Strategic Partnerships Director, SoCal (2025014)

Are you a person of compassion? An advocate for justice? Someone who stands up for the rights of the vulnerable and speaks out for the marginalized, the exploited and the forgotten?  Do you believe in our calling as Christians to welcome the least of these and love our neighbor?

If you answered ‘yes’, to any of the above, World Relief, and millions of people around the world need you.

At this pivotal moment in time, we are rapidly expanding and growing our team to meet the increasing needs of our world. We are looking for people who want to use their gifts and talents to make a real and tangible difference in our world and the lives of the suffering.

If you’re looking for a purpose-driven career in which you can grow your talents, while also standing up for the rights of the vulnerable, we want you to join us today.

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY

World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization whose mission is to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church. The organization was founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of war-torn Europe. Since then, for 80 years, across 100 countries, World Relief has partnered with local churches and communities to build a world where families thrive and communities flourish.

Today, organizational programming focuses on humanitarian and disaster response, community strengthening and resilience, and refugee & immigrant services and advocacy.

This position is reliant upon funding and may be subject to modification or termination based on resource availability.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Strategic Engagement Department of World Relief is responsible for the organizations private revenue and is fueled by serving our partners so that we might add value, build trust, and connect them deeply to our mission of boldly engaging the world's greatest crisis in partnership with the church.  We serve our church, individual and foundation partners sacrificially.  We focus on behaviors that lead toward results and make important decisions to achieve them.  Finally, we take the complex development solutions in our field work and distill them in a way that provides clarity and simplicity for our partners. 

• The Strategic Partnership Director, SoCal will be responsible for:   
• An annual income goal for their region.   
• Meeting monthly lead indicator objectives.   
• Retention of major donors and church partners.   
• Donor acquisition and new church partnership development.   
• Implementation of strategic regional events.   
• Working in partnership with the regions local offices in achieving US ministry fundraising goals. 
• Develop, coordinate and manage a defined portfolio of partners within the larger major donor portfolio.
• Conduct in-person meetings, traveling as necessary/approved, with prospects and existing partners.   
• In advance of each new fiscal year, participate in creation of donor journey strategies for prospective and existing partners.   
• Work with additional staff and donors to facilitate special events   
• Participate in international vision trips and ministry trips as appropriate for partners journeys. 
• Track all aspects of major donor annual fundraising plans and ensure proper follow-up using World Relief’s preferred donor database management system.   
• Effectively move prospective donors through the World Relief sales process through expert qualifying, pitching and closing skills.   
• Create and deliver engaging partner care and growth strategies for each prospect and partner, adding value to their relationship with World Relief, building trust in the organization and connecting them deeply to our mutual mission.   
• Oversee a timely stewardship process including major donor acknowledgement, ensuring 3-day turnaround, input from appropriate staff, and adherence to overall strategy for each donor.   
• Support donor database management system by ensuring that hard and soft records are up-to-date and accurate.   
• Proactively pursue new leads, converting them into prospects and guiding them through a sales process towards partnership.   
• Maintain confidentiality of all donor-related information.   
• Participate in portfolio reviews three times per year.    

• Mature and personal Christian faith
• Committed to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief
• Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities
• Able to affirm and/or acknowledge World Reliefs Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity and National Evangelicals For the Health of The Nation document
• Ability to articulate a personal walk with Jesus Christ and relate it to the ministry of World Relief.   
• Ability to travel regionally and across the states in the territory- 25%.   
• Demonstrated success in securing major gifts and cultivating relationships with major donor prospects.   
• Track record of successfully raising funds, closing on major gifts, and meeting revenue goals.  
• Bachelor’s degree, or commensurate work experience and a minimum of 5 years’ experience in non-profit or academic major donor planning, cultivation and stewardship. 

• Communication and leadership abilities, with a particular bent on guiding prospective partners towards deciding to partner.     
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills; attention to detail.   
• Strong public speaking and storytelling skills and the ability to relate to an audience and connect with people one on one.   
• Naturally persuasive personality and ability to share the blessing of financially supporting God’s work through World Relief.   
• Ability to engage donors of diverse backgrounds with World Relief’s mission.   
• Strong planning, administrative and organizational skills; ability to manage time efficiently, meet deadlines, work independently and within a team; ability to work under pressure.   
• Proven ability to work well with diverse groups of people.   
• Strong interpersonal skills and flexible working style.   
• Develop a thorough knowledge of World Relief programs through reading reports, conversing with staff, attending team meetings, etc.   
• A genuine commitment to and ability to articulate the mission, values and ministry of World Relief.   
• Possess a love for the vulnerable and the local church, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or culture, and a burden to connect them with God’s love and the compassion of Christians in the United States. 

World Relief offers a competitive benefits package and employee discount program for full-time and part-time employees.

World Relief is honored to be recognized with the Gold-level Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation for exceeding the core components of our well-being program including leadership and culture, program foundations and execution, and whole person health.

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Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.

For World Relief staff, strong commitment to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief is essential, and Christian faith is a prerequisite for employment, based upon United States federal guidelines provided in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.