Open Position

Title: Manager, Donor Acquisition and Development

Pay range: 75,000-85,000 (depending on experience)

Job type: Contract (up to 2 years)

Hours of work: Full-time (37.5 hours/week, 4-day work week option available)

Location: Remote, based in Canada (legally eligible to work in Canada), with occasional in-person travel

Reports to: Executive Board

Start date: January 2025

Aim of the position:

This exciting new role encompasses a variety of responsibilities aimed at advancing the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada’s fundraising and growth objectives. This is an excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic individual with an entrepreneurial spirit to develop a diversified funding strategy from the ground up to promote significant growth and build financial sustainability for the organisation.

The Manager of Donor Acquisition and Development develops and executes integrated development strategies in line with the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada’s direction and goals. The Manager of Donor Acquisition and Development plays a crucial role in driving the financial health and sustainability of the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada by strategically planning and executing fundraising initiatives, cultivating donor relationships, communicating AWFC’s unique value and impact to donors, and ensuring alignment with the AWFC’s mission and goals.

Key responsibilities:

  1. Strategic Planning: Collaborate with the AWFC board to align fundraising goals with the AWFC’s strategic priorities. Participate in strategic planning processes to ensure that fundraising efforts support the AWFC’s mission and long-term objectives.
  2. Fundraising Strategy Development: Develop and execute comprehensive short and long-term fundraising strategies. This involves setting fundraising targets, identifying prospective donors, and cultivating relationships to maximize donations. This includes developing and managing the full scope of the fund development portfolio, including major gifts, individual giving, legacy giving, and events.
  3. Donor Relations: Build and maintain strong relationships with donors and prospective donors. This includes stewardship activities such as thanking donors, keeping them informed about the impact of their contributions, and engaging them through their giving journey. Focus on increasing the donor base and improving retention rates as well as conveying the impact of donations to improve and enhance the relationship with existing and prospective donors.
  4. Major Gifts: Develop and maintain relationships with major donors and implement strategies to cultivate and solicit planned gifts from donors interested in making legacy commitments, including bequests, and securing significant support for the organisation. Identify and steward prospective planned-giving donors, providing personalized support and guidance throughout the gift-planning process. Keep records and report regularly to the Executive Board on major gift acquisitions.
  5. Board Relations: Work with the President to develop the Annual President Report and collaborate with the different AWFC Committees (including fundraising, communications, and grants) on fundraising strategies and initiatives. Provide regular and annual updates on fundraising activities and status of funding targets, and engage board members in donor cultivation and stewardship efforts.

Advocacy and Networking: Represent the AWFC at community events, conferences, and networking opportunities to raise awareness and support for its mission. This may require occasional in-person attendance at events.

The ideal candidate will have:

  • Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in fundraising, relationship management and business development;
  • Experience and enthusiasm building a funding strategy from scratch and/or leading an organisational shift to align funding to organisational mission;
  • Experience and understanding of major gift fundraising and best practices to secure gifts from individual donors, foundations, and corporate partners;
  • Ability to build strong and long lasting relationships that align with the organisation’s needs;
  • Proven track record of meeting or exceeding fundraising targets;
  • Experience within the animal welfare sector would be an asset;
  • The following competencies;
    • Strong organisational and communication skills
    • Capacity to work independently and collaboratively as part of a small team
    • A self-starter with an entrepreneurial spirit
    • Strategic and creative thinking
    • Excellent interpersonal skills
    • Results-oriented
    • Data analysis
    • Ability to effectively work remotely

How to Apply

Please send a cover letter and resume to info@awfc.ca with “Manager, Donor Acquisition and Development” in the subject line.

AWFC is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and does not discriminate based on race, national or ethnic background, religion, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, family status, or disability. We highly encourage candidates from underserved or historically marginalized groups to apply. If you face barriers related to your intersectional identities and want to inquire about individualized application support, please contact us at info@awfc.ca.

The application deadline is November 1st, 2024. We thank all applicants for their interest. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

About AWFC

Since 1965, the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada (AWFC) has been working to advance the well-being of animals across Canada. Headed by a small, volunteer board of veterinary science professionals, animal welfare academics, advocates and experts in public policy and grant-making, the purpose of our work at the AWFC can be broken into two key initiatives: grant giving and donor assurance.

Donations made to the AWFC help fund the grants we award to select Canadian animal welfare charities performing some of the most urgently needed work in animal protection, animal welfare research, and the advancement of laws and policies directed toward the regard and care for animals as sentient beings.

For over 50 years, the AWFC has assessed and investigated numerous animal welfare programs and initiatives in order to best guide the endowment of one-time, recurring and legacy gift donations. Our work gives donors peace of mind that we will maximize the impact of their contributions by supporting initiatives that will have a major impact on improving animal welfare across Canada, in the short and long term, both regionally and nationally. Simply put: we are an animal aid multiplier.

Find out more at https://awfc.ca/aim-and-objects/.