Director, Corporate Partnerships

Description

TITLE: Director, Corporate Partnerships

Special Olympics Illinois is a not-for-profit organization offering year-round training and competition in 18 sports to Illinois athletes with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Illinois is dedicated to shaping a culture where people with and without intellectual disabilities are fully integrated into the community by providing opportunities in competitive sports, health education, leadership, and personal development. As a part of the Special Olympics Illinois team, you’ll join an energetic and hard-working group of individuals committed to transforming the lives of those we serve.

The Director, Corporate Partnerships is a strategic leader responsible for driving SOILL’s transition to high-impact, long-term corporate partnerships. This role leads consultative engagement with partners, focusing on growing high-value, multi-year partnerships that support SOILL’s mission and impact storytelling. The Director will proactively secure new partnerships through targeted prospecting and business development strategies.

Advance SOILL’s corporate partnership strategy by:

• Securing and stewarding high-impact relationships
• Maximizing unrestricted or lightly restricted revenue
• Ensuring partnerships align with SOILL’s strategic priorities and deliver measurable outcomes
• Leading new partnership acquisition and prospecting efforts

• Support development of SOILL’s corporate strategy for its key mission pillars (e.g. Sports & Competition, Healthy Athletes, Athlete Leadership, and Youth & Education).
• Partner on the design, launch and implementation of corporate volunteer engagement programs
• Advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in all prospect and partnership activities, ensuring inclusive recruitment and engagement of corporate partners, volunteers, and board members.
• Support fundraising strategies anchored by corporate giving for major initiatives (e.g., Special Olympics USA Games, Unified Leadership).

• Develop and execute a proactive prospecting strategy to identify, research, and engage new corporate partners aligned with SOILL’s mission and strategic priorities
• Build and manage a robust pipeline of prospective partners, utilizing CRM tools and market research to track outreach, cultivation, and conversion
• Set annual targets for new and existing partnerships and report regularly on progress to leadership
• Lead outreach efforts through cold calls, networking events, conferences, Linked In, and warm introductions
• Collaborate with grants, marketing, finance and program teams to develop integrated partnership solutions, create compelling pitch materials and customized proposals for prospects and partners.

• Steward existing corporate partners to maximize engagement and impact
• Identify volunteer opportunities for corporations and coordinate with Program Services leads to execute engagements (e.g., Summer Games, volunteer trainings)
• Write and develop comprehensive year-round partnership proposals, collaborating with internal program leaders for mission alignment
• Ensure sponsorship deliverables are met and documented (e.g., signage, event invitations, fulfillment reports)
• Create donor impact reports with key metrics and mission narratives (e.g., social media metrics, athlete stories, stats)
• Identify volunteer leaders for committees and boards; cultivate Corporate Chairs for major events
• Represent SOILL at Lunch & Learns and workplace giving events; present “About Us” and other key presentations

• Manage Leaders Council or other high-level volunteer boards, including strategy, recruitment, engagement, and stewardship
• Plan and execute council meetings and initiatives; serve as main SOILL liaison

• May supervise Assistant Director or Manager, Corporate Partnerships

• Establish and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) for new business development, including number of new partners acquired, revenue generated, and pipeline growth
• Maintain accurate records of prospecting activity and…