Director of Planned Giving

World Relief

Director of Planned Giving at World Relief cultivates legacy and complex gifts. Leading comprehensive fundraising initiatives to support the organization’s mission.

Posted 4/16/2026full-timeRemote • Maryland • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $120,000 - $140,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

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

What you’ll need

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

Comp & perks

competitive benefits package
employee discount program
drug-free workplace

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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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