Opportunity Overview
The need for affordable housing has never been more urgent. For over four decades, Habitat for Humanity International (Habitat) has helped more than 60 million people achieve strength, stability, and independence through safe, decent, and affordable shelter. Yet more than 2.8 billion people lack safe, durable shelter they can afford. Significant change is necessary to address the gap in affordable housing and with a strong brand, solid financials, and partnerships across the globe, Habitat for Humanity International is uniquely suited to help drive this change.
As Habitat reaches a pivotal moment, we’re seeking a leader with the passion and vision to harness this potential and advance Habitat into its next phase of growth. With the support of a new three-year strategic plan, a brand refresh, new collaboration opportunities unlocked through a new operating model with our affiliates and a commitment to evolve our go-to-market strategy, the organization is poised to capture its share of the major donor philanthropic giving. As we near our 50th anniversary in 2026, we are laying the groundwork to leverage this moment to increase engagement, fundraising, and impact. The Vice President of Individual Giving (VP-Individual Giving) will play a key role in growing the resources required to fund the mission and increase impact, shaping the future of Habitat fundraising for Habitat’s next 50 years of advancing our mission.
Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the VP-Individual Giving is responsible for growing principal, major, and planned gifts for Habitat. Driven by a passion to ensure everyone has a decent place to live, this individual is one-part strategic leader, one-part expert fundraiser, and one-part skilled relationship manager. The VP-Individual Giving’s primary focus will be expanding and nurturing external relationships to grow and diversify major donor and planned giving support. Aligned with and comfortable leading in an inclusive Christian ministry, they will be a true servant leader exemplifying Habitat’s core values of humility, courage, and accountability. Additionally, they will possess strong strategic thinking, relationship management, and highly influential, yet humbly persuasive communication skills. They will lead a professional fundraising team of approximately thirty staff and collaborate with key affiliates to raise $50 million-plus in annual philanthropic revenue through transformational large gifts.
Organizational Overview
Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity International is a global Christian nonprofit organization that partners with people all over the world to help them build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat grew out of a multi-racial community in rural Georgia working to build homes at no profit for community members in need. Habitat has a rich history and notable supporters and volunteers, including President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
Habitat is best known for building houses in partnership with families, local communities, volunteers, and partners from around the world, but it does so much more. Focused on putting God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings together people of all faiths and people of no faith, to build homes, communities, and hope.
Habitat has a broad array of programs to support affordable housing. Programs include Advancing Black Homeownership; Aging in Place; Habitat Capital, a community development financial institution to address critical lending barriers; Long-Term Disaster Recovery; and a comprehensive list of programs can be found here.
Habitat has expanded from its initial direct engagement work of building homes to becoming a catalyst for systemic change – change that will help exponentially more families than building alone. Its strategy to affect the housing need at scale allocates resources across three spheres of influence: community, improving housing conditions through direct engagement with families and communities; sector, inspiring action to end poverty housing through engagement with the broader housing sector around policies and systems; and society, building awareness and engagement of housing as a critical factor to break the cycle of poverty.
Habitat has experienced significant growth since its founding, serving millions of people across the globe and operating in 70 countries and in all 50 states through a federated model that includes more than 1,000 U.S. affiliates. In fiscal year 2023, Habitat reported $352 million in revenue, along with an estimated $2.4 billion in total revenue through the organization’s federated network. Habitat’s culture emphasizes the values of humility, courage, and accountability. Leaders are experts in their field and dedicated to affirming the values of the organization.
HFHI is the global headquarters for Habitat for Humanity, with approximately 900 employees and offices in the US (Georgia and Washington, DC), Europe/Middle East (Bratislava, Slovakia, and the UK), Africa (Nairobi, Kenya), Asia/Pacific (Manila, Philippines), and Latin America/Caribbean (San Jose, Costa Rica).
Candidate Profile
While Habitat will consider a broad range of backgrounds, the ideal candidate will have the following qualifications/experience:
- Commitment to Habitat’s mission on a global scale and genuine passion for advancing a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Strong cultural fit and comfortable leading in an inclusive, Christian ministry. Global experience a plus.
- Ten-plus years of related experience.
- Demonstrable development success and experience in securing complex, six and seven-figure multiyear commitments and coaching teams to fundraising success.
- Experience fostering a professional environment that encourages continuous improvement and supports a highly functional resource development team, including providing training and professional development.
- Strong change management, conflict management, negotiation, strategic planning, analytical, and budgeting/forecasting skills.
- Highly collaborative, solutions-oriented convener of internal and external stakeholders with a preference for experience working in a federated or franchise model; savvy networker with the capability to lead via influence.
- Solutions and action-oriented builder with the ability to take calculated risks, complete multiple projects concurrently, and balance competing priorities in a fast-paced environment; strong attention to details and ability to meet deadlines.
- Unimpeachable integrity and commitment to the highest standards of professionalism; mature judgment in handling sensitive information; values-driven, committed to personal and professional development; servant leader with a bias for optimism; elevates institutional goals and values beyond personal gain, ensuring efforts are mission focused and quality driven.
- Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of how to build diversity and inclusion in the development function; culturally competent with respect to issues such as racial, cultural, religious, sexual, and gender identity.
- Excellent oral/written communication skills.
Equal Opportunity Employer
At Habitat for Humanity International, we embrace a history rooted in creating equity – we take our principles seriously by courageously committing to a culture and workplace where all staff feel safe, welcome, visible, respected, supported and valued.
As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage people of varied races (which is inclusive of traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, protective hairstyles and hair texture), ethnicities, national origins, tribes, religions, ages, gender identities and expressions, genders, sexual orientations, marital statuses, disabilities, veteran/reserve national guard statuses, socio-economic statuses, thinking and communication styles to work with us.
HFHI strives to efficiently hire, competitively compensate, and competitively retain a leading workforce that drives its life-changing mission of connecting families and communities with the transformational impact of decent, affordable shelter. At HFHI, we commit to hiring a diverse, highly skilled workforce, representative of our global work, while exceptionally stewarding the resources of time and money with which we have been entrusted.
Habitat for Humanity International has retained the DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice of the Diversified Search Group to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) may be submitted via the following link or directed to the leader of the search team:
https://talent-profile.dsgco.com/search/v2/21656
Gerard F. Cattie, Jr.
Global Managing Partner and Practice Founder, DSG Fundraising & Advancement
Diversified Search Group
The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, 49th Floor, New York, New York 10174
[email protected] | 212.542.2587