Confidential · Position Prospectus
Chief Philanthropy Officer
“United Way of Central Indiana brings together the resources of philanthropy, government, corporations, the social sector, and neighborhoods to confront generational poverty and ensure a better future for our neighbors in need.”
A Pivotal Moment for Central Indiana’s Fight Against Poverty
United Way of Central Indiana (UWCI) brings together the resources of philanthropy, government, corporations, the social sector, and neighborhoods to confront generational poverty and ensure a better future for our neighbors in need. This is an ambitious time to join United Way as the organization advances a five year strategic plan focused on reducing the number of households experiencing poverty and financial instability.
UWCI partners to design, support, and grow systems that accelerate financial stability and upward mobility for individuals and families living in or near poverty and striving for a brighter future. Its vision is that Central Indiana will be a community where children, individuals, and families thrive, neighbors care for one another, and all residents can be proud of the quality of life in their community.
This is a confidential search for a proven philanthropic leader ready to join UWCI’s executive team at a moment of real momentum: a bold strategic framework, a sharpened focus on the root causes of poverty, and a community wide mandate to innovate how philanthropy is raised, engaged, and stewarded.
More Than a Century of Bringing People Together
United Way of Central Indiana’s roots trace back to 1918, when the community gathered at Monument Circle to drop coins and dollars into a massive War Chest, a show of unity that helped fund relief agencies during the flu pandemic and support the war effort. Over the decades, that spirit of collective giving grew into the modern United Way, mobilizing generosity through citywide campaigns and workplace giving across Central Indiana.
Today, UWCI carries that legacy forward with a sharpened focus on fighting poverty at its roots, investing in long-term solutions while responding to the immediate needs of neighbors across Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan, and Putnam counties. The organization partners with more than 100 community organizations and uses a two-generation (“2Gen”) model that supports both children and the adults in their lives.
UWCI measures hardship using the ALICE framework, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Many Central Indiana households earn above the federal poverty line but still cannot afford the basics of housing, childcare, food, transportation, and health care. In 2024, the minimum cost for a family of four to live and work in Indiana was $74,028, more than double the federal poverty level of $31,200.
UWCI’s Focus Areas
UWCI concentrates its investments on the top predictors of poverty:
Organizational Leadership
The Chief Philanthropy Officer reports to the Chief Executive Officer and serves as a member of UWCI’s executive team, working alongside senior leaders across Community Impact, Finance, Technology, and Brand to align philanthropy with the organization’s strategic direction.
Fred Payne joined United Way of Central Indiana as President and CEO in July 2022. He previously led the Indiana Department of Workforce Development for more than four years and is a graduate of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and Grambling State University. Under his leadership, UWCI has continued to sharpen its focus on the root causes of poverty and financial instability across the region.
The Chief Philanthropy Officer will lead and align a team of senior philanthropy leaders, including the Vice President, Corporate & Volunteer Engagement, the Vice President, Major & Transformational Giving, the Senior Director, Partnership Development, and the Senior Director, Foundation & Government Partnerships. The role coordinates closely with UWCI’s Chief Impact Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Data & Technology Officer as part of an integrated executive team. In total, the CPO leads a philanthropy division of approximately 29 full-time and 3 seasonal team members.
Chief Philanthropy Officer
The Chief Philanthropy Officer (CPO) serves as the senior executive leader of United Way of Central Indiana’s philanthropy enterprise and as a member of the executive team. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the CPO provides strategic direction for UWCI’s comprehensive fundraising and engagement efforts and leads the development and execution of strategies that support the organization’s long-term strategic direction and short-term fundraising and impact goals.
The CPO leads and aligns senior philanthropy leaders responsible for corporate and volunteer engagement, major and transformational giving, partnership development, and foundation and government partnerships. The CPO establishes a shared philanthropic vision, sets priorities and expectations, develops organizational capacity, and ensures accountability for results across the philanthropy enterprise.
The CPO will lead UWCI’s efforts to grow and diversify philanthropic revenue, strengthen major and transformational donor relationships, evolve workplace giving and corporate partnerships, expand institutional funding, and deepen engagement with donors and volunteers. The role also leads the effort to build a donor-centric culture across the organization, ensuring that fundraising and engagement are integrated effectively with UWCI’s broader mission, community impact, and organizational priorities.
This is both an enterprise leadership and relationship-centered role. The CPO will serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and executive team, advise and engage the board and key volunteers, and represent UWCI with donors, corporate and community leaders, foundations, government partners, and the broader United Way network. The CPO will also personally cultivate and steward the organization’s most important philanthropic relationships while empowering senior leaders to achieve ambitious results within their areas of responsibility. This is a highly external role, requiring approximately 40% of the CPO’s time in community-facing and external engagement activities.
What the Chief Philanthropy Officer Will Lead
Enterprise Philanthropy Leadership
- Develop and lead a comprehensive enterprise-wide philanthropy strategy aligned with UWCI’s strategic plan, community impact priorities, and organizational goals, establishing clear revenue, engagement, and performance objectives.
- Partner closely with the CEO and executive team to advance UWCI’s fundraising and community impact goals, support high-level donor strategies, manage the philanthropy budget, and allocate resources for maximum organizational impact.
Fundraising & Revenue Growth
- Lead the development and execution of a comprehensive fundraising strategy that increases philanthropic revenue, donor acquisition, retention, and lifetime value while building a strong pipeline of major and transformational gifts, including opportunities of $250,000+.
- Personally cultivate and steward UWCI’s most significant donor and prospect relationships, partnering closely with the Vice President of Major & Transformational Giving and other senior leaders to strengthen major giving, the Tocqueville Society, and the next generation of philanthropists.
- Develop compelling philanthropic opportunities and a differentiated case for support by aligning donor interests with UWCI’s community impact priorities and long-term strategic vision, in partnership with Community Impact and other organizational leaders.
Corporate & Workplace Philanthropy
- Lead the strategic evolution of UWCI’s workplace giving and corporate philanthropy strategies in response to changing employer, employee, and philanthropic trends.
- Ensure that corporate relationships are approached as strategic partnerships that create value for both UWCI and its corporate partners and support strategies to engage employees and corporate partners through volunteerism, affinity groups, cause related efforts, and other meaningful opportunities.
- Develop and drive execution of aggressive sales goals for the Empower Pack in Partnership with Salesforce platform.
Foundation, Government & Strategic Partnerships
- Leadership and direction for foundation and government partnerships and community impact leaders to retain and grow overall revenue from grants.
- Identify compelling philanthropic and partnership opportunities that connect institutional funders with UWCI’s community impact priorities. Build and sustain relationships with foundation leaders, government stakeholders, corporate partners, and other institutional funders.
Engagement & Events
- Lead a comprehensive engagement strategy that strengthens relationships with donors, volunteers, affinity groups, and community partners while advancing UWCI’s fundraising and community impact goals.
- Provide strategic oversight of volunteer engagement, immersive learning experiences, and high-impact events, ensuring they create meaningful connections to UWCI’s mission and deliver measurable fundraising and engagement results.
- Leverage data and analytics to evaluate, refine, and scale engagement strategies that increase participation, donor retention, revenue, and overall organizational impact.
Leadership & Organizational Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing philanthropy team, establishing clear expectations, accountability, and a culture of excellence while recruiting, retaining, and developing top talent.
- Empower senior leaders and key volunteers with the resources, training, guidance, and support needed to advance fundraising and engagement goals.
- Foster collaboration across UWCI, ensuring philanthropy strategies, operations, and partnerships are fully integrated across departments and throughout the seven-county service area.
Data, Technology & Fundraising Operations
- Champion the strategic use of technology, data, and analytics to strengthen fundraising performance, enhance the donor experience, and support informed organizational decision-making.
- Ensure integrated, customer-focused fundraising operations by leveraging Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Empower Pack in Partnership with Salesforce, UWCI’s CRM, and other systems to support fundraising, engagement, communications, and relationship management and establish accurate reporting and performance metrics to evaluate pipeline, revenue, donor retention, and engagement, driving accountability and continuous improvement across the philanthropy function.
Executive, Board & Community Leadership
- Serve as a strategic partner to the CEO, executive team, and Board on philanthropy, revenue growth, donor engagement, and external partnerships, ensuring effective strategies for the organization’s highest-priority donor relationships. Prepare and support the CEO, Board members, and senior leaders for high-level donor, volunteer, and community engagements by providing strategic counsel, briefing, and follow-through to maximize fundraising outcomes.
- Serve as the executive leader of UWCI’s annual fundraising campaign, working closely with volunteer campaign co-chairs to set strategy, mobilize resources, and drive results.
- Represent UWCI as a visible and influential community leader, building strong relationships across the corporate, philanthropic, nonprofit, government, and civic sectors while positioning the organization as a trusted partner and advancing its mission through broad stakeholder collaboration.
United Way Worldwide & External Network Leadership
- Represent UWCI within the United Way Worldwide network and participate, as appropriate, in network level task forces, committees, Select Cities Tiger Team efforts, and other initiatives. Contribute UWCI’s experience and best practices to broader United Way conversations while bringing relevant ideas and opportunities back to the organization.
Candidate Profile
United Way of Central Indiana seeks a fundraising leader who pairs strategic vision with hands-on execution, someone who can build a donor-centric culture across a large, complex organization while personally cultivating transformational relationships.
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s required, Master’s degree preferred.
- 10+ of progressively responsible experience leading fundraising and/or volunteer engagement functions.
Knowledge & Technical Skills
- Significant expertise in philanthropy, including major and transformational gifts, workplace giving, grants, planned giving, volunteer engagement, events, and relationship management.
- Strong strategic, analytical, and leadership capabilities, with the ability to translate organizational priorities into actionable plans and build trusted relationships with board members, donors, community leaders, and other stakeholders.
- Experience leveraging CRM and fundraising technologies (Empower Pack in Partnership with Salesforce or similar preferred), combined with exceptional integrity, sound judgment, confidentiality, and executive presence.
Leadership Competencies
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
Position Facts
- Position Title
- Chief Philanthropy Officer
- Division
- Philanthropy Division
- Position Leader
- Chief Executive Officer
- Executive Leadership
- Member of the Executive Team
- Position Leads
- Vice President, Corporate & Volunteer Engagement; Vice President, Major & Transformational Giving; Senior Director, Partnership Development; Senior Director, Foundation & Government Partnerships
- FLSA Status
- Exempt, Full Time
- Salary Grade
- Market
- Benefits
- Complete Benefits Package Available
- Reviewed
- July 2026
Location & Compensation
The Chief Philanthropy Officer is based at UWCI’s Indianapolis headquarters and works across the organization’s seven county service area:
Compensation
Salary is set at market, commensurate with the candidate’s experience, along with UWCI’s complete benefits package.
Additional Background Materials
The materials below are provided for candidates actively engaged in this search, to give deeper context on UWCI’s current strategic direction and philanthropy-division priorities. They are confidential, intended for candidate reference only, and should not be distributed or shared outside this search process.
To Explore This Opportunity
United Way of Central Indiana welcomes inquiries from accomplished fundraising and advancement leaders who are ready to build a donor-centric culture and drive transformational philanthropy for Central Indiana.
For consideration, please submit a résumé and cover letter responsive to UWCI’s mission and the priorities described in this prospectus.
Submit to laurie@woodhousesearch.comReview of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.
United Way of Central Indiana is an Equal Opportunity Employer. UWCI is committed to creating an inclusive workplace and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. This prospectus is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed and is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, or qualifications. UWCI reserves the right to modify, interpret, or apply the position description as needed.
About Woodhouse Search
Woodhouse Search is an executive search firm specializing in senior leadership placements for nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and mission driven enterprises. We partner closely with clients to identify and recruit leaders whose experience and values align with the organization’s mission and moment.
We are proud to partner with United Way of Central Indiana on this search.