Philanthropy Manager

Founded in 1982 as Joliet Area Community Hospice, Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care is an independent, nonprofit healthcare provider licensed in 11 counties in northwest Illinois.  We provide exceptional serious illness care, hospice care and grief support for adults and children.

The majority of our direct patient care is in the field with Lightways team members providing care in the home, nursing facility or assisted living facility.  We also have a 24-bed inpatient unit in Joliet.  Non-clinical staff are based out of our Joliet administrative offices.

We currently have a full time opening for a Philanthropy Manager.  The Philanthropy Manager will oversee core revenue-generating activities, including annual fund donations/appeals, donor stewardship and database management, and outreach, while also managing and growing strategic areas such as planned giving and funeral home partnerships.  This includes:

• Coordinate the execution of annual fund appeals across mail, digital, and integrated channels.


• Track appeal performance and collaborate on segmentation, messaging, and follow-up strategies.


• Lead annual fund donor acquisition, retention, and upgrade efforts.


• Manage day-to-day donor database operations, including data integrity, reporting, and acknowledgements.


• Coordinate stewardship touchpoints to ensure timely, meaningful donor engagement.


• Manage donor communications, recognition efforts, and giving histories.


• Respond to donation-related inquiries, phone calls, emails, and voicemails, ensuring timely and professional follow-up.


• Manage and assist in the development Lightways’ planned giving program.


• Lead outreach, education, and stewardship for planned giving donors and prospects.


• Maintain accurate documentation and collaborate internally on gift tracking and reporting.


• Cultivate and steward relationships with funeral home partners.


• Coordinate partnership communications, materials, and outreach efforts.

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.


• 3–5 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, development operations, or donor relations.


• Experience with donor databases/CRMs (preferably DonorPerfect) and fundraising reporting.


• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.


• Interest in growing advanced relationship management and planned giving expertise.

Lightways offers a generous benefit package that includes medical, dental, disability, life insurance, pension, holidays and a generous PTO plan for full time positions.

For additional information on Lightways benefit package, please visit Lightways.org and click on Careers.