Assistant Director, Advancement Services

BISHOP STRACHAN SCHOOL

Toronto

 

Bishop Strachan School (BSS) is Canada’s oldest independent day & boarding school, located in the heart of Toronto. With over 150 years of educational excellence BSS has helped shape young women into curious, confident and passionate leaders. BSS offers challenging learning experiences both inside and outside of the classroom in an enriching academic environment.

 

Students at BSS not only receive an education, they become part of a community. To forge their path in the world, students learn how to think, challenge ideas and engage respectfully with those around them. This culture of learning is one in which students find the knowledge and experience to take charge of their futures. With a BSS education, students gain the confidence to successfully navigate today’s world.

 

Summary of Position

The Assistant Director, Advancement Services (AD) works collaboratively with colleagues across BSS to create and sustain data systems, services, and practices that will optimize the Advancement department’s fundraising, engagement and donor stewardship initiatives. In addition, the AD oversees the work of the Database Administrator and the timelines of gift processing, acknowledgements and financial report production.

 

The AD is responsible for effective measurement results and the accuracy, cleanliness, efficiency and integrity of the Advancement database (RE NXT). They assist in and contribute to the development and delivery of the whole-school data plan. The AD uses data to support the School’s strategic direction work and uses analytics, prospect identification and qualification, and research to assess and help develop a robust donor pipeline that will serve the Annual Fund, Planned Giving, and Major Gifts through multi- year campaign initiatives.

 

Specific Accountabilities

• Continually assesses the landscape of current and future BSS donors, helping the Advancement team optimize overall support through strategic fundraising and engagement tactics
• Manages the pipeline of major donors by:
  • coordinating research on major gift and planned giving prospects, ensuring that all related documentation and activity is coded in the database;
  • tracking local, national and international news relating to prospects and constituencies; and
  • following economic and philanthropic trends that may shape solicitation strategies and priorities

• Ensures integrity and accuracy of Advancement database at all times
• Understands privacy legislation as it relates to Advancement data and ensures the Advancement team has a strong data governance lens to protect constituent privacy
• Collaborates with the Director, School Data and Analytics on improving data collection practices (data integrity levels), troubleshooting database issues, improving points of integration, and general systems maintenance
• Collaborates with members of the Finance team to ensure accuracy of financial reports, including annual audit
• Leads and coordinates analysis of Advancement data as part of school benchmarking, strategic plan metrics, and prospect management; produces regular reports for Director, Development and shares findings with Director, School Data and Analytics and wider community, as appropriate
• Creates and manages all coding (including campaigns, funds and appeals) to ensure consistency, accuracy and integrity of the Advancement database
• Prepares requested queries and data pulls (e.g., class lists, event invites), as needed
• Guides the Database Administrator in pulling, importing and segmenting all direct mail data (e.g., appeal codes and packages, address updates from returned mail, etc.)
• Manages data integration including imports and exports with other systems such as myBSS, Graduway etc.
• Prepares donor listings and giving metrics for inclusion in the annual Impact Report
• Oversees data entry by members of the Advancement team, including updates or other changes to records such as contact information, relationship changes and survey results
• Creates and maintains database manuals, processes, and procedures and cross-trains team members as appropriate
• Maintains, reviews and edits confidential donor files as required
• Oversees the work of gift entry as it relates to the timely processing of all donations including batch preparation and commitment as well as preparation and filing of gift receipts and acknowledgements and the preparation of accurate and timely financial reports for the Controller
• Embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging values into all activities and events
• Commit to the Staff Growth and Evaluation Process
• Participates in professional learning and growth

 

What you bring to this role:

• Experience managing database systems, ideally in Raiser’s Edge and Online Express (RE NXT)
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong skills in project management
• Strong technical expertise including database integration experience and the Microsoft Office Suite of products and Google suite
• Experience with querying and reporting as well as data entry and gift acknowledgement
• Knowledge of and experience working with CRA receipting guidelines
• Understanding of fundraising practices and procedures
• Excellent customer service orientation together with strong communication skills and the ability to effectively interact and respond to a variety of stakeholders calmly, collaboratively and happily
• Detail-oriented with a proven ability to work independently, efficiently and accurately while meeting deadlines and responding to a variety of needs concurrently
• Ability to use own initiative and sound judgment, tact, diplomacy and discretion while always maintaining confidentiality
• Ability to participate in evening and weekend events on an occasional basis
• Inquisitive, self-starter with a sense of humour
• Commitment to and passion for furthering the work of the school and girls’ education
• A growth mindset of continuous improvement and learning
• Culturally competent with a positive attitude toward cultural uniqueness and readiness to accept and respect others
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment

Competencies                                                                                                                                                     Demonstrated ability and commitment to the Core and Leadership Competencies at BSS:

• Respect and care
• Trust and integrity
• Collaboration
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Initiative
• Community focused
• Communication

Leadership Competencies

• Managerial courage
• Champion change
• Build and develop effective teams
• Strategic planning and alignment

Education: Successful completion of post-secondary education

 

What Bishop Strachan School offers you in return:

• A competitive salary of $80,000 – $90,000
• Strong benefits
• Hybrid working environment (Work from home 2 days a week plus work from home for summer months.)
• 8% pension matching after a year
• Chef onsite for provided lunches
• Onsite gym and pool
• 3 weeks of vacation plus 3 more weeks admin holidays which include 4-day long weekends
• BSS heavily invests in professional learning

 

BSS Accessibility:

We are committed to providing an accessible experience and an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, beginning with the recruitment process. If you have restrictions that need to be accommodated to fully participate in any phase of the recruitment process, please contact reach out to the Key Contact below. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

BSS Values Diversity:

BSS is committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse and respectful environment. We believe that diversity in our school fosters a rich, inclusive and creative environment. We are actively engaged in building a more diverse school and encourage all qualified applicants to apply.

 

This search is being conducted on behalf of Bishop Strachan School by crawfordconnect, a search firm specializing in recruiting non-profit and charitable professionals for Canada’s non-profit sector. If someone you know may be interested in this position, please feel free to forward this document – we would be pleased to connect with them.

We request all applications be submitted online only. If you experience technical issues, contact info@crawfordconnect.com.

 

Key Contact: 

Gillian Horbal

416.522.8630

gillian@crawfordconnect.com

 

To Apply:

To submit your application by June 30, 2023, please visit https://crawfordconnect.com/for-candidates/job-openings/#/posting/PR-260 and upload your cover letter and resume in two separate documents.

Qualified applicants are invited to submit their resume and cover letter online in confidence. We thank all applicants for applying, however, only qualified candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.