About the Greater Chicago Food Depository
The Greater Chicago Food Depository believes that food is a basic human right, and its mission is to end hunger. Widely recognized as a leading, equity-driven organization, the Food Depository serves as the food bank for Chicago and all of Cook County—working in partnership with a dynamic network of 850 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, community organizations, and other partners committed to ensuring that no one in the community goes hungry.
A Critical Lifeline in the Face of Rising Need
In a region where an estimated 1 in 5 households experiences food insecurity—with families with children and communities of color disproportionately impacted—the Food Depository remains a vital source of nourishment, stability, and hope.
As the effects of inflation and the rollback of federal nutrition programs persist, hunger continues to surpass pre-pandemic levels. In fact, visits to food pantries across the Food Depository’s network have increased compared to 2022, reflecting the urgent and ongoing demand for food assistance.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the Food Depository:
- Distributed the equivalent of 96 million meals, serving neighbors through 2.3 million household visits to free grocery partners
- Engaged 26,000 volunteers, who donated nearly 103,000 hours to repack 7 million pounds of food
- Helped more than 3,000 neighbors apply for SNAP benefits, totaling more than $5 million in assistance
This powerful impact is made possible by tens of thousands of annual donors–individuals and institutions with a deeply rooted commitment to the Food Depository’s mission to end hunger.
Moving Beyond Food Distribution
The Food Depository’s work goes beyond delivering food. As a proud member of the Feeding America network, the organization leads with bold, equity-centered strategies to address the root causes of hunger: poverty, systemic inequity, and structural racism.
Key initiatives include:
- Statewide work focused on protecting the nutrition safety net
- Strengthening the reach and capacity of its network of pantries and partners in feeding the hungry
- A strategic partnership with City Colleges of Chicago
- The development of a home-meal delivery response for older adults and people with disabilities
Investing in Community-Led Solutions
With a deep commitment to community voice and localized investment, the Food Depository is channeling more than $14 million into historically disinvested neighborhoods—those with the highest rates of food insecurity.
- 52% of all food is distributed to these high-priority communities
- 100% of partners receive food at no cost, empowering them to allocate resources toward other essential services
The Next Chapter
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is a respected leader in hunger relief—known for its compassion, innovation, and deep connection to the communities it serves. The Food Depository’s work, and the work of the Development team, is guided by the Food Depository’s 2030 vision—specifically, a future where every person in every neighborhood has reliable, dignified access to three meals a day. Read more about this vision, and the Food Depository’s strategy to achieve it, via their Strategic Plan.
Driven by a dynamic and mission-oriented team, the Food Depository’s success is rooted in both its people and its strong financial and operational foundation. The next Senior Director of Individual Giving will join this purpose-driven organization at a pivotal moment: coming off a year in which the Food Depository significantly exceeded its fundraising goal with unprecedented support, the organization is now focused on converting that crisis-driven momentum into durable, long-term donor relationships. This leader will play a key role in strengthening the individual giving program and building the donor engagement that will sustain the Food Depository's impact for years to come, helping to advance a future where everyone in Chicago and Cook County has access to the food and resources they need to thrive.
Learn more about the Greater Chicago Food Depository at chicagosfoodbank.org.
The Opportunity
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is seeking a talented, dynamic, mission-driven development leader to serve as the Senior Director of Individual Giving (Senior Director), providing strategic leadership for the Food Depository's major gifts, principal gifts, leadership annual giving, and planned giving programs.
This role is responsible for developing and executing strategies that grow high-level philanthropic support from individual donors while building a sustainable, multi-year giving pipeline. The Senior Director manages a personal portfolio of approximately 25-35 high-capacity prospects, with a focus on cultivating and securing multi-year principal gifts of $100,000 or more, and models frontline fundraising excellence through regular cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of key donors. Balancing strategy, process discipline, and team leadership with an active personal portfolio is essential to this role, which oversees an initial annual fundraising goal of more than $16 million within the organization's individual giving/strategic gifts program.
Reporting to the Chief Philanthropy Officer, who joined the Food Depository in 2025 and has made significant strides in building the structure, discipline, and process now underpinning the development program, the Senior Director leads a team of seven.
As a member of the Development Leadership Team and Cross-Department Leadership Team, the Senior Director partners closely with the Executive Director & CEO, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Senior Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations, and Senior Director of Donor Engagement & Operations to create integrated fundraising strategies that maximize donor engagement and organizational impact.
The Senior Director will join the Food Depository at a moment of real momentum and opportunity. With strong fundraising infrastructure already in place, the new leader has the exciting opportunity to embed it into day-to-day practice through clear, accessible guides and systems, and to coach and elevate a talented, growing team. Individual giving stands out as one of the most promising growth opportunities at the Food Depository, and for a sophisticated individual gifts leader who is energized by the chance to build, ready to roll up their sleeves, and excited to shape what the individual philanthropy program at GCFD can become, this is an extraordinary opportunity to leave a defining mark on a beloved institution in Chicago, impacting millions of neighbors.
Key responsibilities include:
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for major gifts, principal gifts, leadership annual giving, and planned giving.
- Establish annual fundraising plans with measurable goals, key performance indicators (KPIs), and accountability measures.
- Monitor fundraising performance and use data to evaluate progress, identify opportunities, and support continuous improvement.
- Lead the development of strategies that increase donor retention, pipeline growth, and philanthropic investment.
- Partner with organizational leadership to align fundraising priorities with strategic organizational initiatives.
Portfolio Management & Frontline Fundraising
- Personally manage a portfolio of approximately 25-35 high-capacity prospects.
- Model best practices in relationship-based fundraising through regular donor visits, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Secure ambitious yet achievable major and principal gifts through strategic, personalized engagement.
- Partner with the Chief Philanthropy Officer and Executive Director & CEO on leadership gift strategies and solicitations.
- Develop customized cultivation and solicitation plans for top prospects.
Team Leadership
- Lead, coach, mentor, and develop the team, building a cohesive, high-performing team through a period of significant growth and transition.
- Establish clear fundraising expectations, portfolio standards, and performance goals.
- Conduct regular portfolio reviews, strategy sessions, and performance coaching.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, continuous learning, and fundraising excellence.
Major & Planned Giving Strategy
- Oversee moves management processes for major, principal, campaign, and planned giving prospects.
- Guide the development of personalized donor proposals and solicitation materials.
- Partner with the Senior Planned Giving Officer to integrate planned giving strategies throughout the donor lifecycle.
- Collaborate with team members to identify and transition leadership annual giving donors into major gift relationships while expanding planned giving awareness.
Stewardship & Donor Experience
- Partner with the Senior Director of Donor Engagement & Operations to strategically leverage systems, prospect research, reporting, proposals, stewardship, and donor engagement.
- Ensure donors receive personalized recognition and stewardship experiences that strengthen long-term relationships.
- Collaborate on donor communications, impact reporting, recognition opportunities, and stewardship events.
Cross-Department Collaboration
- Partner closely with the Executive Director & CEO, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Senior Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations, and Senior Director of Donor Engagement & Operations to coordinate fundraising strategies across individual and institutional giving.
- Work collaboratively across the Development team to maximize fundraising opportunities and deliver a seamless donor experience.
- Participate on cross-functional leadership teams and organizational initiatives as needed.
Candidate Profile
While it is understood that no candidate will offer every desired skill, quality, and characteristic, the following competencies offer a detailed, aspirational view of the ideal candidate profile:
A Skilled Major and Principal Gifts Fundraiser
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A track record of designing and executing comprehensive individual giving strategies that drive sustainable, multi-year revenue growth.
- Experience with capital campaigns, planned giving, and leadership annual giving.
- Demonstrated success securing significant major and principal gifts, at the six- and 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.
- Creativity and entrepreneurial energy to design innovative cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that accelerate growth.
A Strategic, Results-Oriented, and Process-Disciplined Leader
The ideal candidate will bring:
- The ability to translate high-level strategy into clear, actionable plans and effectively lead through periods of growth and change.
- 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.
- Proven success building and managing moves management, donor segmentation, and portfolio optimization systems and processes.
- The ability to balance strong relationship management with process discipline, translating standards into clear, easy-to-use guides and systems.
- A data-informed approach to fundraising, with the technical skill to set goals and interpret data in ways that drive measurable performance improvement.
- The judgment to know when to invest in process, when to test, and when to act.
- Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to bring focus and prioritization.
An Inspirational and Collaborative Leader
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A proven ability to build, develop, and retain high-performing, mission-aligned teams, fostering a culture of accountability.
- Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively across all levels of staff, volunteers, donors, and prospective donors.
- A "one team" mentality, modeling collaborative decision-making and accessibility.
- Authentic, clear communication that inspires connection to mission and shared purpose.
- A people-first approach, providing timely, constructive feedback and supporting continuous growth.
- The ability to create inclusive, healthy environments where staff feel supported, valued, and energized by the work.
Commitment to the Mission and Values of the Greater Chicago Food Depository
This leader will bring:
- A deep connection to the mission to end hunger and a passion for serving the community.
- A commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice.
- Genuine excitement about the opportunity to lead with purpose and expand impact across Chicago and Cook County.
- Comfort and enthusiasm operating in a fast-paced, high-intensity, entrepreneurial environment, approaching complexity and ambiguity with ingenuity, resilience, and a can-do attitude.
- High integrity, sincerity, humility, and transparency to every interaction.
Location
The successful candidate must be based in or willing to relocate to Chicago, Illinois. The Senior Director is expected to work in-person at the Food Depository's offices three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).
The Food Depository is located at: 4100 W Ann Lurie Place, Chicago, IL 60632.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary is competitive and commensurate with the selected candidate’s experience. The salary for this role is expected to range from $160,000-$175,000, along with a comprehensive benefits package.
Contact
DSG | Koya, the executive search firm dedicated to mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Cheryl Stevens and Claire Hunt are leading the search.
To express interest in this role, please fill out our Talent Profile or reach out directly at [email protected].