Campaign Director

Campaign Director

Executive Profile Presented By

Coast Mental Health Foundation is the philanthropic fundraising arm of Coast Mental Health, mobilizing philanthropy to support recovery-oriented mental health care in our communities. Coast Mental Health is the largest provider of community-based mental health services in British Columbia and one of Canada’s leading mental health non-profit organizations. Through donor and community support, the Foundation raises awareness, builds partnerships, and secures charitable funding to advance innovative mental health services, recovery programs, supportive housing, wraparound supports, and major capital initiatives.

Coast Mental Health Foundation is seeking an exceptional, relationship-driven fundraising leader to serve as Campaign Director, helping shape and advance a bold, multi-year comprehensive campaign in support of Coast Mental Health’s mission, vision and long-term community impact.

This is a standout opportunity for a strategic and hands-on fundraiser to help lead a campaign with unusual depth, visibility, and significance: the redevelopment of Coast’s 293 East 11th Avenue site and related programmatic priorities. Working closely with the Foundation’s Interim Executive Director, Cheryl Bosley, together with Coast Mental Health’s CEO Keir MacDonald, Board leadership, and the Campaign Cabinet, the Campaign Director will play a leadership role in advancing campaign strategy, donor engagement, and long-term fundraising success in collaboration with Foundation and community leadership.

The successful candidate will be both architect and catalyst. They will bring both strategic leadership and hands-on campaign experience, helping advance prospect strategies, mobilize volunteer engagement, coordinate campaign leadership activities, and personally cultivate and solicit major gifts. The role offers the rare chance to build fundraising momentum around a oncein-a-generation project, one designed to reimagine how housing, mental health care, and community well-being can come together to create lasting change across Metro Vancouver.

This is a rare and energizing opportunity for a fundraising leader to:

Help shape the most ambitious comprehensive campaign in Coast’s history, supporting recovery-oriented mental health care, supportive housing, and wraparound services across Metro Vancouver.

Build on growing public awareness and support for mental health through a campaign story grounded in dignity, hope, recovery and human connection.

Play a leadership role in advancing campaign strategy, donor engagement, and long-term fundraising success in collaboration with Foundation and community leadership.

Translate philanthropy into visible, community impact by helping expand housing, care, and wraparound supports that strengthen stability, belonging, and recovery for individuals and families.

Information for Candidates

This search is being led by Coast Mental Health Foundation’s search partner, Christoph Clodius at The Discovery Group, at christoph@thediscoverygroup.ca.

If you or someone you know is interested or curious, please be in touch. We welcome questions and enquiries.

Application Timing and Selection Process

All submissions should be received by July 13, 2026.

Please apply to Christoph with a cover letter/expression of interest and resume/CV, together in a single document.

Early applications and enquiries are strongly encouraged and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Compensation & Benefits

The successful candidate can expect a starting annual salary between $120,000 and $140,000.

This is a full-time, fixed-term role supporting the campaign for a 4–6 year period. Beyond the campaign we are hopeful that the Director will want to stay on with us and pursue a role in the Foundation’s permanent fundraising team.

The Foundation is committed to supporting professional development opportunities that enhance campaign leadership and fundraising effectiveness.

Benefits include a comprehensive package, including participation in the Municipal Pension Plan; extended health benefits including dental, vision, and prescription coverage; coverage for paramedical services like acupuncture, massage therapy, and physiotherapy services; and four weeks’ vacation plus a modified work week program.

Location

The Foundation offers a hybrid work arrangement, with flexibility to work remotely depending on operational requirements. The successful candidate must be able to commute to the Foundation’s Vancouver head office, located at 293 East 11th Avenue, for donor meetings and events as required.

Territory Acknowledgement

Coast Mental Health respectfully acknowledges that we provide services on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the Katzie (q̓ íc̓ əy̓ ), Kwantlen (q̓ ʷɑ:n̓ ̓ƛən̓ ), Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓ əm),

(Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), Semiahmoo (Semyome), Tsawwassen (Sc̓ əwaθən), and Tsleil-Waututh (səlilwətaɬ) First Nations.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Coast Mental Health Foundation welcomes applications from Indigenous persons, visible minority group members, persons with disabilities, people of all sexual orientations, genders and gender identities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities.

About Coast Mental Health Foundation

Coast Mental Health Foundation raises funds to support innovative and recovery-oriented mental health programs, supportive housing, wraparound supports, and capital initiatives at Coast Mental Health, the largest provider of community-based services for people living with mental illness in British Columbia and one of the largest mental health non-profit societies in Canada.

Coast Mental Health delivers a broad range of housing, rehabilitation, outreach, and communitybased support services for people living with mental illness throughout Metro Vancouver. Coast currently provides supportive housing to approximately 1,100 individuals and serves thousands more through recovery-oriented programs and community services.

The Foundation is a team of dedicated professionals who believe recovery, dignity, belonging, and achieving one’s potential are possible for every individual living with mental illness. Through philanthropy, the Foundation supports programs, facilities, and initiatives that help Coast Mental Health deliver compassionate, person-centred, recovery-oriented care.

While many of Coast’s core services are funded by government partners, philanthropic support enables the organization to expand innovative programs, strengthen wrap-around supports, and enhance quality of life for individuals, families and communities.

Thanks to the generosity of donors and community partners, the Foundation has been able to launch and support a number of distinctive programs that positively impact thousands of people each year.

The Foundation raises approximately $6 million annually to support programs, services, and capital priorities across Coast Mental Health. Coast’s Courage To Come Back Awards are widely recognized for building awareness, reducing stigma, and strengthening relationships with community supporters and donors.

The Campaign

Coast Mental Health Foundation is preparing to lead a bold and highly distinctive philanthropic campaign centered on the redevelopment of 293 East 11th Avenue in Vancouver.

This project is far more than an affordable housing development. It is an opportunity to create an integrated, recovery-oriented community where people living with mental illness can access stable housing, care and wraparound supports; where seniors can age in place; individuals and families can stay rooted in their neighbourhood; and residents can experience the stability, dignity, and connection that underpin better mental health.

For the right fundraising leader, this is the kind of campaign that comes along rarely: a chance to help champion a new model for how housing, mental health care, and community services can work together in one place. By co-locating housing and support services, Coast aims to spark better outcomes for individuals, reduce isolation, strengthen neighbourhoods, and public systems— while creating a project that is both deeply local and broadly influential.

Expected Outcomes

For People

Long-term housing stability

Improved mental and physical health outcomes

Reduced isolation and increased belonging

Greater dignity, independence, and quality of life

For Community

Increased neighbourhood stability and connection

Reduced visible crisis and social isolation

A vibrant and well-managed community asset

A community-based model for integrated care and support

For Systems

Fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations

Reduced reliance on crisis, shelter, and justice systems

Improved coordination of housing, health and community supports

Lower long-term public costs through prevention

For Society

Increased awareness of recovery-oriented mental health care

Reduced stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use

Improved coordination between housing, health, and community care providers

Greater understanding of the importance of housing, stability, and community connection in supporting mental health and recovery

Campaign Structure

The Foundation is positioning the campaign as a comprehensive fundraising effort that includes new Principal, Leadership, and Major Gifts, including transformational gifts directed to Coast’s ongoing annual operating and programmatic priorities.

Campaign analysis highlights that the greatest funding gap exists at the transformational and leadership levels, where a relatively small number of commitments will determine early campaign momentum. As a result, the campaign will require an intentional, Board-supported focus on identifying and qualifying top-level prospects early in the quiet phase.

The Foundation is highly invested in the campaign’s success, with a feasibility study already done, and resources like a researcher to support the Director’s work are pending.

Campaign planning and case development will continue to evolve in partnership with Foundation leadership, campaign volunteers, and the successful candidate. Preliminary fundraising priorities currently include:

Approximately $15 million supporting Coast’s annual operating and programmatic priorities, including recovery-oriented mental health services, supportive housing and wraparound community supports.

Approximately $20 million in new Principal, Leadership and Major gifts dedicated to the East 11th Redevelopment project, supporting an integrated ecosystem of care that brings together supportive housing, recovery-oriented mental health care, and wraparound community supports under one roof.

$10 million secured from Foundation assets.

About Coast Mental Health

Coast Mental Health is an independent charity and non-profit that encompasses three complementary entities that share the same vision:

1. Coast Foundation Society (1974) – supports and advocates for people with mental illness
2. Coast Social Enterprise Foundation – operates businesses for training and development
3. Coast Mental Health Foundation – the philanthropic fundraising arm of Coast

Founded in 1974, Coast Mental Health advocates for, supports, and promotes the recovery of people living with mental illness. With more than 50 years of experience delivering communitybased mental health services, Coast provides supportive housing, recovery-oriented programs, wraparound supports, and employment opportunities designed to empower recovery and independence.

Coast’s client-focused, recovery-oriented approach recognize that individuals lead their own recovery journey. Through housing, outreach, peer support, rehabilitation, education and employment programs, Coast works alongside individuals and families to help build long-term, well-being, community connection and hope. Clients set goals, choose programs, and often give back as peer support workers, volunteers, and governance members.

Shared Vision: A community that embraces and honours people with mental illness so they may thrive and contribute.

Strategic Plan: 2024–2027 – Building a Healthy Approach

Coast’s strategic plan is grounded in compassion, courage, humility, and optimism as the organization responds to urgent challenges such as the toxic drug crisis, homelessness, and growing mental health needs across British Columbia.

Three Pillars of Support

Coast Mental Health’s work focuses on three integrated pillars of support:

Housing

Coast currently provides 1,100 homes with supports, as well as more than 300 rent subsidies and support arrangements, offering people stability as they rebuild their lives in the private rental market. Across 53 facilities in Greater Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, residents have access to meal programs, life skills training, health supports, and community activities.

Support Services

Coast delivers a broad range of recovery-oriented and daily programming supports focused on mental health and well-being.Programs include Clubhouse services, outreach and resource navigation, peer support initiatives, cognitive training, and community based rehabilitation services.

Education & Employment

Employment and education opportunities play an important role in supporting recovery, purpose and community connection. Coast offers flexible training and employment programs, including Transitional Employment and Peer Support Programs, alongside social enterprises such as Social Crust Café & Catering and Landscaping With Heart.

Campaign Director Role

The Campaign Director will help lead the execution and management of a multi-million-dollar comprehensive campaign plan for Coast Mental Health Foundation, guiding the campaign through the quiet phase and preparing the Foundation for a successful public phase.

As both a strategist and hands-on fundraiser, the Director will drive campaign execution, donor cultivation and solicitation, volunteer engagement, and campaign communications. The Director will work closely with the Executive Director, Board members, Campaign Cabinet, and Foundation staff.

The Director will serve as the primary staff lead for campaign execution, responsible for coordinating leadership, volunteers, and staff; advancing prospect strategies; and ensuring disciplined implementation within a lean foundation environment.

Key Responsibilities

Campaign Leadership and Execution

Lead implementation of the campaign plan, ensuring progress against timelines, benchmarks, and fundraising targets.

Monitor risks, dependencies, and decision points, escalating issues to the Executive Director as appropriate.

Prepare regular campaign progress updates for the Executive Director, Board, and Campaign Cabinet.

Campaign Cabinet, Leadership Engagement, and Volunteer Coordination

Coordinate, support, and manage the Campaign Cabinet and senior campaign volunteers, ensuring clarity of roles, expectations, accountability, and decision-making authority. Work with the Executive Director and Board leadership to recruit and orient campaign volunteers.

Support the development of the campaign case for support and naming opportunities.

Guide the campaign through the quiet phase and prepare for transition to the public phase. Prepare briefing materials and support the Campaign Chair(s) in advance of campaign activities and meetings.

Equip volunteers and Board members with the tools and confidence required for successful peer-to-peer fundraising engagement.

Support cultivation and engagement events with operational support from existing staff.

Ensure volunteer activity remains aligned with campaign priorities and prospect strategies.

Prospect Strategy, Major Gifts, and Solicitor Enablement

Advance an initial focus on the top 30 priority prospects.

Ensure prospects are properly qualified and positioned prior to solicitation.

Prepare prospect strategies and briefing materials for volunteer and leadership solicitors.

Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects at the $100,000+ level.

Prepare tailored proposals, campaign materials and stewardship communications. Coordinate solicitation strategies and donor engagement with senior leadership, campaign volunteers and community partners.

Maintain accurate donor engagement and campaign activity records through the CRM system. Collaborate with the Prospect Researcher and Foundation team to refine prospect strategy development and relationship management.

Donor Communications, Stewardship, and Campaign Integration

Collaborate with communications staff to develop donor-facing campaign materials, including proposals, case statements, and impact reports.

Oversee donor stewardship strategies related to the campaign.

Develop an integrated campaign recognition strategy.

Ensure campaign communications align with the Foundation’s broader fundraising activities.

Integration with Ongoing Fundraising Programs

Align campaign activities with major gifts, planned giving, and annual fundraising efforts. Coordinate with the Courage To Come Back Awards team to ensure campaign fundraising complements existing revenue strategies.

Support a relationship-based fundraising culture that strengthens long-term donor engagement.

Campaign Operations, Systems, and Reporting

Oversee campaign tracking and reporting systems.

Ensure accurate donor and campaign records in the CRM system (Raiser’s Edge preferred). Provide dashboards and reporting to support governance and decision-making.

Collaboration and External Relationships

Work closely with Coast Mental Health leadership to ensure campaign messaging reflects the redevelopment project and organizational priorities.

Partner with external campaign counsel to support campaign execution and planning for the public phase.

About the Campaign Director

The ideal candidate is a relationship-driven leader with a genuine passion for Coast’s mission and a deep understanding that the work is not only about delivering projects, but about the people and purpose those projects serve. They are a natural connector who builds trust easily, demonstrates high integrity and character, and fosters strong relationships with donors, colleagues, and partners.

With significant experience in major gifts and campaign fundraising, the Director brings the strategic perspective and practical expertise required to turn vision into reality. They are comfortable navigating complex conversations and maintain strong ethical judgment and tact.

An effective mentor and leader, the candidate also supports the growth of team members, particularly in strengthening major gifts capacity. They can guide colleagues through challenging conversations with donors, set realistic expectations about timelines and outcomes, and ensure that fundraising efforts remain aligned with the organization’s values and long-term goals.

Qualifications and Experience

Significant progressive fundraising experience, with a focus on capital or comprehensive campaigns.

Proven success in securing major or transformative gifts; a deep understanding of the art and science of cultivating and soliciting major gifts.

Experience executing capital or comprehensive campaigns.

Demonstrated ability to collaborate across fundraising, communications, program, and facilities and operational teams.

Experience working in lean team environments.

Strong project management and organizational skills.

Exceptional written and verbal communication abilities.

Strong relationship-building skills with donors, volunteers, community partners and organizational leadership.

Demonstrated ability to support and engage leadership volunteers in meaningful fundraising and community engagement activities

Experience working with donor databases and CRM systems, preferably Raiser’s Edge.

Commitment to the mission and values of Coast Mental Health Foundation.

Successful completion of a Criminal Records Check will be required.

Navigating complex challenges for social profits

The Discovery Group is an international consulting firm dedicated to the social profit sector. We believe that social profit organizations can change the world. Since 2017 it has been our mission to help social profits across the globe achieve their vision and elevate community impact. We work side-by-side with our clients to help them envision change, determine how to make it happen, and put the necessary tools and skills in place for success.

www.thediscoverygroup.ca