Ready to join a team of passionate people who work together to provide Detroit and the surrounding communities with affordable housing solutions? When you join our amazing team, you become part of the Habitat Detroit Family, and the connections you make with Habitat Homeowners, volunteers, and donors will be deeply impactful. You will make a difference in the community by helping create safe, healthy, and stable housing for our neighbors in need.
Habitat for Humanity Detroit is seeking a proactive and solution-oriented Senior Philanthropy Manager. This role is designed for a seasoned fundraiser who thrives on project ownership, taking initiative from initial conception through to successful completion. The Senior Philanthropy Manager is a strategic executor who possesses the unique ability to recognize gaps in current processes or funding streams and develop creative, effective solutions.
The ideal candidate is collaborative: someone who is humble enough to take direction and align with leadership’s goals, yet bold enough to bring original ideas and innovative strategies to the table. We are looking for a self-starter who doesn’t just wait for a task list but actively seeks out opportunities to advance our mission through high-level donor engagement and streamlined philanthropic systems.
Roles and Responsibilities
- End-to-End Project Ownership: Lead the design and execution of specialized fundraising campaigns (e.g., matching gift challenges or site-specific campaigns) from the brainstorming phase through to final reporting.
- Gap Analysis & Innovation: Regularly help evaluate the existing donor pipeline to identify untapped opportunities; propose and implement new systems or outreach methods to fill those gaps.
- Strategic Collaboration: Work in a high-synergy environment, collaborating with the communications, construction, and program teams to ensure fundraising efforts are integrated and mission-aligned.
- Donor Architecture: Independently manage a robust portfolio of prospects and donors.
- Adaptive Execution: Take broad direction from the Director of Philanthropy and translate it into specific, actionable project plans, while providing regular feedback and pivot suggestions based on real-time donor activity and engagement patterns.
- Mission Advocacy: Act as a liaison to partners and stakeholders, delivering the Habitat Story into compelling calls to action.
Required Skills and Qualifications
- Experience: 7+ years of experience in fundraising or business development, with a clear history of managing projects independently.
- Critical Thinking: A proven ability to diagnose organizational challenges and present ready-to-implement solutions.
- Collaborative Spirit: A team-first attitude with the ability to work effectively across departments and accept constructive feedback.
- Ideation & Initiative: A track record of bringing fresh ideas to previous roles that resulted in increased efficiency or revenue.
- Project Management Mastery: Highly skilled at managing timelines, stakeholders, and budgets without needing day-to-day oversight.
- Communication: Exceptional interpersonal skills; able to take an idea and grow it into a professional, polished proposal or event.
- Resilience: Comfortable with ambiguity and capable of making sound decisions even when complete information is not available.
Preferred Skills and Qualifications
- Technical Savvy: Experience with donor databases (CRM) and the ability to use data to identify fundraising opportunities.
- Communication: Ability to craft narratives that resonate with diverse audiences, from corporate CSR managers to individual legacy donors.
- Industry Knowledge: Solid understanding of the Detroit non-profit ecosystem and current trends in donor psychology.
Values
- Reliability: A finisher mindset—someone who ensures every project reaches the finish line with excellence.
- Inclusion: A commitment to fostering an equitable philanthropic environment that respects and celebrates the diversity of the Detroit community.
- Passion: A genuine drive to solve the housing crisis through innovative, community-based fundraising.
How to Apply
Please email cover letter and resume to mkearney@habitatdetroit.org