Campaign Director

Campaign Director

Executive Profile Presented By The Discovery Group

Coast Mental Health Foundation mobilizes philanthropy to transform how mental health care is delivered in our communities. The Foundation raises funds to support innovative recovery programs, expand housing, and advance major capital initiatives at Coast Mental Health, the largest provider of community-based mental health services in British Columbia and one of Canada’s leading mental health non-profit organizations.

Coast Mental Health Foundation is seeking a skilled and relational fundraising leader to serve as Campaign Director, responsible for executing a significant multi-year comprehensive campaign in support of Coast Mental Health’s mission.

This is a compelling opportunity for a strategic and hands-on fundraiser to lead the implementation of a campaign plan supporting the redevelopment of Coast’s site at 293 East 11th Avenue and related programmatic priorities. Working closely with the Foundation Executive Director, Coast Mental Health CEO, Board leadership, and Campaign Cabinet, the Campaign Director will guide the campaign through the quiet phase, secure leadership-level gifts, and position the organization for a successful public phase.

The successful candidate will be both a strategist and practitioner, advancing prospect strategies, supporting volunteer solicitors, coordinating campaign leadership, and personally cultivating and soliciting major gifts. The role offers the opportunity to strengthen Coast Mental Health Foundation’s long-term fundraising capacity while helping bring forward a once-in-a-generation project designed to improve housing stability, mental health outcomes, and community well-being across Metro Vancouver.

This is a rare and compelling opportunity for a fundraising expert to:

• Lead the largest comprehensive campaign in the organization’s history, shaping a landmark fundraising effort for one of British Columbia’s most vital mental health organizations. Harness the growing public momentum around mental health, helping to elevate the conversation and inspire meaningful community support.
• Take full ownership of a transformational campaign, with the autonomy and leadership to design, build, and drive its success.
• Create real, lasting impact in people’s lives, helping expand services and support for individuals and families across the community.

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 May 7, 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 over an anticipated 4–6 year period, with opportunity for the position to be integrated into the Foundation’s permanent fundraising structure following completion of the campaign.

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 Ave., 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 enhanced recovery programs 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 operates a broad range of housing and community-based rehabilitation services for people living with mental illness throughout the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Coast provides supportive housing to approximately 1,100 individuals and serves thousands more through community-based programs and services.

The Foundation is a team of dedicated professionals who believe that recovery and achieving one’s potential, despite a mental illness diagnosis, are possible. Through philanthropy, the Foundation supports programs, facilities, and initiatives that enable Coast Mental Health to deliver compassionate, recovery-oriented care.

While many of Coast’s core services are funded by government partners, philanthropic support enables the organization to go further, supporting enhanced programming, innovative services, and improvements that directly impact clients’ quality of life.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Foundation has been able to launch and support a number of distinctive programs that benefit thousands of people in our community.

The Foundation raises approximately $6 million annually to support programs, services, and capital initiatives across Coast Mental Health. Coast’s Courage To Come Back Awards are particularly well-known and effectively build relationships with community members and donors.

The Campaign

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

The project represents far more than an affordable housing development. It is a place where people living with mental illness can have permanent homes and access to care, seniors can age in place, families can remain rooted in community, and all benefit from the stability and connection that supports better mental health.

The redevelopment represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign how housing, mental health care, and community services work together. By co-locating housing and support services, Coast aims to improve outcomes for individuals, neighbourhoods, and public systems.

Expected Outcomes

For People

• Long-term housing stability
• Improved mental and physical health outcomes
• Reduced isolation and increased belonging
• Greater dignity, autonomy, and quality of life

For Systems

• Fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations
• Reduced reliance on crisis, shelter, and justice systems
• Lower long-term public costs through prevention

For Community

• Increased neighbourhood stability
• Reduced visible crisis
• A vibrant and well-managed community asset
• A replicable model for integrated community-based care

For Society

• Increased awareness of the value of integrated housing and health approaches
• Reduced stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use disorders
• Improved coordination between housing, health, and community care providers

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.

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 in community-based mental health services, Coast delivers housing, support services, and employment opportunities designed to empower recovery and independence.

Coast’s client-focused, recovery-oriented approach ensures that individuals lead their own recovery journey. 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

The organization’s strategic plan is built on ambition, courage, humility, and optimism as Coast responds to urgent challenges such as the toxic drug crisis, homelessness, and rising 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

• Daily programming supports mental health and well-being through a variety of programs, including Clubhouse services, resource navigation, outreach supports, peer programs, and cognitive training initiatives.

Education & Employment

• Employment provides purpose and opportunity for people recovering from mental illness. Coast offers flexible training and employment opportunities through programs such as the Transitional Employment and Peer Support Programs, as well as social enterprises including Social Crust Café & Catering and Landscaping With Heart.

Campaign Director Role

The Campaign Director will 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. While the Director is accountable for campaign results, certain day-to-day operational support will be provided by existing staff members.

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 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 and solicitation materials.
• Coordinate solicitation strategies and donor engagement with senior leadership and volunteers.
• Track and manage donor interactions through the CRM system.
• Collaborate with the Prospect Researcher and Foundation team to refine prospect strategies and assignments.

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.

The Campaign Director is a collaborative team player who works effectively across departments and can galvanize internal resources in support of a shared vision. They possess strong translational abilities and can clearly communicate Coast’s vision, connect it meaningfully to constituents, and inspire others to see their role in bringing it to life.

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 major gifts and 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 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, and leadership.
• Excellent abilities to lead and harness the abilities of a group of dedicated volunteers.
• Proficiency with donor databases, 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