ensure that our neighbors have access to food, dignity, and hope.

If you are driven, relational, strategic, and passionate about making a measurable difference, we invite you to join us.

Strategic Giving Manager

Position Summary:

The Strategic Giving Manager is responsible for building and managing a portfolio of approximately 100-150 high-capacity donors and prospective donors to secure major gifts ($10,000+) from individuals and organizations. This role drives significant revenue growth through personalized relationship-building, strategic engagement, and long-term stewardship. This position works in person at The River, in the community, and at events.

Key Responsibilities:

• Qualify new prospective donors through research, referrals from leadership and board and conversion of capital campaign donors.
• Manage a portfolio of major donors with clear revenue goals.
• Develop and implement individualized engagement strategies including donor-centered investment requests.
• Conduct regular face-to-face donor meetings including leading in-person tours and meetings.
• Partner with the Executive Director, colleagues and volunteers on donor engagement plans and requests.
• Maintain a disciplined relationship management process, tracking all activity in the donor database with accuracy and consistency.
• Prepare briefing documents and strategy memos for leadership ahead of donor meetings.
• Analyze giving patterns and portfolio health, report regularly on pipeline, projections, and progress toward goals.
• Identify planned giving prospects and make appropriate introductions or referrals to deferred gift conversations.
• Serve as a strategic partner to the Executive Director and board members, preparing them for donor interactions and supporting their roles as relationship builders.
• Support the board's community engagement committee, as appropriate
• Help identify and connect board member networks as a source of major gift opportunities.
• Participate in organizational planning to ensure fundraising strategy aligns with programmatic priorities and capital opportunities.
• Work with colleagues and volunteers to identify and prioritize new major gift donors from the broader Madison community.
• Mine the existing donor database for upgrade opportunities, lapsed major donors, and capital campaign participants ready for renewed engagement
• Stay attuned to community relationships, wealth indicators, and philanthropic trends in the Madison area.
• Collaborate with Development, Program, and Communications colleagues.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of nonprofit fundraising experience or related experience
• Proven ability to close gifts of $10K+
• Experience with high-net-worth individuals
• CRM proficiency
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Multilingual is preferred
• Commitment and passion for The River’s mission, vision and goals
• Strong relationship-building skills
• Experience with high-net-worth individuals
• Ability to work in-person on-site and in the community
• Ability to communicate information clearly and understandably through interactions with donors, staff, and volunteers
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as a member of a team
• Ability to work with a broad group of people
• Strategic minded while executing against developed strategies
• Valid driver’s license and maintain a driving record that supports being on The River’s insurance plan
• Background and DMV check are required

In exchange for your talents, we offer a pay range of $75,000 - $85,000 based on experience. The River offers a comprehensive benefit package including health, dental, vision, disability insurance, employee assistance plan, Simple IRA with match, paid holidays, and paid time off. We work collaboratively to serve our clients and move towards our vision of a fully nourished community. You can learn more about The River by visiting https://www.riverfoodpantry.org/. To join our team, please submit a cover letter and resume. We look forward to hearing from you!

The River Food Pantry is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The River is committed to providing an environment free from discrimination and harassment as defined by federal, state, and local law.