Associate Vice President, Direct Marketing and Community Giving

Position Overview

Organization: CAMH Foundation (

Title: Associate Vice President, Direct Marketing and Community Giving

Reports to: Senior Vice President, Philanthropy

Team Size:Five

Location: Toronto

Is this you?

Are you a forward-thinking direct marketing leader looking to build upon a history of direct-response success and profitable growth? Smart, analytical, detail-driven and strategic are words that others would use to describe you.

Are you a self-starter who enjoys having a role that includes a large financial accountability? You are passionate about direct marketing and love studying and implementing new techniques and high growth channels. Do you have proven experience leading and building a high performance team?

Are you a leader at heart – ready, willing and able to provide insight and innovation to a portfolio? You want to work with a people-friendly, high performance team that’s both collegial and demanding and are looking for colleagues who share your passion, intellect and professionalism. Do you want a work environment where there is plenty of room to progress and ‘uber’ growth is planned?

If this sounds like you, please read on…

The Organization

CAMH Foundation is the fundraising arm for CAMH, Canada’s leading hospital for mental health. Each year, CAMH provides exceptional care for more than 30,000 patients and responds to 500,000 outpatient visits. We inspire change in the mental health field through the professionals we train, the knowledge we share, and in the modern facilities we are building: embedded in the community and open to the world. Our passion is conveyed by engaging supporters in our innovative research, clinical care and treatment for patients and families of today and tomorrow. At CAMH Foundation we strive to Make a Difference, Communicate Openly, Be Accountable and Learn & Innovate.

The Position

This position is a key leadership role in the CAMH Foundation. With enthusiastic support from the Board of Directors, CAMH Foundation has invested significantly in a donor acquisition strategy that includes investments in monthly donor acquisition and peer-to-peer fundraising. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Philanthropy the AVP, Direct Marketing and Community Giving will lead a key business unit (the mass donor segment) through this extensive growth phase while being responsible for managing, planning, implementing and growing the direct (including digital channels) and community giving programs at CAMH Foundation, including annual and monthly giving, tribute giving, planned giving, symbolic (catalogue) giving, and mid-level support.

This position has a motivated team of five, two devoted to annual, two that work on the monthly file and a development officer whose role is to grow the mid-level donor base. There is also data and back end support in the operations area and a newly constituted donor relations team. The results of a joint hospital and foundation brand refresh project are poised to be shared fall of 2016. The successful candidate will work closely with the Marketing & Communications team, including the digital team, to integrate new branding into all aspects of their program.

Our successful candidate will need to be a self-starter with a ‘can do’ attitude. This portfolio is slated for growth over the coming years and our successful candidate will need to provide effective leadership and think beyond! The ability to influence without authority will be critical to success. This includes working with the peer-to-peer fundraising team currently under the leadership of the corporate director.

The incumbent will set annual budgets and objectives, establish and implement strategies to reach those objectives, and monitor progress. Our successful candidate is also responsible for evaluating the lifecycle of these initiatives in an effort to keep the programs relevant for constituents and productive for the organization.

Specific Accountabilities

The successful candidate will have led significant direct-response operations, with experience in direct mail, digital, and all other direct response channels (door to door, phone etc.). S/he will also have experience evolving similar organizations’ direct marketing program. This role will work closely with a number of related functions to drive revenue, growth, and profits through strong products, innovative programs, deep collaboration, and relentless focus on results.

S/he will:

  • Develop, implement and manage a comprehensive, integrated and strategic direct response program that includes renewal, upgrade and acquisition strategies across several channels.
  • Significantly grow the donor file and improve customer experience and satisfaction
  • Optimize direct mail
  • Drive mid-level giving strategies
  • Accelerate fast-growing digital channels including e-mail, web, social media, online store, and search (in collaboration with marketing & communications)
  • Develop new channels and refine investment across existing ones
  • Deepen engagement of donors through effective use of sophisticated donor journeys
  • Direct ongoing process, organizational, and cultural change within the business
  • Own and drive key business metrics including reviewing best practices models from across the country/world
  • Ensure the effective utilization and application of Raiser’s Edge for the programs, including strategic analysis of data to inform planning and to assess and monitor progress
  • Build strong relationships with other members of the Foundation team as well as various Hospital staff to ensure success within the programs
  • Build strong working relationships with external volunteers and suppliers
  • Develop and maintain a strong understanding of CAMH priorities and related mental health and addiction issues
  • Maintain a high degree of motivation and superior work ethic consistent with the employment philosophy of the Foundation
  • Participate actively as a member of an integrated development team

Ideal Candidate’s Profile

S/he will be/possess:

  • Management level direct-response experience and demonstrated success. Someone who embraces the art and science of direct marketing and is a thought leader in evolving channels
  • Experience in a large, complex not-for-profit healthcare organization is a definite asset
  • The drive to help shape and deliver on aspirational goals
  • Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative spirit; experience leading and mentoring a high performance team
  • Excellent written (specifically need to know what goes into writing a good ‘ask’) and oral communications skills is a must
  • A great depth of knowledge and experience with data management and analysis
  • Experience with a gift catalogue (considered an asset)
  • Excellent organization, planning, and time management skills as well as exacting attention to detail
  • Enjoys working with a multitude of stakeholders and is confident and comfortable with senior volunteers
  • Professionalism, judgment and discretion in dealing with confidential and sensitive matters are essential
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office products, internet tools, and Raiser’s Edge

If you are someone who is looking for an outstanding challenge, working with a great team for a very important, uniquely focused and successful organization then what are you waiting for? Apply now to by August 31, 2016.