Manager, Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorship

ABOUT CIVICACTION

CivicAction Leadership Foundation is a civic leadership organization working across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to mobilize leaders around the region's most pressing challenges.

For more than two decades, CivicAction has brought together leaders from business, government, community, and institutional sectors to help move issues that no one organization can solve alone. Our work sits at the intersection of civic leadership, systems change, and regional problem-solving.

Today, CivicAction is sharpening its focus and rebuilding for its next chapter. The organization is clarifying its strategic priorities, strengthening its operating discipline, and rebuilding its fundraising function to support a more focused, credible, and sustainable model.

Our work is grounded in regional issues that require cross-sector leadership, including housing and affordability, economic opportunity, and civic leadership. We do not deliver direct service. We align, convene, and activate leaders and institutions that have the power to move systems. This role is a key hire in that rebuild.

THE OPPORTUNITY

CivicAction is hiring a Manager, Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorship to build and grow its corporate revenue pipeline.

The mandate is clear:

Build and close a corporate pipeline. Secure sponsorships. Renew and grow existing partners. Package CivicAction's flagship opportunities, including the City Builders Dinner and Civic Summit, as compelling investment opportunities for corporate partners. Convert sponsorship into longer-term partnership where possible. Bring in revenue.

This is a revenue-generating role for someone who knows how to prospect, pitch, close, renew, and grow corporate relationships. You will be responsible for building CivicAction's corporate lane below the CEO and VP level: identifying and pursuing new prospects, reactivating lapsed partners, renewing existing sponsors, and converting CivicAction's strategic priorities, flagship convenings, and leadership profile into strong corporate investment opportunities. This includes sponsorship and partnership revenue connected to CivicAction's City Builders Dinner and Civic Summit, alongside broader corporate partnerships linked to the organization's mission and priorities.

ROLE DETAILS

Title: Manager, Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorship

Reports To: VP, Fund Development and Strategic Partnerships

Employment Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Location: Toronto, ON | Hybrid

Start Date: As soon as possible

Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The role will remain open until filled. Apply through this link: https://secure.collage.co/jobs/civicaction/61595

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Corporate Pipeline Development

• Identify, research, qualify, and pursue new corporate prospects aligned with CivicAction's priorities, market position, and flagship opportunities.
• Build and actively manage a corporate pipeline of approximately 30 to 50 qualified prospects, with clear stages, next steps, ask amounts, timing, and probability.
• Lead outreach through email, phone, meetings, events, introductions, and disciplined follow-up that moves relationships forward.
• Prepare strong partner-facing materials, including sponsorship proposals, partnership briefs, pitch decks, and tailored follow-up.
  

Sponsorship and Event Revenue

• Lead corporate sponsorship sales for CivicAction's City Builders Dinner and Civic Summit.
• Package these opportunities in a way that is credible and attractive to corporate partners, with a clear value proposition tied to visibility, leadership, relationship-building, and alignment with CivicAction's regional agenda.
• Manage the full sponsorship cycle from prospecting to ask to close to stewardship and renewal.

Partner Renewal and Growth

• Own the renewal process for CivicAction's existing corporate partners, including early outreach, upgrade conversations, and multi-year commitments.
• Identify opportunities to deepen engagement with current partners through additional giving, programming involvement, thought leadership, or enhanced sponsorship.
• Ensure partners experience CivicAction as professional, well-managed, and worth reinvesting in.

Corporate Partnerships Beyond Events

• Build corporate relationships that extend beyond one-time event sponsorship toward broader, more strategic partnership.
• Identify opportunities for multi-year support, issue-based investment, employee engagement, thought leadership participation, and strategic alignment with CivicAction's work.

Pipeline Discipline and Reporting

• Maintain accurate, current CRM records, including contacts, meetings, proposals, next steps, ask amounts, and revenue forecasts.
• Provide regular pipeline reporting to the VP and CEO with a clear view of progress, barriers, near-term opportunities, and revenue risk.
• Contribute to quarterly and annual fundraising planning with grounded, honest pipeline analysis.

WHO YOU ARE

You are someone who has actually had to generate revenue. You know how to move from prospect identification, to meeting, to ask, to close. You are comfortable with outreach, you know how to follow up without drifting, and you understand that fundraising is both relationship-based and performance-based.

You bring:

• At least 4 to 7 years of experience in corporate fundraising, corporate partnerships, sponsorship sales, business development, or a closely related revenue-generating role.
• A demonstrated track record of securing revenue, not just supporting it.
• Experience building and managing an active pipeline with discipline and follow-through.
• Comfort engaging senior leaders, including executives, sponsors, and decision-makers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including proposal writing, email outreach, briefing preparation, and live pitching.
• Solid judgment about how to represent a mission-driven organization in external meetings. Knowledge of the Toronto corporate and civic landscape is a strong asset.
• Experience in a nonprofit, public, civic, post-secondary, industry association, or social impact setting is helpful, but we will also consider candidates from strong partnership or sponsorship sales backgrounds. You are organized, self-directed, resilient, and able to work in a lean environment where the expectations are real.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

In your first 90 days:

You have reviewed the existing corporate portfolio, cleaned up CRM records, assessed open opportunities, and identified the strongest renewal, upgrade, and reactivation prospects. You have developed a working corporate pipeline with named prospects, rough values, stages, next steps, and ownership. You understand CivicAction's priorities, can speak confidently about the organization externally, and are actively in market.

Within your first year:

You have materially strengthened the volume and quality of CivicAction's corporate pipeline. You have led a credible sponsorship and partnership effort for the City Builders Dinner and Civic Summit, secured new corporate revenue, renewed priority existing partners, and created a more stable base for future-year growth. You have helped reduce over-reliance on the CEO and VP to carry every corporate conversation themselves.

WHY JOIN CIVICACTION

This is an opportunity to build, not inherit. You will not be stepping into a fully mature fundraising machine. You will be joining at a moment when the organization is rebuilding its development function and needs someone who can help create structure, momentum, and results.

• You will work closely with an engaged CEO and VP who are active in the market and committed to building this function seriously.
• You will have the chance to help shape how CivicAction presents itself to the corporate sector, how it builds its pipeline, and how it turns regional relevance into revenue.
• This role includes both immediate revenue opportunities through the City Builders Dinner and Civic Summit and longer-term partnership development that can strengthen CivicAction's sustainability over time.
• For the right candidate, this is a role with visibility, access, and room to make a real mark.

HOW TO APPLY

Please upload a resume and cover letter through this link: https://secure.collage.co/jobs/civicaction/61595

In your cover letter, tell us what kinds of revenue you have been responsible for, what you have personally helped close, and why this role interests you. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The role will remain open until filled.

CivicAction is committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds.