Manager, Major Gifts

Position: Manager, Major Gifts

Status: Full-time, 14 month (leave cover)

Dates: July 2024 - September 2025

Reports to: Director, Philanthropy

Supervises: Philanthropy Officer

Language(s): English

Location: Remote, within Canada

Starting Salary Range: $87,000-$100,000/year

Deadline for Applications: 11:59pm, Sunday, June 9, 2024

ABOUT THE EQUALITY FUND
The Equality Fund is transforming the way that resources—and power—flow into the hands of women, girls and gender expansive people worldwide. Designed by feminists for feminists, it is a model for sustainably resourcing feminist movements everywhere, through global grantmaking, gender-lens investing, policy advocacy, and feminist philanthropy. Launched in 2019, the Equality Fund has committed $53 million to date and is supporting 650 organizations working in 90 countries globally.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Director of Philanthropy, the Manager, Major Gifts will be a key member of the philanthropy team, leading and aligning the Equality Fund’s (EF) transformational giving fund development activities with the organization’s strategic priorities and mission. The Manager will spend their 12 month tenure managing strategic projects and other activities that contribute to the overall success of EF’s philanthropy portfolio (prioritizing charitable donations of $10,000+ CAD). The Manager supports the execution of philanthropic strategies with the purpose of generating philanthropic revenue in support of the work of EF. The Manager identifies prospective donors, establishes relationships through various formal and informal cultivation activities, solicits and secures $10,000+ CAD donations, and provides meaningful stewardship to donors.

SCOPE & RESPONSIBILITIES    

Direct Fundraising – Donor cultivation, solicitation, engagement, and stewardship 

• Lead and prioritize the growth of philanthropic revenue, with a particular focus to prioritize cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding five-, six-, and seven-figure plus gifts from individual donors.

• Support the Philanthropy team in creating and implementing a comprehensive, sustainable, integrated, and diversified philanthropy program that is innovative, progressive, and values-aligned to achieve annual philanthropic revenue and programmatic goals; monitors and interprets performance and trends and proactively adapts to ongoing challenges and opportunities.

• Work with the Philanthropy team to grow EF’s base of support from individuals and family foundations using traditional and trending forms of donor prospecting and engagement, including prospect researcher(s) to identify and qualify supporters at major donor levels.

• Lead and deliver retention strategies for inclusive giving donors, or those contributing less than $10,000 per year.

• Support the building of a donor pipeline with an emphasis on multi-year gifts of $10,000 or more from individual major donors and family foundations (family, community, private institutional) multi-year.

• Foster and advance relationships with prospects and donors by engaging them in meaningful and impactful ways through the work of EF.

• Develop, execute, and oversee major gift acquisition and engagement programs and opportunities including program design and execution, project management, communications, maximizing gift acquisition, and donor activity tracking.

• Represent EF at external donor meetings, give presentations, and facilitate discussions as required.

Donor communications and philanthropy collateral

• Contribute to and implement regular updates, impact reporting, and content to prospects, donors, and documents such as the annual report, Global Affairs Canada, and other external communication products.

• Prepare and write personalized proposals, reports, letters, emails, and notes for donor retention, cultivation, and stewardship.

• Work closely with the communications, investment, and global programs teams to ensure clarity of communication and messaging to support public understanding of the uniqueness of the EF model and the impact of EF’s work.

• Assume other responsibilities as assigned by the Director and AVP consistent with the role.

Leadership and Management

• Ensure ongoing integration of EF annual organizational priorities into the philanthropy Program.

• Provide thought leadership for increased growth, opportunities for innovation, and efforts to increase diversity among donors and diversification of gifts.

• Provide direction, support, and feedback to the Philanthropy Officer; conduct weekly check-in meetings to discuss progress/challenges while strategizing, planning, executing, and celebrating accomplishments.

• Support team goals and key performance indicators; provide regular performance feedback and reviews to direct reports.

• Acts in accordance with our policies around nurturing a safe and respectful work environment; never engaging in harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form, or anything else contrary to our code of conduct.

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES 

• Minimum five years of progressive fund development experience in the not-for-profit sector, with a track record of establishing meaningful donor relationships and programs. Equivalencies in education and experience will be considered.

• Undergraduate degree or certificate in business, international development, or related field.

• Minimum three years of experience developing, implementing, and leading fundraising plans/strategy/campaigns and having a track record of securing philanthropic donations in the range of $10,000+

• Minimum three years of management experience

• Strong relationship management skills with exceptional written and oral communication skills to communicate effectively with a diverse group of donors, coworkers, volunteers, and other stakeholders

• Ability and openness to work on cross-functional/multi-disciplinary teams

• Strategic thinker with the ability to identify and maximize strategic philanthropic opportunities

• Comfort and ability to manage ambiguity and an ambitious philanthropic raise

• Flexible and adaptive, able to respond quickly and effectively to changing circumstances

• Strong organizational and time management skills to multitask, and manage various projects, deadlines, and priorities while guiding strategic fundraising goals, and reporting on results.

• Values-driven with a passion for women’s rights and a strong understanding of feminist issues, advocacy, movement building, and the funding environment facing women’s rights organizations in the global South

• Demonstrated tact, discretion, and high ethical standards with the ability to work with sensitive information in a confidential manner

• Ability and willingness to conduct oneself at work with high standards of ethics, integrity, and honesty

• Commitment to the work and values of the Equality Fund, which include Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, and Intersectionality; Feminist Leadership; Accountability; and Radical Love

• Professional working proficiency in French is an asset.

• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, complex environment

• CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) designation is considered an asset but is not required.

REQUIREMENTS

• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada or the U.S.

• Available to travel, up to 4-6 weeks per year.

• This position may be responsible for meeting tight deadlines.

• Willing and able to work remotely on mostly computer-based work.

OUR ENVIRONMENT OF CARE

• We trust our talented team and are pleased to offer a flexible and virtual work environment.

• We are driven by our values: anti-racism, anti-oppression, and intersectionality; feminist leadership; accountability; and radical love. We believe our values are realized through collaboration, a growth and learning mindset, emotional intelligence, diversity, authenticity, a global perspective, care, and building networks. We work to share power and create space for everyone to lead.

• Equality Fund is proud to offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package which has no waiting period and includes 4 weeks paid vacation, paid sick time, parental leave top up, medical benefits, life insurance, Group RRSP, paid birthday off, and more.

• Equality Fund is committed to providing and maintaining a safe and respectful workplace. We do not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation, or abuse of any form. We recognize that those behaviors are often rooted in abuse of power, which is contrary to EF's mission to make a more equitable world for women, trans, and non-binary people.

• Equality Fund is an equal opportunity employer.  We believe deeply in equality and value diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, and all other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and positionalities, and are committed to providing an accessible candidate experience. To let us know how we can make an accommodation or adjustment to facilitate the selection process and beyond, please reach out to people@equalityfund.ca.

SELECTION PROCESS

• Equality Fund’s People, Equity, and Culture team will work with the hiring manager to do an initial screening of applicants. Please make sure to detail your experience in your resume/cover letter to ensure the committee has the information they need to assess your qualifications for the role. This process takes about 1 week from the application deadline.

• When there are many candidates who pass the initial screening, the People, Equity, and Culture team may conduct 15-30 minute phone screening calls.

• The hiring committee will conduct first round interviews with selected candidates. Candidates are welcome, but not expected or required, to send any questions they have for the hiring committee in advance of the interview. These interviews usually occur 1-2 weeks after the application deadline.

• The hiring committee may conduct a second round of interviews, which may include an assignment.

• The People, Equity, and Culture team will conduct reference checks for the candidate to whom they intend to extend an offer. This process usually takes about 1 week.

• The People, Equity, and Culture team will initiate a background check. This is intended to safeguard Equality Fund employees, grantees, and the organization. We recognize that some communities experience systemic over-policing. As such, only findings related to harassment, exploitation, coercion, sexual exploitation, fraud, abuse, or other findings specifically relevant to the duties of the role will be considered in relation to one’s eligibility for employment.

• The People, Equity, and Culture team will send the selected candidate an Employment Agreement, which the candidate will have time to review and return.

JOIN US!

Though we work to respond to all applicants, at times we may only be able to follow-up with those selected for an interview.