The Director, Annual Giving is a new position on the development team that will strengthen and deepen our capacity to make this vision possible, as the team strives to be best in class in relationship building.
Shaw Festival Theatre, Canada 
Director, Annual Giving
NIAGARA ON THE LAKE
www.shawfest.com
Closing 12/15/21
Full time, Senior Level
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As one of the world’s leading theatre companies and Niagara’s 20 largest employers, The Shaw is dedicated to an ongoing process of increasing diversity and inclusion in our audiences, our programs, and in all of our hiring for staff, artists, and in the recruiting of board members. The Shaw is committed to a future when our theatres joyously draw on and include all peoples, fully reflective of the world around us. As such, the Shaw Festival is an equal opportunity employer committed to a barrier-free recruitment and selection process. We encourage and invite applications from applicants who identify as Indigenous, Black or as persons of colour (IBPOC), the LGBTQ2+ communities and those identifying as gender female. In accordance with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and in keeping with our wish to ensure a fully inclusive environment, please advise Human Resources if you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process. We will be happy to assist.
We acknowledge and honour the land upon which we gather as the historic and traditional territory of First Nations peoples. In particular we recognize and thank the Neutral Nation, the Mississauga and the Haudenosaunee for their stewardship of these lands over millennia.
Director, Annual Giving
Full-time permanent
Salary Range: $80,000 – $110,000
As we emerge from the pandemic and The Shaw moves towards its 60th Anniversary season, it is abundantly clear to us that we face a choice: we can survive through these challenging times, or we can seek to thrive and seize opportunities, now more than ever. To that, we have crafted an ambitious vision for our future. Inspired by the genius of Bernard Shaw, we use theatre to provoke curiosity, creativity and connection. True to this purpose, we will make the excellence of our art the focus of a new movement for real human encounters.
The Director, Annual Giving is a new position on the development team that will strengthen and deepen our capacity to make this vision possible, as the team strives to be best in class in relationship building.
The Director, Annual Giving will provide critical leadership and oversight responsibilities relating to the annual giving program of the Shaw Festival including direct mail, monthly giving, telemarketing, and digital fundraising at the Shaw Festival. The successful candidate will be a strong team leader with a love of the arts.
Anchored primarily in individual giving, the ideal candidate is passionate about coaching, and leading a fundraising team to achieve its annual giving goals. The candidate has extensive experience in managing a large team, project management, leading multi-channel direct response campaigns, and familiarity with data analytics and segmentation to drive fundraising growth strategies. Moreover, the individual has a significant understanding of the arts and arts based philanthropy, along with a passion for theatre and support of the artists and artsworkers. In addition, they model innovative thinking, integration, teamwork, and strong communication. Reporting to the Director of Advancement, the successful candidate will be directly responsible for leading five managers of the advancement team, and support them (and their teams) in achieving fundraising goals and objectives.
A Day in the Life
The primary focus of this role is to rally and focus a cohesive team to develop and implement a successful annual giving program. Day to day activities will focus on coaching and supporting direct reports, looking for opportunities to strengthen the annual giving fundraising program through clarifying goals, expectations and project/program oversight and monitoring key performance indicators. Applying your lived-experience and knowledge of fundraising best practices, time will be spent collaborating in meetings with donors and team members to foster smart strategic choices that help the team grow its current and prospective giving relationships through a segmented approach (defined by affinity and capacity) in order to meet an annual fundraising goal of approximately $9M. With a strong interest in people, the person in this role will be someone who is approachable, and capable to provide mentorship that enables this high-performing team to develop personally and professionally.
What will make a candidate successful in this Role?
The successful candidate will be an influencing, caring, and thoughtful leader who demonstrates strong strategic and analytical skills, strong communication skills and a high level of emotional intelligence.
What will make them successful in this role is a depth of knowledge and lived experience in frontline fundraising, along with a genuine interest and caring in other people, strengthening the arts through philanthropy, and interest in helping to build a world class team.
Summary of Responsibilities & Qualifications:
- Leadership
- Contribute to the growth of the Fund Development team through mentorship, sharing of fundraising best practices, and commitment to fundraising excellence.
- Coach and lead a team of five fundraising managers/officers including the Governors Council Manager, Membership Services Manager, Direct Response & Data Officer, Stewardship Officer and Events Manager.
- Motivate and activate team towards successful achievement of annual goals and strategies, along checkpoints for accountability and support.
- Seek efficiencies in process to maximize team time and energy, while considering how to maximize the strengths of each team member
- Uphold Donor centric best practices in fundraising
- Recommend and implement creative stewardship programs, communication tools and activities to grow and/or streamline the current portfolio of recognition activities
- Research best practices in donor relations for all programs and make recommendations for activities, processes and policies to optimize the donor experience
- Take an active role in fostering and maintaining strong relationships with the organization’s annual donors
- Develop and lead implementation of Annual Giving Plan
- Through segmentation, analytics, and best practices through benchmarking of KPI’s. Ability to share the lens of best practices specifically for arts-based philanthropic practices.
- Review and lead year end debrief & planning initiatives year over year
- Develop and track program budget, key performance indicators against goals to ensure the prompt identification of challenges and solutions to ensure the achievement of fiscal targets
- Contribute to email marketing communications, developing strategic fundraising messaging collectively with Marketing & Communications teams
- Oversight of key multi-channel fundraising initiatives
- Oversee and execute all direct response and digital fundraising strategies for single and reoccurring gifts across annual giving channels, including but not limited to the following initiatives:
- Annual special appeal campaign
- Member & Governors Council acquisition initiatives
- Website platform & social media key messaging development
- Matching gift campaigns
- Other special initiatives; Giving Tuesday etc.
- Segmentation & Analytics dashboards
- Collaborate with database management colleagues, to oversee data management needs for the Annual Giving portfolio
- Identify and transition high loyalty patrons into Annual Giving donors/Friends to higher level individual giving pipeline (GC or major gift).
- Ensure a donor-centred approach to migration between program portfolios
- Deep understanding of donor audiences, development models (e.g. Donor Pyramid), and the methods by which donors can be best retained to increase their lifetime value (i.e. retention and stewardship).
Qualifications:
- Post-secondary degree or diploma in related field or the equivalent in experience
- Minimum 7 years fundraising experience, ideally with hands on experience in the arts and including oversight of integrated direct response programs (digital, print and telemarketing), along with demonstrated ability to work effectively with suppliers, staff, volunteers and other relevant stakeholders
- Proven expertise in developing strategy and managing a fundraising portfolio, building campaign metrics, user journey, communications and stewardship plans
- Demonstrated ability to provide superior customer service and apply sound judgment when dealing with donors and volunteers.
- Proven track record in inclusion and equity practices within development
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks effectively and efficiently, superior organizational skills and strict attention to detail, ability to work under deadline.
- Entrepreneurial, creative, strategic minded and energetic
- Proficient in Microsoft Office suite of products, Raiser’s Edge and electronic databases
- AFP membership or CFRE an asset
- Excellent written and oral communications skills
- Commitment to the vision and goals of the organization
Hours of Work:
The basic work week will total 35 hours
Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with flex hours as needed
Please submit an email with a 2 minute video along with your LinkedIn profile and a copy of your resume. The video should articulate what your ‘superpower’ is, along with an example of the ‘fundraising ask’ that you have done personally that you are most proud of (and why) prior to December 15, 2021 at 5pm to:
Shaw Festival Theatre
Attention: Director Human Resources
Email: dlg@shawfest.com
Please note: All new hires must provide proof of Full Vaccination status prior to their first day of work.
We will be reviewing applications throughout the timeline of the posting. We thank all applicants in advance for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.