World Relief

Director of Planned Giving

World Relief

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Remote

Location: Maryland • United States

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Salary

💰 $120,000 - $140,000 per year

Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Develop, lead and continuously refine World Relief’s planned giving vision, strategy, and pipeline—including launching a legacy community, deferred gift commitments, and blended gift opportunities.
  • Establish and manage planned giving performance metrics and engagement benchmarks aligned with long-term revenue growth and donor stewardship.
  • Integrate planned and asset based giving as a core component of World Relief’s overall private fundraising strategy, ensuring alignment with mission priorities and donor intent.
  • Strategically pursue and lead a portfolio of 15-20 planned giving prospects, including legacy-intent donors, professional advisor-connected donors, and long-term partners with significant deferred-gift capacity.
  • Actively support and serve the Strategic Partnership Directors team providing strategic insight, pitching and technical expertise to an additional group of long-term partners with significant planned or asset-based gift capacity.
  • Help develop individualized strategic multi-year cultivation and stewardship plans emphasizing trust, values alignment, and legacy impact rather than transactional solicitation across the department.
  • Work with professional advisors to guide partners and prospective partners through complex asset gift opportunities to reduce tax liability and maximize giving opportunities.
  • Guide partners and prospective partners through discerning and documenting legacy commitments—including bequests, beneficiary designations, trusts, and annuities—often over extended time horizons.
  • Serve as World Relief’s primary expert on charitable gift planning vehicles, including:
  • Bequests and estate provisions
  • Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs)
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs)
  • Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs)
  • Retirement asset and life insurance beneficiary designations
  • Translate complex financial, legal, and tax concepts into donor-friendly, values-driven conversations.
  • Collaborate closely with accounting, finance, legal, and external advisors to ensure all planned gifts meet donor intent, legal standards, and organizational policy.
  • Lead the training and equipping effort across all of the Strategic Engagement Department in developing the skills and acumen to discover and pursue planned and asset based giving opportunities.
  • Provide the expertise and insight to develop digital acquisition and web based strategies for expansion of planned giving across the Advancement Division.
  • Serve the Strategic Partnership Directors team and broader Strategic Engagement Division with planned giving counsel, resources, and sales-process support.
  • Equip frontline fundraisers to confidently identify legacy opportunities and appropriately refer donors into deeper gift-planning conversations.
  • Provide coaching, training, and thought partnership to elevate planned giving fluency across the organization.
  • Oversee the preparation of legacy-related proposals, gift illustrations, agreements, endowment documentation, and personalized stewardship reports.
  • Ensure exceptional stewardship of planned gift donors through recognition, impact storytelling, and sensitive ongoing engagement.
  • Identify opportunities for planned giving donors to engage with World Relief leadership, including the CEO, VP of Strategic Engagement, board members, and senior administrators.
  • Provide prayerful presence, spiritual care, and pastoral sensitivity—especially in conversations related to legacy, end-of-life planning, and generational impact.
  • Embrace and model fundraising values rooted in Henri Nouwen’s The Spirituality of Fundraising, inviting generosity as vocation rather than obligation.
  • Integrate personal faith in Jesus Christ thoughtfully and respectfully into donor relationships and internal leadership.
  • Accurately document planned giving activity, agreements, and donor intent in accordance with World Relief standards and confidentiality protocols.
  • Maintain accountability to World Relief database, brand, and gift acceptance standards.
  • Represent World Relief at donor events, estate planning seminars, legacy gatherings, and community engagements as appropriate.
  • Travel as needed to cultivate and steward planned giving relationships.

Requirements

  • 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 Association of Evangelicals' For the Health of The Nation document
  • 5–7+ years of demonstrated experience in planned giving, estate planning, or complex philanthropic arrangements.
  • Bachelor’s degree required
  • Expert understanding of planned giving vehicles and donor legacy strategies.
  • Ability to research, understand, and communicate complex financial and legal gift structures.
  • Strong relationship-building skills with donors and professional advisors (attorneys, CPAs, financial planners, trust officers).
  • Demonstrated pastoral gifting, spiritual maturity, and emotional intelligence.
  • Proven collaborative leadership style with experience working across high-performing teams.
  • Excellent interpersonal, written, and public-speaking communication skills.
  • Strategic thinker with patience for long cultivation cycles and comfort navigating ambiguity.
  • Proficient in Raiser’s Edge NXT, Microsoft Office, and project management tools.
Benefits
  • competitive benefits package
  • employee discount program
  • drug-free workplace
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools
planned givingestate planningcharitable gift planningdonor legacy strategiesfinancial gift structuresgift illustrationsendowment documentationtax liability reductionasset-based givingdeferred gift commitments
Soft Skills
relationship-buildingcollaborative leadershipemotional intelligencestrategic thinkinginterpersonal communicationpublic speakingpastoral giftingspiritual maturityvalues alignmenttrust building