Director, Digital Fundraising

About

Part of University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s #1 hospital, UHN Foundation raises funds for research, education and excellence in patient care at Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals, Toronto Rehab and The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. Our donor community is UHNITED to help us change the status quo of healthcare – helping recruit and train the brightest medical minds from around the world, develop new treatments for disease, and advance bold medical research.

UHN’s Toronto General Hospital has been ranked the #3 hospital in the world on Newsweek’s 2024 World’s Best Hospitals list, citing our leadership in transplantation, cardiac and vascular care, and surgical innovation. UHN is the only publicly funded hospital in the top five – also making us the world’s #1 publicly funded hospital.

The Foundation´s vision and mission is to enable global leadership and innovation in health by developing strong relationships with UHN stakeholders. We are committed to supporting UHN's vision to create a healthier world by embodying our values of integrity, accountability, collaboration and inclusion.

Together with our donors, we are helping Canada’s #1 hospital reimagine healthcare.

Position Summary

The Director, Digital Fundraising is responsible for leading the Foundation’s enterprise-wide digital fundraising strategy to drive revenue growth, optimize donor conversion, and enhance digital performance across all giving programs. This role sets the vision and roadmap for digital revenue generation, working closely with cross-functional teams—including Marketing, IT, and fundraising teams—to deliver integrated and high-performing donor journeys.

As a senior strategic leader, the Director owns digital fundraising performance and optimization frameworks while supporting the organization’s broader digital maturity. They lead a culture of testing, digital innovation, segmentation strategy, and cross-team capability building to meet evolving donor needs and ambitious fundraising goals. This role is a subject matter expert on digital fundraising who balances best practice and innovation to stay ahead of digital marketing trends.

The Director manages a team of three and is a thought partner and strategic collaborator to both internal colleagues and external digital agencies.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Revenue Growth

• Lead the organization-wide full funnel digital fundraising strategy, identifying opportunities for acquisition, retention, and revenue optimization across digital channels and segments.
• Develop and oversee an annual operations plan, to maximize digital revenue in collaboration with the Fundraising teams, with a strong focus on community giving programs where 70% of digital revenue supports.
• Develop and oversee the search strategy and budget
• Translate fundraising objectives into enterprise-wide digital strategies that inform investments, KPIs, testing plans, and performance targets.
• Champion a data-driven testing culture, building frameworks to evaluate UX, channel mix, campaign impact, and donor journeys.

Conversion Optimization (in collaboration with Marketing)

• Lead the strategy for website conversion optimization, collaborating with the Marketing team—who holds operational responsibility for the site and page execution— as well as the fundraising teams based on program area, to identify conversion priorities, influence UX decisions, and align performance with fundraising objectives.
• Provide data-informed direction to improve funnel performance across giving products and campaigns.
• Serve as a strategic advisor on how donation flows, page layout, calls to action, and messaging influence donor conversion.

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Act as the internal lead for digital fundraising innovation—partnering with stakeholders across Community Giving, Major Gifts, Marketing & Communications, and Data & Technology to align strategies and ensure integrated donor experiences.
• Support department leads with campaign planning by advising on segmentation strategy, content direction, and digital integration.
• Work closely with IT and Marketing teams to ensure digital infrastructure and tools support effective campaign delivery and tracking.

Data, Insights & ROI

• Lead performance analysis and reporting for all digital fundraising efforts, using data to refine strategy and optimize return on investment (ROI).
• Build and maintain executive-level dashboards in partnership with Business Intelligence and Operations teams.
• Identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement through segmentation and audience-level analysis.

Leadership & Capability Building

• Manage and coach a team of three, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and collaboration.
• Provide mentorship and strategic guidance across departments to the digital portfolio to enhance execution, alignment, and professional development.
• Set clear expectations, develop team goals, and align performance plans to long-term digital fundraising priorities.

Vendor & Partner Management

• Lead relationships with digital fundraising agencies, ensuring strategic alignment, on-time execution, and delivery against KPIs.
• Evaluate partner performance, recommend improvements, and negotiate scope and contracts in line with budget goals.

Qualifications & Experience

• 7-10 years of progressive experience and at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience leading digital fundraising strategy in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Deep knowledge of donor acquisition, testing and conversion tactics, channel optimization, and audience segmentation.
• Strong collaborative leadership style with a demonstrated ability to influence and align across departments.
• Experience with web analytics, fundraising platforms, CRM systems (e.g., Raiser’s Edge), and marketing automation.
• Excellent team development, coaching, and performance management capabilities.
• Experience managing external digital agencies and partners to drive results.

Key Competencies for Success

To thrive in this role, the Director, Digital Fundraising should demonstrate the following competencies:

Strategic Mindset – Anticipates future trends and aligns digital strategies with long-term organizational goals.

Tech Savvy – Embraces and leverages emerging technologies to drive innovation and performance.

Innovation Management – Fosters a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement across digital fundraising.

Drive for Results – Maintains focus and determination to meet and exceed fundraising goals.

Process Management – Designs and continuously improves digital processes that enhance efficiency, donor experience, and measurable outcomes.

Collaborates – Builds strong cross-functional relationships to ensure alignment and integration across teams.

Persuades – Influences others through data-driven insights, compelling narratives, and strategic reasoning.

Political Savvy – Navigates organizational dynamics to build support and deliver outcomes in a complex environment.

Business Acumen – Applies understanding of the broader fundraising and digital landscape to make effective decisions.

Problem Solving – Uses logic, analysis, and data to identify and resolve issues and optimize strategies.

Builds Effective Teams – Creates a positive, high-performing team culture that enables development, innovation, and shared accountability.

Integrity and Trust – Acts with honesty, candour, and consistency; earns the trust of colleagues and partners through ethical and transparent leadership.

Work Environment

• Fast-paced, service and results oriented environment
• May have some activity outside of the office to support meetings
• The Foundation has a hybrid work model. Staff will be required to have a safe home office set-up 3-4 days per week and will be in office for 1-2 days per week, (specifics to be planned with your manager.)
• Ability to work cooperatively with colleagues in all positions throughout the Foundation
• Shared commitment and support of the overall Foundation goals

Alongside competitive salaries, we offer an extensive benefits package, flexible work arrangements, growth and development opportunities, defined benefits pension plan, birth parent/parental leave top-up, extended long weekends around statutory holidays and more.

University Health Network thanks all applicants; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. UHN has a diverse workforce and is an equal-opportunity employer.