About Ronald McDonald House
For more than 50 years, Ronald McDonald House has been dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and their families. Ronald McDonald House’s mission is to provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare. Its vision is a world where every family has what they need to ensure the best health outcomes for their children. Ronald McDonald House operates on the belief that when a child is sick, nothing else should matter—not where they live, what language they speak, or their financial situation.
50+ Years of Impact
Ronald McDonald House traces its origins to 1974, when pediatric oncologist Dr. Audrey Evans recognized that caring for a sick child meant caring for the whole family. The first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia that year, providing families with a place to stay close to their hospitalized child. The model spread quickly: a second House opened in Chicago in 1977, the first Ronald McDonald Family Room opened inside a Kansas hospital in 1992, and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program followed, extending essential medical and dental care to underserved communities.
A Global Reach
Today, Ronald McDonald House operates a global network of 250+ independently operated Chapters in 60+ countries and regions, delivering impact through core programs:
- Ronald McDonald House: A home-away-from-home offering lodging, meals, and the comforts of home for families with children receiving care, all just steps from the hospital.
- Ronald McDonald Family Room: A respite space inside the hospital, often steps from a pediatric or intensive care unit, where families can rest, recharge, and remain close to their child during long days of treatment.
As extensions of the core programs, Chapters also provide a variety of services tailored to their local communities and the challenges their guest families face. These programs may address community health needs, expand access to care, or connect families with relevant social services.
Together, these programs ensure that whether a family needs a place to stay, a hot meal, or a path to care, Ronald McDonald House is there.
The scale of impact is significant, and the demand is greater still. In 2024, Ronald McDonald House programs provided more than 2.8 million overnight stays for families and saved them an estimated $678 million in lodging and meal expenses. In 2025, there were 37 new or expanded programs around the world (8 new house openings, 13 family room openings, 14 house expansions, and family room expansions). Even with that growth, demand consistently outstrips capacity; families regularly remain on waitlists for both Houses and Family Rooms, underscoring the urgency of Ronald McDonald House’s ambition to double the number of families served worldwide by 2030.
Ronald McDonald House’s connection to McDonald's, its founding and forever partner and largest corporate supporter, gives it a brand presence and a base of donor and volunteer affinity that is genuinely unique in the nonprofit sector.
For more information about Ronald McDonald House, visit ronaldmcdonaldhouse.org.
What's Next: Ronald McDonald House’s Bold 2030 Ambitions
Guided by a strategic plan with measurable, System-wide goals, Ronald McDonald House is pursuing four bold ambitions for 2030:
- Double the number of families served worldwide by 2030.
- Meet the top unmet needs of the families in Ronald McDonald House’s care.
- Advance the movement to put families at the center of children's healthcare.
- Lift and sustain annual System revenue over $1 billion.
These ambitions reflect both the conviction that Ronald McDonald House can do significantly more for families and the recognition that the organization's current scale only begins to capture what is possible. Realizing them will require disciplined focus, sophisticated fundraising leadership, and a deeper investment in individual and major gifts than Ronald McDonald House Global ever made.
Investing in Philanthropy to Match the Ambition
The Philanthropy team at Ronald McDonald House Global leads the execution of fundraising in support of these ambitions. The organization generates approximately $30+ million annually through a diverse and growing portfolio of revenue streams, including corporate partnerships, individual and major gifts, planned giving, foundation grants, cause-related marketing, and signature events, while simultaneously building the systems, capabilities, and culture required to scale fundraising impact across the global system.
To convert Ronald McDonald House’s deep base of donor and volunteer affinity into transformational philanthropic capacity, the organization is investing meaningfully in the infrastructure required to scale. In 2026, Ronald McDonald House Global is making meaningful investments in staffing across the organization and working to equip its Philanthropy function for sustained, system-wide growth.
The Opportunity
The Director, Individual Philanthropy is a newly created role at Ronald McDonald House Global, designed to build the major and principal giving program that Ronald McDonald House’s 2030 ambitions require.
Reporting to the Global Chief Development Officer, the Director, Individual Philanthropy provides strategic leadership for Ronald McDonald House’s global individual giving program, driving major and principal gifts from new and existing donors. Once fully staffed, the role will oversee a team of 3. The Director shapes moves management and portfolio strategy to advance fundraising priorities across the system. The Director also personally manages a portfolio of principal donors and is expected to secure significant new and increased commitments from major gift donors. This leader collaborates closely with other revenue directors and partners across the organization to ensure alignment and integration of individual giving strategy with broader organizational goals.
This is a builder's role at a builder's moment. Ronald McDonald House has the ingredients of an exceptional individual giving program, including an engaged Board, loyal donors, an iconic mission, and chapters and staff who are eager to collaborate. What it does not yet have is the structure, discipline, and process required to convert those ingredients into sustained seven- and eight-figure outcomes. The next Director, Individual Philanthropy will design that structure, install moves management and portfolio strategy fit to scale, and personally lead some of the most consequential donor relationships in the organization. They will be both architect and operator: setting the strategy, then executing it.
For a sophisticated major gifts leader who is energized by white space, ready to roll up their sleeves, and excited to shape what an individual philanthropy program at Ronald McDonald House can become, this is a rare opportunity to leave a defining mark on one of the most beloved missions in the world.
Key responsibilities of the Director, Individual Philanthropy include, among others:
Strategy, Leadership & Fundraising
- Lead the strategy and execution for Ronald McDonald House’s individual major and principal gifts fundraising program.
- Manage relationships with principal and major individual donors and prospects, including the highest-capacity new donor and prospect relationships.
- Oversee moves management, donor segmentation, and portfolio strategy to maximize revenue and donor engagement.
- Set fundraising goals, monitor team progress, and adjust strategies to meet annual and long-term targets.
- Provide tools, guidance, and best-practice resources to support individual giving at the global, national, and chapter level.
New Donor Pipeline Development
- Set the strategy and oversee the development of an individual donor pipeline sourced from direct response, digital marketing, and other acquisition channels.
- Ensure prospect research is fully leveraged to identify, qualify, and cultivate prospective donors.
- Partner with system leaders across the Ronald McDonald House network to collaboratively prospect, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors at every level of capacity.
Team Leadership & Development
- Manage a team of individual giving professionals, providing coaching, performance management, and professional development.
- Build a high-performing, accountable team culture aligned with broader organizational priorities.
- Establish clear roles, goals, and metrics that enable team members to do their best work.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with field, communications, marketing, and events teams to ensure alignment between organizational priorities, revenue strategies, donor proposals, and donor interests.
- Work closely with senior leadership to align individual giving strategy with organizational goals and initiatives.
- Advise senior leaders on donor engagement, solicitation strategies, and stewardship opportunities.
- Build relationships with system leaders to advance fundraising and create meaningful collaboration between global, national, and local giving.
- Support donor engagement events as needed.
Reporting & Performance Management
- Monitor key performance indicators and provide regular reporting on individual giving outcomes.
- Analyze fundraising results to inform strategy and identify opportunities for growth.
- Ensure compliance with organizational policies, ethical standards, and donor confidentiality.
Candidate Profile
While it is understood that no candidate will offer every desired skill, quality, and characteristic, the following offers a detailed, aspirational view of the ideal candidate profile:
A Passion for the Mission
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A deep and authentic passion for Ronald McDonald House’s mission and a fundamental belief in the power of keeping families together when a child is ill or injured.
- An infectious enthusiasm that inspires donors, colleagues, Board members, and chapter partners to rally behind the cause.
- An unwavering commitment to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and donor confidentiality.
- Cultural humility and compassion, recognizing the emotional weight of Ronald McDonald House’s mission and engaging staff, families, and donors with care.
A Strategic Major Gifts Builder
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A track record of designing and executing comprehensive individual giving strategies that drive sustainable, multi-year revenue growth.
- Demonstrated success securing significant major and principal gifts, ideally at the seven-figure level, from new and existing donors.
- Strong knowledge of major, annual, and planned giving best practices and the ability to bring them together into a coherent, well-sequenced program.
- Proven success building and managing moves management, donor segmentation, and portfolio optimization systems and processes.
- Demonstrated success in new donor acquisition and portfolio growth, including translating direct, digital, and prospect research inputs into qualified major gift pipeline.
- Experience in a federated, multi-chapter, or affiliate-based organization is a meaningful plus, though not required.
A Player-Coach Leader
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A balance of strategic vision and hands-on execution; comfortable setting direction one moment and personally drafting the proposal, running the cultivation strategy, or making the ask the next.
- Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing fundraising teams, including coaching, performance management, and professional development.
- A genuine willingness to roll up their sleeves, especially in the early stages of building the program, before the team and infrastructure are fully in place.
- Exceptional relationship-building, communication, and influence skills, able to engage donors, peers, senior leaders, Board members, and system partners with credibility and warmth.
- The ability to influence without authority and align individual giving with organizational priorities across a large, distributed system.
An Operationally Disciplined Executive
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A clear point of view on the structure, processes, and disciplines required to scale a major gifts program, and the operational rigor to install them.
- Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to bring focus and prioritization.
- A data-informed approach to fundraising, using analytics, KPIs, and pipeline metrics to drive decisions and demonstrate progress.
- The judgment to know when to invest in process, when to test, and when to act.
A Builder Energized by White Space
The ideal candidate will bring:
- Comfort and even enthusiasm operating in a fast-paced, high-intensity environment in which the organization is investing significantly and growing quickly.
- The vision and courage to build a program from a relatively blank slate, paired with the discipline to make it real.
- Resilience and adaptability in the face of ambiguity and competing demands.
- Creativity and entrepreneurial energy to design innovative cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that accelerate growth.
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Compensation and Benefits
The salary range for this role is $157,655 – $197,069 per year, plus a 25% target bonus calculated based on individual and company performance. The position is also eligible for stock or other equity grants pursuant to McDonald’s long-term incentive plan.
The role offers a comprehensive benefits package, including comprehensive health insurance (medical, prescription drug, mental health, dental, and vision), life insurance, a 401(k) plan, an adoption assistance program, an educational assistance program, flexible ways of working, and time off policies including sick leave, parental leave, and vacation/PTO.
Location & Travel
This is a Chicago-based role. Ronald McDonald House Global operates on a hybrid schedule, with employees expected to be on-site at the McDonald’s global headquarters in Chicago’s West Loop three days per week (any three days). The remainder of the week may be worked remotely.
The role requires approximately 25% domestic travel over time, ramping up as the program matures. Travel will not be at this level immediately.
Contact
DSG | Koya has been exclusively retained for this engagement, which is being led by Cheryl Stevens and Claire Hunt. Express interest in this role by filling out our Talent Profile or emailing the search team directly at [email protected]. All inquiries and discussions are strictly confidential.
DSG | Koya is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
Ronald McDonald House is an equal opportunity employer committed to the diversity of its workforce. Ronald McDonald House promotes an inclusive work environment and provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities as part of the application or hiring process or to perform the essential functions of their job. Ronald McDonald House provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to sex, sex stereotyping, pregnancy (including pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, age, disability status, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, protected military or veteran status, citizenship status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.