Philanthropy Officer

About Chicago Public Media

Chicago Public Media is one of the nation’s largest local nonprofit news organizations. Home to WBEZ 91.5FM, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Vocalo. Chicago Public Media reaches more than 3.3 million people weekly across broadcast, print, and digital platforms. As a mission-driven organization, we aspire to be the most trusted news source Chicagoans turn to for understanding the people, events, and ideas shaping our community.

Chicago Public Media is a 100% community-funded newsroom powered by nearly 97,000 members whose support makes our journalism possible. This sustained community investment helped drive nationally recognized work in 2025, including 29 awards from esteemed organizations, including the Public Media Journalists Association, the Edward R. Murrow Awards, and the National Association of Black Journalists.

We believe independent journalism is essential to a healthy democracy and that access to objective, fact-based news is a right for every citizen. We serve the public interest by creating diverse content that informs and enriches our community, supported by a dedicated staff of approximately 250 professionals.

For more information, please see the Chicago Public Media Annual Report.

The Opportunity

The Philanthropy Officer serves as a key member of WBEZ’s externally facing philanthropy team and is responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individuals’ and families’ philanthropic support of CPM’s mission and objectives. Reporting to the Associate Director of Major Gifts, the Philanthropy Officer is responsible for building and managing a portfolio of approximately 125 – 150 individual donors/families for the purpose of deepening engagement among existing major donors, increasing giving among midlevel donors, and ultimately growing annual revenue and increasing the number of donors giving annually at the $5,000+ level to CPM.

Responsibilities

Frontline Fundraising/Relationship Management (85%)

• Manage a portfolio of 125 – 150 major donors with the capacity to make $5,000+ gifts, executing cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship moves for each assigned donor.
• Identify and execute personalized cultivation plans to strategically retain and upgrade assigned major donors.
• Identify, research, and qualify assigned discovery portfolio of prospective major donors.
• Track plans and outreach in the Development database to ensure transparency and effective pipeline management. Provide timely follow-up and debriefs after meetings.
• Proactively update and track solicitation data and review gift acknowledgments.
• Achieve annual performance metrics including visit targets and fundraising goals—to be set each year.

Other Fundraising Activity (15%)

• Participate in the hands-on, team approach to shaping and executing donor cultivation, engagement, and stewardship opportunities. This includes building invitation lists and partnering on donor events, holiday card mailings, etc.
• As part of this work, may assist with and/or participate in high-level volunteer councils, meetings, and events (sometimes outside of business hours) related to the engagement of major gift donors.
• Actively participate in strategy sessions and help inform colleagues’ major gifts strategies.
• Actively build knowledge of CPM and relationships with colleagues across the organization by attending events and activities, reading and listening to CPM journalism, and pursuing other avenues for professional learning and growth.

Skills and Qualifications

• Ideal candidates will have 5+ years of nonprofit development experience, with two years in a frontline fundraising role.
• Track record of closing gifts from individuals and families, with demonstrated ability to take relationships with donors and prospects to a higher level and to move difficult cases forward.
• Goals and results-driven with the ability to meet deadlines and manage competing priorities.

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written. Accountable with an attention to detail and organizational skills.

• Excellent interpersonal skills are required to relate to donors, volunteers, and colleagues. Must be able to consistently display tact, diplomacy, and discretion, and maintain confidentiality inside and outside of the organization.

• Understanding of fundraising industry standards, with regard to donor solicitation, confidentiality, gift crediting, stewardship, and financial principles that shape the work of fundraising professionals.

• Must have a demonstrable affinity for collaboration, leading through influence, and a high level of emotional intelligence. Must exhibit the patience necessary to advance solutions in a complex and collaborative organization.
• Exercises excellent judgment and models honesty, integrity, and collegiality.
• Proficiency with constituent management and fundraising software. 
• Demonstrates a personal commitment to excellence.

Compensation

The expected pay range for this position is $80,000 to $95,000 per ANNUM.

Chicago Public Media provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the organization reasonably expects to pay for a position.  The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographical location, and external market pay for comparable jobs.