Major Gifts Officer

The Major Gifts Officer is responsible for leading and executing CANFAR’s comprehensive fundraising strategy, with a focus on major gifts, corporate partnerships, annual giving, special donor events, and donor stewardship. Reporting to the Co-Executive Directors and working closely with the CANFAR Events and Stewardship team and Board of Directors, this individual will drive revenue growth, donor engagement, and long-term sustainability in alignment with CANFAR’s mission and strategic goals.

Key responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and implement a multi-year fundraising strategy to achieve annual revenue goals.
• Oversee all streams of revenue generation: major gifts, corporate partnerships, grants, events, and individual monthly and yearly giving.
• Collaborate with the Communications and Marketing team to design and execute national fundraising campaigns, including digital, peer-to-peer, and awareness-integrated appeals.
• Collaborate with the Co-Executive Directors to engage key stakeholders, board members, and high-level donors.
• Lead and grow a high-performing fundraising team, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and donor-centric thinking.
• Expand CANFAR’s donor base by prospecting and securing new donors from various industries, including real estate, development, technology, consulting services, legal, and financial institutions

Major Gifts & Stewardship

• Manage a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals and prospects, with a focus on securing gifts of $75,000+.
• Oversee and personally execute cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans for donors.
• Working closely with the Co-Executive Directors and Director of Marketing, create and develop donor proposals for solicitations, “case for support” to secure major gifts and multi-year donations from corporations or family foundations.
• Lead CANFAR’s Planned & Legacy Giving strategy, cultivating long-term donor relationships through bequests, endowments, and other deferred giving vehicles.
• Collaborate with the Marketing team to develop educational and promotional materials to engage prospects and steward legacy donors.
• Ensure excellent donor engagement and retention through regular communication, reporting, and recognition.

Corporate Partnerships

• Identify and secure corporate sponsors for CANFAR programs and signature events (e.g. Bloor Street Entertains, Vancouver Entertains, awareness campaigns).
• Negotiate partnership agreements, benefits, and deliverables in collaboration with the communications and events teams.
• Manage correspondence and stewardship of the current donor base to ensure growth of yearly donations.
• Oversee the proper and timely communication with corporate partners, including appropriate follow-ups, creating and sharing impact reports, and acknowledgement letters.

Grant Development

• Identify and pursue opportunities for foundation funding, including annual appeals for family foundations and institutions that provide grants to charitable organizations.
• Lead grant writing, submissions, and impact reporting.

Fundraising Events

• Provide strategic oversight for fundraising events and campaigns.
• Collaborate with internal teams and volunteers to meet fundraising targets and deliver meaningful donor experiences.
• Work closely with the event management company to ensure all logistics are planned and executed accordingly before each fundraising event.
• Support the CANFAR stewardship team in planning the events campaigns throughout the year, including Bloor Street Entertains, Can You Do Lunch?, AIDSbeat, Vancouver Entertains, and CANFAR’s Legacy Project.
• Work closely with the events co-chairs and committees to support the strategy, logistics, and event fundraising goals
• Work closely with the Finance department in ensuring proper donation reconciliation and information gathering is completed on time, as well as identifying areas of process and efficiency improvement.

Communications & Marketing Integration

• Work with the marketing and communications team to develop compelling fundraising materials and digital appeals.
• Ensure consistency and alignment of donor messaging with CANFAR’s brand and impact storytelling.
• Support the development of content and messaging for marketing assets and fundraising appeals.
• Manage and oversee the proper information gathering and data collection from fundraising events, marketing campaigns, and appeals, with the ability to perform data analysis, create reports, and maintain appropriate communication records with donors.
• Manage CANFAR’s CRM system (Raiser’s Edge), including capturing donor information, and keep up-to-date with the prospect pipeline

Qualifications

• Minimum 5+ years of progressive experience in fundraising and development, with demonstrated success in major gifts and fundraising.
• Proven ability to build relationships and close gifts at the $75K–$100K+ level.
• Experience managing and motivating a development team and working with executive leadership and boards.
• Strong communication, negotiation, and presentation skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills; ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Knowledge of the Canadian philanthropic landscape.
• Passionate about HIV, health equity, and/or 2SLGBTQ+ issues.
• Fluency in French is an asset.
• Proficiency in CRM platforms (e.g., Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce, MailChimp, Givergy,) and donor data analytics.

Compensation & benefits

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive health and dental benefits
• Flexible work environment (hybrid)
• Professional development opportunities
• Meaningful work contributing to ending HIV in Canada