Digital Marketing Specialist (Part-Time Consulting Contract, 1–2 Years)

Introduction to Community Music Schools of Toronto

Community Music Schools of Toronto (CMST) is a charitable organization dedicated to providing high-quality music education.

CMST is seeking a digital marketing consultant to help strengthen the organization’s online presence, increase awareness of our programs, and support fundraising and community engagement efforts.

Overview

CMST’s current digital presence is primarily focused on social media and website content. We are seeking a coordinated strategy for audience engagement, fundraising, and lead generation. In today’s increasingly digital environment, a strong and integrated marketing and communications function is essential for building awareness, strengthening donor relationships, and generating sustainable charitable revenue. This project will pilot a focused digital marketing and fundraising program, identify effective approaches, and build lasting organizational capacity. This engagement is supported by a two-year grant, with the second year subject to the funder’s approval based on progress in year one.

The successful proponent must demonstrate the ability to function as both a strategic marketing professional and a hands-on content creator. CMST is seeking a practitioner who can, in collaboration with internal staff, develop and execute integrated digital marketing campaigns from concept through completion. This includes campaign strategy, audience development, content planning, storytelling, creative direction, photography and videography, graphic design, copywriting, editing, content production, campaign deployment, and performance analysis. The successful candidate must be equally comfortable developing and evaluating the strategy behind a campaign and producing the creative assets required to bring that strategy to life.

Project Goals and Objectives

• Develop a communications and engagement strategy aligned with a broader digital marketing plan to build awareness, strengthen donor relationships, and generate sustainable charitable revenue.
• Design, create and launch a multi-platform digital fundraising campaign targeting existing and new donors (social media advertising, digital advertising, email marketing, and donor landing pages).
• Build internal staff knowledge and capacity around digital marketing tools, analytics, and content strategy.
• Assess engagement and revenue generation goals through Key Performance Indicators such as unique website visitors, new leads generated through digital tactics, newly converted donors, and test the Return on Investment of digital tactics.
• Develop and implement a longer-term digital marketing strategy based on pilot insights, building internal capacity at CMST and long-term digital engagement

Scope of Work

The selected specialist will be expected to:

• Develop a digital communications and engagement strategy aligned with a strategic digital marketing plan to raise awareness and support fundraising goals.
• Assess current digital marketing assets, platforms, and audience segments.
• Create, launch and manage a multi-platform digital fundraising pilot campaign (social/digital ads, email marketing, donor landing pages),
• Create original and compelling campaign content for use across multiple platforms, including social media, email marketing, website, video, and digital advertising.
• Purchase, monitor, and optimize targeted digital ad spend (in consultation with internal staff).
• Monitor and track results of the pilot campaign against KPIs, including engagement, reach, and donor conversion.
• Build durable marketing capacity within CMST by creating templates, systems, and processes that permanent staff can use after the engagement ends, and by delivering hands-on training.
• Recommend and help implement a longer-term digital marketing and engagement strategy based on pilot project results.

Timeline & Project Stages

The project runs approximately from the specialist's start date through June 30, 2028, across two stages:

Stage 1 (Year 1)

Focus:

Months 1-2 Develop the communications and engagement strategy alongside a broader digital marketing plan; assess current digital assets, platforms, and audience segments.

Months 3-7 Build internal knowledge and capacity around digital marketing tools, analytics, and content strategy; design the multi-platform digital fundraising pilot campaign.

Months 8–12 Launch the pilot campaign; collect and analyze early performance metrics (engagement, reach, conversion).

Stage 2 (Year 2)

Focus:

Months 1–4 Test ROI of digital tactics and refine approaches; finalize recommendations for the longer-term digital strategy.

Months 5–12 Implement the longer-term digital marketing and engagement strategy; scale campaigns; monitor performance and adjust tactics.

Deliverables

The successful proponent must demonstrate the ability to function as both a strategic marketing lead and a hands-on content creator. CMST is seeking an individual contractor or small firm who can independently develop and execute integrated digital marketing campaigns from concept through completion.

• Digital communications and engagement strategy, integrated with a digital marketing plan.
• Multi-platform digital fundraising pilot campaign (social/digital ads, email marketing, donor landing pages), launched and actively managed.
• Regular performance reporting against agreed KPIs.
• Staff training sessions plus reusable templates, systems, and processes for ongoing internal use.
• ROI analysis of digital tactics tested during the pilot.
• Final longer-term digital marketing strategy and handover recommendations.

Budget

Total project budget: $125,000 over two years.

Allocation: The budget as stated is allocated to compensation for this part-time role, with additional budget to cover digital advertising spend and related campaign costs.

Proposals should include a proposed compensation structure (e.g., hourly or monthly rate, estimated hours per week) consistent with a part-time, contracted arrangement.

What we’re looking for

CMST welcomes proposals from individual contractors or small firms with:

• Demonstrated experience running digital marketing and fundraising campaigns for nonprofit or mission-driven organizations.
• Hands-on skill with social and digital advertising, email marketing, donor landing pages, and analytics/CRM tools.
• A track record of building internal capacity — not just executing campaigns, but training staff and leaving behind usable systems and documentation.
• Comfort working as an embedded, part-time member of a small internal team and coordinating with in-house web/communications staff.
• Strong content and storytelling skills suited to donor engagement.

Please note that applicants must be able to provide services as an independent third-party contractor and be appropriately set up to invoice for professional services. This engagement is not an employment position and will not be structured as an employee-employer relationship. Eligibility to operate as an independent service provider will be assessed as part of the initial screening process.

Application Deadline: 5:00 p.m. September 21, 2026

Proposal Requirements

Please submit a concise proposal (aim for no more than 5 pages) including:

• Cover letter / statement of interest.
• Relevant experience and 2–3 examples of similar nonprofit digital marketing or fundraising work.
• Your proposed approach to Phase 1 (first six months), including how you'll approach strategy development and capacity-building.
• Availability and proposed weekly hours.
• Proposed rate/compensation structure.
• Two to three references.

Evaluation Criteria

Criteria Weight

• Relevant nonprofit digital marketing & fundraising experience 25%
• Proposed approach and quality of Phase 1 plan 20%
• Demonstrated ability to design and create digital marketing material / content 20%
• Demonstrated ability to build internal staff capacity (training, templates, systems) 15%
• Cost / proposed rate structure 10%
• References 10%