Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

Position Title Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

Type FT-Permanent

Department Development Salary Range $95,000-$120,000

Reports to Chief Development Officer Updated July, 2025

About the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada

Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada is our country’s leading charity dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth involved in the child welfare system. Guided by a bold five-year strategic plan and Impact Framework and working alongside over 100 child-and-youth serving organizations across the country, is focused on driving meaningful, measurable change through outcomes-based partnerships, philanthropy, and systems-level influence.

Our work is grounded in four key areas of focus that are critical to long-term stability for children and youth in and from care: Education, Employment, Mental Health and Well-being, and Strong Families and Lifelong Connections. Across these areas, we fund and deliver high-impact programs and collaborate with communities, service agencies, and young people on solutions that address the persistent challenges faced by children and youth engaged with the child welfare system.

As we implement our new 2025-2030 strategic plan, Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada is entering a pivotal implementation phase, realigning its efforts and structuring its team to maximize measurable outcomes and national reach. Joining the Foundation means being part of a passionate, future-focused team driven by impact and equity. It’s an opportunity to be part of a national movement committed to creating a better future for those too often left behind. Together, we are building a future where the children and youth have the strength and resilience to create a lifetime of their own unstoppable successes. To learn more about us, please visit our website.

To better understand our impact, please watch our ‘Investing in the Future, today’ video.

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. Position Summary:

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.

https://cafdn.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CU6d44UzbQ

Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer (CDO), 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.

As a public-facing ambassador for CAFC, the Director will represent the organization in donor meetings, community events, and public forums, in collaboration with the donor manager and senior leadership. They will work closely with the Board, Campaign Cabinet, and internal teams to develop integrated strategies that grow, retain, and renew support across all donor segments, ensuring alignment with CAFC’s ambitious 5-year plan for growth and impact.

Through this work, the Director will help drive better outcomes for children and youth in the Foundations' four key areas of focus: education, employment, mental health, and strong families and lifelong connections.

If you’re ready to lead with purpose and build something meaningful, we’d love to hear from you.

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

Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

• 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

Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

• 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

CAFC as an Employer:

Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada (CAFC) acknowledge that the Foundation’s main office is in Toronto, which is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The area now known as Toronto is covered by Treaty 13. Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada is committed to supporting meaningful reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and others in these lands and across Canada.

The Foundation provides equal employment opportunities to employees regardless of their gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, or marital status. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from equity seeking groups, including members of communities that are overrepresented in the child welfare system. We offer a family-friendly environment that allows for flexible work arrangements in order to support staff diversity and ensure a healthy work-life balance.

The Foundation is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment process as accessible as possible and provide accommodation as required for applicants with disabilities. If you require any accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact careers@cafdn.org WHY WORK WITH US

At the Foundation, we prioritize your well-being and professional fulfillment by offering:

▪ A 35-hour workweek to support work-life balance ▪ A hybrid model, with a mixed blend of remote work and 2-3 days in office (Toronto) ▪ The opportunity to make a meaningful impact on child welfare ▪ A generous compensation package, including: 4 weeks' vacation package, plus 3 float days,

participation in the OMERS Defined Pension Plan with contributions matched 100% by the employer, a comprehensive benefits (including medical, dental, life and disability) package, Employee Assistance Program and a competitive salary.

▪ A welcoming, supportive, and collaborative work culture that embraces CAFC’s VOICE values.

mailto:careers@cafdn.org

Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship & Engagement

Our VOICE Values:

− Vital Learning & Innovation − Open Communication − Inclusion & Diversity − Care & Compassion − Empowering Accountability

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, please submit your current resume and a covering letter in one single document, detailing how your qualifications align with this opportunity and CAFC ‘s mission to careers@cafdn.org and include “Director, Donor Relations, Stewardship and Engagement” in the subject line of your email by Friday August 15th, 2025. Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted. You are encouraged to apply early as we are motivated to fill this role as soon as possible.

We thank all candidates for their interest in the work of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted due to high applicant volumes. No telephone inquiries please.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN OUR INTERVIEW PROCESS

We value transparency and want to ensure you feel prepared and supported throughout our hiring process. Here is what you can expect:

Initial conversation: A 30-minute virtual conversation with one of our team members to discuss your interest in the role and the Foundation and how you can make an impact.

First interview: A 1-hour meeting (in-person or virtual) with the Hiring Manager and relevant team members. We will discuss your skills and how they align with the team’s needs. We will also answer any questions you have about the role, our culture, and the impact we strive to make.

Second interview: A 1-hour in-person meeting with the Hiring Manager and different team members, depending on the role, it can be our CEO! This stage might include presenting a short pre-assigned case study or discussion of role-specific scenarios. A brief behavioural assessment is completed in advanced of this meeting.

We look forward to getting to know you and sharing what makes the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada such a special place to work.