Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

The Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement will play a pivotal role in advancing Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada (CAFC)’S philanthropic strategy by leading the design and execution of innovative, data-informed donor engagement, and stewardship programs.

This strategic leader will guide a newly formed team to foster growth of the donor base and all fundraising programs, including leading strategy that celebrates donors and connects them meaningfully to the outcomes of their giving.

Please see job link below for more details:

https://cafdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Director-Donor-Relations-Stewardship-Engagement-JULY-2025.pdf

or visit our career page:

https://cafdn.org/about-us/career-opportunities/

The Ideal Candidate:

Are you passionate about connecting people to purpose through compelling storytelling, innovative donor strategies, and meaningful engagement? Do you bring a strategic mindset to donor relations and stewardship, with a deep understanding of how to support fundraising growth while building lasting, value-driven relationships?

You are a collaborative and creative leader who thrives in dynamic, mission-driven environments. You bring both analytical acumen and emotional intelligence to your work, leveraging data to inform strategy, while inspiring teams and donors alike. You are energized by the opportunity to drive growth, deepen impact, and champion the voices of children and youth with child welfare involvement across Canada.

Key Responsibilities:

Donor Relations and Stewardship

• Lead the strategy and planning for the donor experience across all fundraising channels and gift levels
• Collaborate with the CDO, Directors, and Development team to strengthen the prospect pipeline by attracting new donors, and stewarding existing supporters from the entry level direct response program into midlevel and major giving pathways across all channels.
• Define and lead the strategy for donor impact communications, including collaborating with Impact team to gather meaningful data and stories that demonstrate the impact of donors, and overseeing the creation of compelling communications assets such as donor impact reports, thank you letters, special project updates, and more.
• Capture insights and measure results and impact using feedback tools such as donor satisfaction surveys and conversations to strengthen engagement and trust
• Oversee and monitor donor relations policies and CAFC’s stewardship matrix, ensuring alignment with the sector’s best practices and CAFC’s unique value proposition.
• Evaluate/assess the Development Team KPIs, including the preparation of quarterly assessments to guide and monitor fundraising, and donor relations activities and deliverables for a yearly cycle.
• Collaborate with the Associate Director, Database for active analysis of the CAFC donor base, pipeline and cycle to recommend strategies to CDO and Directors and to preserve donor data integrity

Engagement Program Leadership

• Lead the development and implementation of a donor engagement program, across the full giving lifecycle and all fundraising channels to deepen loyalty, increase donor retention and renewal, and identifying opportunities for donor upgrades to drive long term growth and lifetime giving value
• Provide strategic oversight of the logistics, budgeting and planning of the Foundation’s signature Gala, the Teddy Bear Affair in collaboration with third-party event agency, and the Senior Manager, Events to ensure a high-caliber and mission-focused donor experience.
• Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of meaningful events (e.g. WomenIGNITE, Teddy Bear Fund, Scholarship) for major donor audiences, whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid, from inception to completion. This includes oversight of invitation lists, event materials, briefing notes, and speaker remarks to ensure a seamless and impactful experience.
• Track and report on donor engagement KPI’s across all fundraising channels on quarterly basis and produce an annual outcomes report for CDO and Development Team
• Support fundraising channels with individualized stewardship planning; while working collaboratively with CEO, CDO to curate and execute, high-impact and personalized stewardship strategies for transformational and major donors, as well as senior volunteers, to reinforce relationship-building efforts.
• Participate in donor meetings, as appropriate in consultation with the donor manager and represent the Foundation as a public ambassador, upholding its mission and values in community, donor-facing forums, and public facing events including serving as Master of Ceremonies when appropriate.
• Manage all aspects of donor recognition and stewardship programs, including digital donor listings and collateral, ensuring timely updates and alignment with donor expectations.

Team Leadership

• Lead and coach a team of direct reports; responsible for hiring, onboarding, performance management, and resource planning.
• Partner with CDO on annual Business and Budget Planning, including providing analysis and strategic recommendations across giving segments and fundraising programs
• Promote a workplace environment that fosters collaboration and empowers accountability and agility through adoption of Objective-Key Results (OKR) framework.
• Manage external vendor and agency relationships, including contracts and budgets for stewardship, engagement and signature events
• Participate in bi-weekly Directors Meetings and contribute to the development and monitoring of the annual Development Team KPIs and set Individual Goals for direct reports.
• Collaborate across departments to streamline processes, improve accountability, and enhance the donor experience.
• Develop and maintain respectful and collaborative working relationships with peers and associates in other departments across the organization.

Essential Qualifications and Competencies:

• Significant experience, typically 5+ years, delivering donor relations and stewardship programs and initiatives matched with deep knowledge of major gifts and fundraising campaigns,
• Relevant post-secondary education or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Expertise building and executing robust stewardship plans, mapping the donor journey and building donor relationships across all donors' segments, particularly at the major gift level
• Experience in donor event development, planning, management, and coordination
• Sound knowledge of best practices in donor engagement, recognition, and stewardship and a proven ability to translate those into effective programs that drive donor retention and impact.
• Highly skilled with donor databases to manage constituency data, ideally Raiser’s Edge; adept at leveraging data insights to drive donor engagement, inform strategy, and optimize campaigns
• Experience with budgeting, performance measurement, KPI’s across marketing and/or fundraising portfolios
• Proven communicator with the ability to build strong and meaningful relations with donors and volunteers based on trust, engagement, and transparency and draft compelling copy/content for stewarding donors.
• Ability to lead, coach, and manage teams, including performance reviews and onboarding
• Strategic thinker with a creative approach and ability to solve challenges, set priorities, and deliver high impact initiatives
• Adaptable and solutions-oriented, comfortable navigating change and managing multiple priorities in a dynamic, mission-driven environment
• Committed to upholding CAFC’s VOICE values: Vital Learning & Innovation, Open Communication, Inclusion & Diversity, Care & Compassion, and Empowering Accountability.
• Proficiency working with fundraising platforms (e.g. Raisers Edge), MS Suite 365, communications tools (e.g. Teams, Zoom)
• Exposure to, or familiarity with Engaging Networks platform

Assets (Nonessential):

• Lived experience with child welfare system
• Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) designation
• Experience in the non-profit, charitable, philanthropic sector
• Background in child welfare, social services, or working with Indigenous-led or Black-led organizations
• Bilingualism in French and English