Summary

Mercy Housing Mountain Plains seeks an experienced fundraiser to advance one of the most urgent and important causes of our time: ensuring safe, stable, and affordable housing for all.

Description

Regional Director of Major Gifts
Mercy Housing
Denver, Colorado

About Mercy Housing
Home is the foundation for stability, opportunity, and well-being. Yet across the Mountain Plains region—one of the fastest-growing areas in the country—far too many individuals and families struggle to find a safe, affordable place to live. Rising rents, limited housing stock, and persistent economic inequities leave tens of thousands of residents without stable housing or at risk of displacement. Seniors, working families, and children are especially vulnerable in communities where the cost of living has far outpaced wages.

Mercy Housing Mountain Plains (MHMP)—one of the largest regional affiliates of Mercy Housing, Inc.,—is working to meet this challenge. MHMP develops, preserves, and operates affordable, service-enriched housing that provides the stability residents need to thrive. Today, MHMP serves over 5,000 residents across 45 communities in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Utah, and Arizona, creating homes and opportunities for seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, individuals and families transitioning from homelessness, and children in need of a supportive environment.

An industry leader, Mercy Housing Mountain Plains is proud to…

Shape affordable housing communities from concept to long-term stewardship. MHMP participates in every stage of housing development—from planning and financing to construction, operations, and resident support. This holistic approach ensures high-quality homes, strong resident relationships, and communities designed for long-term success.
Deliver high-impact resident services that support stability and upward mobility. MHMP provides and partners with local organizations to offer on-site programming tailored to residents' needs, including health and wellness services, food access, financial education, community-building activities, and robust youth programs. These services empower residents to build stability, strengthen families, and chart a path toward greater opportunity.
Respond to the most pressing needs in the region. MHMP creates innovative housing solutions for populations experiencing acute housing insecurity—from permanent supportive housing for people exiting homelessness in Colorado, to high-quality, service-rich communities for seniors in Arizona, to safe and stable homes for children and families in Colorado and Nebraska.
Leverage deep regional expertise backed by national capacity and stability. As part of Mercy Housing's national network, MHMP draws on decades of organizational experience, financial strength, and a diverse housing portfolio—resources that allow the region to act strategically and sustainably, regardless of economic conditions.
Advance a mission grounded in the values of our founding women religious communities. The principles of respect, justice, and mercy continue to guide MHMP's work, ensuring that every community reflects dignity, compassion, and the belief that all people deserve a safe place to call home.

The Opportunity
Mercy Housing Mountain Plains seeks an experienced fundraiser to advance one of the most urgent and important causes of our time: ensuring safe, stable, and affordable housing for all. This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the nation's most respected and impactful nonprofit housing developers and to shape a future in which communities are stronger, healthier, and more resilient.

Mercy Housing Mountain Plains is at a critical moment in its growth. Already the largest geographic region within Mercy Housing's service area, Mercy Housing Mountain Plains has a well-defined pipeline of projects to deepen its impact and expand operations to Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. With an eye toward long-term sustainability of critical resident services, Mercy Housing's national office, in partnership with regional leaders across the country, has embarked on an ambitious endowment campaign to permanently secure the homes and resources on which neighbors depend. This Regional Director of Major Gifts will play a pivotal role in the success of the campaign, engaging an emerging community of donors across an eight-state service area and ensuring that Mercy Housing's bold vision becomes reality.

The Regional Director of Major Gifts will be an experienced frontline fundraiser. The ideal candidate is a motivated, results-oriented leader who is experienced in managing a portfolio of individual and institutional donors. This is a new role on the Mercy Housing Mountain Plains team; in partnership with the Vice President, Philanthropy, early phases of the work will focus on donor identification and qualification and the establishment of a culture of philanthropy across the organization. A successful candidate will bring an understanding of the operations and engagement strategies of a large, well-established fundraising team and an entrepreneurial spirit they will use to establish and deepen donor engagement in key organizational priorities, ensuring consistent progress toward ambitious fundraising goals.

Key Position Functions
The Regional Director of Major Gifts will manage key relationships with donors and other stakeholders across the MHMP service area. Reporting to the Vice President, Philanthropy, the Regional Director of Major Gifts will maintain a portfolio of 75-100 high-capacity individual and institutional donors.
The Regional Director of Major Gifts will join an established Denver-based philanthropy team, with high-performing peers overseeing institutional fundraising. Together with the Vice President, Philanthropy and the Regional President, the Regional Director of Major Gifts will develop and implement strategies to expand individual donor engagement in support of the critical work of Mercy Housing Mountain Plains.

Strategy Development and Planning – Identify and formally qualify new major and planned gift prospects by developing and executing long-range and short-range strategies and plans to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward prospects, producing a continuous stream of donors capable of making gifts of $1,000 or more. Gather data, assess prospects, and develop strategies designed to realize the current and lifetime giving potential of individual prospects. In collaboration with the Vice President, Philanthropy, develop annual portfolio revenue goals.
Portfolio Management – Build and maintain relationships with 75-100 prospects. Ensure that prospects are moved through the lifecycle of a portfolio at an appropriate pace.
Donor Cultivation and Solicitation – Cultivate, strengthen, and sustain strategic relationships with key donors, ensuring a high level of donor satisfaction and involvement. Oversee portfolio-level creation and implementation of donor, solicitation, and stewardship plans, including strategies for endowment growth and legacy giving opportunities. Support the creation of regional strategy for engagement and recognition activities for key stakeholder groups.   
Communication – Develop and maintain a thorough working knowledge of MHMP's case for support, mission, annual fundraising opportunities, and community needs to articulate the top priorities and fundraising objectives to donors and prospects. Create letters, correspondence, materials, and proposals that communicate the case and will resonate with donors.
Relationship Documentation – Update Raiser's Edge on a regular basis to reflect donor moves management and ensure appropriate acknowledgement and stewardship of donors.
Collaboration – Collaborate with MHMP staff and key volunteers. Participate in and leverage other fundraising activities and events as part of an individual cultivation strategy. Participate in MHMP Board Engagement and Fundraising Committee meetings.

Qualifications
Competencies and Attributes for Success in the Position:

Thorough knowledge of fund development principles, strategies, and tactics
Communicates effectively and informs via verbal, written, and presentation skills
Maintains a donor focus when developing the strategy and plans
Interpersonal savvy; relates well to all kinds of people inside and outside the organization
Instills trust, gaining confidence of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity
Ability to influence and persuade others
Situational adaptability to adjust plans and tactics
Drives results and can be counted on to achieve goals
Demonstrates self-awareness; knows personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and limits; seeks feedback
Ability to build networks across multiple markets
Strategic mindset and ability to plan to maximize philanthropic giving
Collaborates across teams and with constituents and partners; quickly finds common ground and solves problems for the good of all

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in related field or equivalent experience
Proven experience cultivating and closing five- and six-figure gifts or similar transferable experience in consultative, relationship-oriented sales
Ability to work in-person at MHMP's Denver office (two days/week) and travel (30%) across the Mountain Plains region

Desired Qualifications:

Fundraising experience in housing or human services organizations

Compensation
The expected base salary for this position is $100,000 – $120,000, commensurate with experience. All employees at Mercy Housing Mountain Plains are also eligible for a generous comprehensive benefits package including PTO and paid holidays; medical, dental, and vision insurance; 403(b) retirement plans; Employee Assistance Program; and many more.  

Equal Opportunity Employer
Mercy Housing is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified personnel in a manner that does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran/reserve and National Guard status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.
Mercy Housing is a fair chance employer; while background checks are conducted for all positions, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered.

Application Process
Benefactor Group is pleased to be assisting Mercy Housing with this executive search. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. All applications are considered highly confidential. To be considered for this position, please submit an application at this link: https://bit.ly/MHMP-DirOfMajorGiftsApp.

To learn more about Mercy Housing, please visit https://www.mercyhousing.org/.

Please do not contact Mercy Housing staff or board with questions or interest in the role. All inquiries about the position should be directed to Benefactor Group.

Benefactor Group Recruitment Team
HR@benefactorgroup.com
http://www.benefactorgroup.com