THE OPPORTUNITY
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is seeking a strategic and inspiring National Vice-President, Development to lead the elaboration and implementation of a new diversified, integrated and collaborative fundraising strategy in alignment with the BBBSC’s new strategic framework Bigger Together 2021-2023 that is centered on the pillars of Engagement, Innovation and Growth.
Responsible for guiding, coaching and motivating team members to achieve new heights in revenue growth that flows to local agencies, the Vice-President will set fundraising strategies for corporate partnerships, major gift portfolios as well as annual giving, foundation and government grants while working with the National President and CEO, the Board, key fundraising volunteers and our local agency fundraising leaders and teams across the country.
Reporting to the National President and CEO, the Vice-President, Development will work collaboratively with leadership volunteers, executive and fundraising team members at all levels to achieve critical shared outcomes. Serving as the chief development officer, the Vice-President will strengthen the culture of philanthropy across the federation and build a program that delivers exceptional cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors and partners.
As an experienced and accomplished fundraiser, the Vice-President will leverage their skills and model best practices by actively leading a portfolio of key national corporate, foundation and Federal Government partners, by building long-lasting and productive relationships.
As part of the National Senior Leadership Team, the Vice-President will be an architect of the Federation’s values and culture. They will understand that rules alone will not guarantee success in highly decentralized organizations. Trust, above all else, matters most. Personal character, customer service orientation, and ability to listen will be key to fostering the collaboration and increased focus required for success.
The Vice-President, Development will be passionate about our mission and excited about this unique opportunity to build a fundraising program within our existing network which will support the integrated priority needs of our 100+ member agencies across the country in more than 1,100 communities, so that they can enable life-changing mentoring relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people, helping them realize their full potential.
The National Vice-President, Development will preferably be based in the GTHA. The role may also be based in a flexible work location in other major cities in Canada that are in proximity to an airport to facilitate travel, when it is safe to do so.
ABOUT BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CANADA
Many children and youth in Canada struggle with societal barriers and face adversities in their lives like detrimental living conditions, family violence, risk factors for mental health, school issues and identity challenges.
These circumstances have nothing to do with the value of who they are or who they can become, but because of these situations, children and youth risk not having the opportunity to live up to their full potential.
Even worse is the possibility of continuing cycles of poverty and crime or developing mental health issues.
This comes at a cost to the young person, and to society.
With the guidance and support of a mentor, these risks can be reduced or even avoided, and youth are reminded they can be anything they dream of being.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is a Federation comprised of 102 member agencies servicing more than 1,100 communities across the country. Together we mobilize over 20,700 volunteers who in turn mentor 41,400+ children and young people. That works out to nearly 2.1 million volunteer hours each year.
Each Big Brothers Big Sisters agency provides direct service to children by matching volunteers and youths in quality mentoring relationships.
The national organization provides services and programs to our member agencies to assist them with their work with parents, mentees, and volunteers. Ranging from staff training workshops to our leading Child Safety Program, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada works diligently to ensure we have superior quality programming in all parts of the country.
Our BBBS 2021‐ 2023 Strategic Framework is being developed with input from our Strategy & Vision Committee, which represents Member Agencies, National Staff and National Board Members, and with consultation from members of the National Youth Mentoring Advisory Council, Diversity Working Group, Mentors, Community Partners and Parents/Guardians. This framework builds upon the BBBS Vision 2020 strategic framework as we organize for sustained performance in 2020 and beyond.
Through these collective voices, we are understanding key investments are needed in the areas of Engagement, Innovation and Growth – as critical elements for activating the Theory of Change – for BBBS to be future ready, so we can all continue to serve our Canadian youth facing adversities.
Through Engagement, we aim to:
- Deepen BBBS brand relevancy and awareness
- Expand understanding of BBBS value proposition with Canadian communities through the lens of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Maximize fundraising effectiveness and success through collaboration across the network
- Steward leadership capacity across the network to lead within the COVID‐19 landscape
Through Innovation, we aim to:
- Invest significantly in systems and technology so that members can streamline and strengthen all aspects of their operations
- Invest in tools that build data capital that will demonstrate BBBS impact in core outcome areas
- Continue investment towards strengthening and living into the BBBS Theory of Change deepening the intervention of mentorship
- Build out national strategic directions in partnership with youth
Through Growth, we aim to:
- Create an enhanced and effective National Quality Assurance Program
- Engage Mentors throughout their BBBS journey as volunteers and alumni
- Exploring the creation of a network structure and business models which maximizes the ability of BBBS to effectively achieve its mission
- Create financial sustainability that enables achievement of the strategic framework
Igniting Potential
Mentoring relationships change young people’s lives. With training and professional support, Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors form strong positive relationships with their mentees that express care, challenge growth, share power, and expand possibilities.
Changing Two Lives
Mentees and mentors alike benefit from these professionally supported relationships. When you’re there for a young person as they grow up, you learn just as much as they do.
How Do We Do It?
We match young people to positive adult mentors, through individual matches or group programming. Mentorship is a two-way, learning and development partnership where the young person’s needs are placed at the centre.
Because young people’s brains are still developing, mentoring can support that process through back-and-forth interaction like the volley in a good game of ping-pong.
Mentoring is an important way to give youth experience with these essential back-and-forth relationships, developing them into healthy young people better able to deal with and overcome life’s adversities.
Big Brothers Big Sisters enables life-changing mentoring relationships through The Power of Three: The Family, the Organization and the Mentor. Our agency staff are experts at screening, training, and matching a mentor with a mentee to realize their full potential.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada’s national office works in partnership with 100+ accredited agencies across Canada to provide access to quality mentoring programs for diverse populations of children and youth in more than 1,100 communities.
Our facilitator, catalyst, and steward roles include:
- Strategic Planning
- Brand Management
- Quality Assurance/Improvement
- Program Development
- Research and Knowledge Mobilization
- Fund Development
- Marketing and Communications
- Public Policy and Government
- Relations
- Systems Support
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Potential Report
Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada Partners
IDEAL CANDIDATE
The National Vice-President, Development will be a compelling leader who inspires staff and volunteers to reach new heights. The ideal candidate is a talented communicator, externally focused, and seasoned in developing and nurturing complex relationships. The successful candidate will be passionate about young people. The new incumbent’s experience in the not-for-profit sector, ideally as an employee, will provide deep exposure to the fundraising and marketing functions. In this exciting role the Vice-President, Development will:
Align and engage: The ideal candidate will understand how to align their efforts to a broad strategy. They will have deep experience in strategy execution and understand how to rally people around a shared purpose.
Bring a movement-wide perspective: Accountable to the National CEO and part of a dynamic National Office, the Vice-President’s success will be measured by the growth of revenues (net of costs) which flow to agencies and the diversification of revenue streams. The new incumbent’s desire for success will be fueled by a passion for impact in the lives of young people.
Build and grow relationships: The ideal candidate will be expertly skilled at building and growing relationships and will love the complexity of place-based engagement in a large national organization. The successful candidate will thrive in a highly interconnected and interdependent structure and embrace the fact that most relationships have deep roots and are best nurtured at the local level.
Advance the art of the deal: The new Vice-President, Development will enjoy rallying volunteers and staff toward a goal and understand how to inspire prospects to become deeply engaged donors. The ideal candidate will have mastered the drive and diplomacy required to make the ‘ask’ and to close the deal on complex gifts and sponsorships.
Develop other leaders: The new incumbent will understand that winning in fundraising relies on the efforts of many people and will model approaches that celebrate achievements. The successful candidate will thrive on coaching people to grow and understand that people are motivated by opportunities to learn. The ideal candidate is a teacher, coach, and serves as an example to others.
Model the values: The Vice-President, Development will know to place team goals ahead of their own personal agenda. The successful candidate will balance confidence with humility and a willingness to learn from others and from mistakes. The new incumbent will set the bar high for themself and for others. The ideal candidate will have a bias for action and lend a patient hand to those who fear or resist change.
KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategy
- Participate actively in the National Senior Leadership Team and bring an enterprise-wide perspective to its work. Lead the process of cascading the Federation’s strategy to operationalize its sustainability pillar.
- Develop and implement a diversified and integrated fundraising strategy, aligned with the strategic plan, with defined goals and outcomes.
- Develop the strategic scorecard which will be used to monitor success both in terms of diversification of the movement’s revenues and increased flow through funds to agencies (net of direct and indirect fundraising costs, costs of sponsorship activation, and an appropriate share of National Office overheads).
- Work in partnership with the marketing and communications team to dovetail fundraising efforts to marketing and brand strategies.
- Provide leadership to mobilize national staff and agency fundraising teams to create a cohesive and integrated approach to fundraising across the country in areas of corporate partnerships, major gifts, planned giving, annual giving, foundations and government grants.
- As part of the National Senior Leadership Team, be an architect of the Federation’s values and culture.
Staff and Volunteer Leadership
- Inspire and motivate a team of direct reports on the National Staff.
- Work in close partnership with core agency leaders, and a collective of Fundraisers from across the BBBS network.
- Empower employees and bring a coaching approach to your people leadership; drive the implementation of performance management plans which align to organizational goals and cascade to team and individual accountabilities.
- Engage senior volunteers and board members in fundraising and be an active participant in growing the cadre of volunteers who are willing ambassadors for the movement’s fundraising.
- Provide guidance to members of the National Board in their strategy decision-making as it relates to the growth and diversification strategy and the related investment in fundraising capabilities.
Fundraising Leadership
- Translate the Federation’s strategy into a compelling suite of priority fundraising opportunities building on the recently approved Case for Support and working in close collaboration with program leaders.
- Work effectively with the national teams including Marketing & Communications, and local Agency leaders and teams to drive fundraising activities, develop strong pipelines, build compelling proposals/cases for support, and deliver on sponsorship activation.
- Ensure that the national development team will be the go-to place for template proposals, gift and sponsorship agreements, and other collateral.
- Develop and regularly update a catalogue of sponsorship opportunities with systematic valuations to drive pricing and the hierarchy of benefits (e.g., naming rights, industry exclusivity, and other activation benefits) to maximize revenue potential.
- Play the key leadership role in nurturing the engagement of the Federation’s most general national corporate, foundation and Federal Government partners.
- Develop and implement cultivation and stewardship/moves management plans, leveraging board, senior leadership and/or senior volunteers as needed.
- Share expertise and knowledge of major gifts and complex corporate partnerships with the National Office team and with our agencies who are laying the foundation for major gift efforts.
- Ensure the availability of technical advice on planned gifts, including gifts of securities.
- Be the executive champion for the suite of fundraising policies which govern the way the Federation protects its brand and maximizes its revenue potential. Convene the bodies to which decisions about prospect clearance and gift acceptance can be appealed.
- Be a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, subscribe to its ethical code of practice and promote organizational and individual standards of best practice in fundraising.
- Champion the development of a data portal to support the Federation’s prospect coordination system with a focus on corporate, foundation and government prospects with more capacity to give.
- Implement a pipeline management system that will hold leaders, staff and volunteers accountable for personal solicitation targets.
- Champion the growth of digital fundraising efforts in close collaboration with agencies.
- When it is safe to do so, be available for regular travel to attend and speak at events, to solicit and negotiate major gifts and sponsorships, and to engage with the Federation’s key national partners and support the major gift fundraising efforts of agencies.
Operations
- As a key partner of the National VP, Strategy & Operations in the budgeting and financial monitoring systems and understanding policy development and compliance, draft reports to facilitate board oversight and decision-making, and to steward important donor and sponsor relationships.
QUALIFICATIONS & KEY COMPETENCIES
- A minimum of 5 years of progressive fundraising experience with a focus on complex sponsorships and/or major gifts, ideally in a national organization.
- A minimum of 3 years of senior management experience with deep engagement in strategy and strategy implementation.
- Proficiency in planning, policy development, and financial management.
- Superior people leadership skills, including in coaching and developing leaders, and in building a culture of trust that promotes collaboration. Deep experience in working with senior volunteers.
- Experience in moves management and previous direct accountability for staff-led solicitation and negotiations of major gifts and sponsorships in the six and seven figures.
- Superb mastery of the English language, finely honed communication, influencing and negotiating skills, and public speaking before large audiences. French language abilities are preferred and will be considered an asset.
- Digital savvy and social media skills.
- A professional fundraising designation and/or experience in obtaining accreditation through the Imagine Canada Standards’ Program will be considered an asset.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics (or other fundraising database systems), MS Office and collaboration and document sharing tools such as Microsoft Teams.
- Experience using data to inform decision-making, measure outcomes and to maximize fundraising opportunities.
- Direct experience in a child- and youth-service organization will be considered an asset.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
KCI (Ketchum Canada Inc.) has been retained to conduct this search on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada. For more information about this opportunity, please contact Sylvie Battisti, Vice President, KCI Search + Talent by email at [email protected]
All inquiries and applications will be held in strict confidence. Interested candidates should send resume and letter of interest to the email address listed above by May 31, 2021.
To view full Position Brief, please visit: www.kcitalent.com
BBBSC is committed to principles of anti-oppression and employment equity. We strongly encourage members of Indigenous, ethno-racial, LGBTQ+, Francophone, immigrant, refugee, differently abled and other equity seeking groups to apply and self-identify. Language abilities, especially bilingualism (English and French), are considered an asset.
Please note that the salary range for this position is $140,000 – $160,000.
