Director, Events & Sponsorship
Position Overview
Organization: Arthritis Society Canada
Title: Director, Events & Sponsorship
Reports To: Vice President, Ontario & Eastern Canada
Team: One
Location: Hybrid work model. 2x a week in the office. When in office, 220 Bay Street, Suite 300, Toronto, ON
Compensation: $110,000 – $125,000 plus a comprehensive benefits and vacation package.
Is This You?
You are an experienced events leader in the nonprofit sector in Canada. You know firsthand that events have the power to showcase impact while being a catalyst to inspire supporters time and treasure beyond traditional philanthropy.
You are an event wizard. You know how to execute and produce a high-quality event that is talked about by attendees for weeks and months following. You take pride in seamless execution and creating an event experience that is truly unique. You are excellent at reducing expenses while maximizing impact and have experience directly managing event budgets. You also aren’t afraid to ask for financial support in the form of event sponsorship and would be excited to put together a sponsorship menu and develop a compelling offering for prospective sponsors alongside your talented marketing and communications team. You are fearless in your pursuit of identifying prospective sponsors and working strategically with your development peers on cultivation and securing ideally, multi-year sponsorship commitments that are thoughtful and high value.
If you are looking to be part of a national organization, leading a vital revenue and experiential function on behalf of their largest market, look no further. Read on.
The Organization
Arthritis Society Canada is dedicated to extinguishing arthritis. They represent the six million Canadians living with arthritis today, and the millions more who are impacted or at risk. Fueled by the trust and support of their donors and volunteers and leading a nationwide strategy, co-created by 21 Ecosystem Champion organizations, Arthritis Society Canada is working to revolutionize health outcomes and quality of life for people living with arthritis through research, advocacy, innovation, information and support. They are Canada’s largest charitable funder of cutting-edge arthritis research.
Arthritis Society Canada is a nationwide organization, with approximately 130 staff members from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The largest offices are based in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal; with most staff based in Ontario.
It’s not just arthritis.
Arthritis is Canada’s most common chronic disease and there is no cure. The disease affects the lives of six million Canadians (1 in 5 adults) – impacting their mobility, their ability to work, their time with their family and friends, and sometimes causing near constant pain. More than half of people with arthritis are under 65. Without a brighter spotlight on this serious issue, the number of Canadians with arthritis will rise to nine million by 2040. That’s 1 in 4 Canadians impacted by this disease – along with their families and communities.
Through the continued generosity of their supporters, Arthritis Society Canada will achieve their bold dream of making a cure a reality. Arthritis Society Canada is accredited under Imagine Canada’s Standards Program, and is a proud 3-time consecutive winner of Waterstone Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ award (2025, 2022-2024 and 2019-2021), a mark of excellence in culture and performance.
Vision: We will extinguish arthritis
Mission: To fight the fire of arthritis with research, advocacy, innovation, information and support
Values:
United: We are stronger together
Impactful: We will create a bold future
Transformative: We fearlessly work to achieve greatness
The Position
In this reimagined role, the Director, Events and Sponsorship will play a key role in driving event excellence at Arthritis Society Canada through securing and building corporate sponsorship for Ontario-based events and overseeing event execution. There are two signature annual events in Ontario, one in February, the other in November, combined with several ad-hoc high value donor engagement and cultivation events scattered throughout the year.
The Director will ‘run point’ from an event management and execution point of view, and will report directly to the Vice President, Ontario & Eastern Canada. The Director will lead the event strategy, collaborating with the VP and with major gift leads on the team, and will work closely with Brand, Marketing and Communications experts, mapping out the unique look and feel of each of the events for maximum impact. The Director will have a keen eye for sponsorship and will be continually thinking about ways to diversify revenue streams for the event portfolio to ensure low cost-per dollar, and maximum impact and donor/attendee experience.
The Director will also provide leadership and guidance to the Coordinator, Events. The Director is a member of the national leadership team of the organization and will liaise with colleague’s coast-to-coast to share best practices, and where possible, pursue national sponsorship opportunities.
Key Accountabilities
Sponsorship & Corporate Giving:
- Leads the annual business planning for corporate giving and sponsorship in support of Ontario events
- Manages the pipeline of Ontario event sponsors/donors and prospects, with a goal to convert as many to corporate or major gift supporters.
- Responsible for managing corporate accounts throughout the relationship cycle, from cultivation through solicitation and stewardship.
- Works collaboratively with peers across major giving and other fundraising areas to leverage corporate relationships for maximum giving and organizational impact
Event Planning and Execution:
- Leads the planning and execution of Ontario events, including liaising with senior volunteers such as board members and leading event committees.
- Responsible for the overall sales strategy for events, including setting ambitious but achievable targets for sponsorship, ticket sales, auctions and “fund a need” campaigns, and other event revenue streams, and ensuring these targets are met.
- Works closely with the Brand, Marketing and Communications team, and other event staff nationally, to ensure consistent application of organizational policies and protocols and to maintain cohesion with the arthritis brand across all events.
- Demonstrates creativity in event design, fundraising strategy and portfolio development, ensuring fresh thinking and innovative approaches.
Event Budget Management:
- Oversees event budgets, tracking expenses, and ensuring cost-effectiveness while maximizing revenue generation, gifts in kind, leveraging existing internal resources, marketing and other materials from the nationwide event strategy, and leveraging external resources to create a highly impactful event experience with careful and strategic investment.
Vendor Management:
- Builds, maintains and leverages relationships with vendors, negotiating contracts, and securing the best possible services and pricing.
Stakeholder Engagement:
- Working with internal teams, executive committee members, donors, and other stakeholders, ensures their needs are met and their involvement is maximized.
Post-Event Evaluation:
- Analyzes event performance, gathers feedback, and identifies areas for improvement in future events.
- Establishes and monitors key performance indicators for each event and for the full portfolio, using data informed metrics to assess effectiveness, guide future decision making and drive continuous improvement.
The Ideal Candidate
- At least seven (7) years of progressive events experience, gained from a similar fundraising environment, with demonstrated ability to deliver outstanding service and an exceptional events experience to donors and friends of an organization.
- Sponsorship experience and demonstrated ability and achievement in building corporate relationships, securing sponsorships to meet the targets for each event, and ensuring corporate sponsors have an exceptional experience, retaining interest year over year.
- Post-secondary education that supports your success in events, including fundraising, business, or a related field.
- High degree of skill in strategic business development, evident in a strong track record of closing and managing successful partnerships.
- Driven, energetic, self-motivated, results-oriented events professional, with passion for innovative and spectacular events experiences. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple logistical priorities.
- Demonstrated creativity and the ability to bring forward innovative concepts, fresh ideas and creative problem solving to enhance event strategy and execution.
- Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to work in a collaborative style with local and nationwide colleagues and stakeholders, both in-person and remotely. Ability to use discretion, judgment and tact when trouble shooting and in handling highly sensitive, confidential information.
- Strong level of comfort and experience with donor databases (Raiser’s Edge experience preferred).
- Experience with event fundraising platforms an asset.
- Bilingual (English and French) language skills an asset.
Core Competencies & Skills:
Arthritis Society Canada’s values are personal commitments that every employee lives by, and that every leader models to inspire others. This is what they mean to them:
United: They are stronger together
- I build meaningful connections.
- I create an environment of belonging, inclusion, and openness.
- I share and welcome knowledge and new ideas.
- I approach relationships in an ethical and transparent way.
- I appreciate the strengths I bring and recognize and celebrate the success of others.
Impactful: They fearlessly work to achieve greatness
- I am relentless, standing with Canadians to fight the fire of arthritis.
- I am driven to make a difference.
- I am accountable for my words and actions.
- I strive for excellence.
- I am a trusted resource and a best-in-class expert in my role.
Transformative: They will create a bold future
- I am a changemaker, willing to challenge the status quo.
- I listen, am curious, self-reflect and am always learning.
- I am innovative, eager to bring new ideas forward.
- I am courageous and accept that failure is an important part of risk-taking.
- I am energized and fully engaged.
Working Conditions
- This position is designated to their Toronto office in a hybrid model. This means you will work at least two (2) days a week from their Toronto office and the rest of the days remotely/from home. The exact days you are required to work from the office will be determined by your supervisor. This will include in-person meetings, events, retreats and other opportunities to connect and collaborate.
- Flexibility to support business needs, as required.
Application Instructions
As an organization with nationwide reach, Arthritis Society Canada recognize their work occurs on traditional Indigenous territories across Canada. Arthritis Society Canada’s national office is in Toronto (Tkaronto), which is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. They also acknowledge this land is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. They encourage you to learn more about the nations, land, and communities in the areas where you live. Read their full statement.
In furtherance of their mission and strategic priorities, they are committed to promoting inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA) through their information and support, advocacy, programming, internal policies, and governance structures. In selecting individuals and furthering the goals of their IDEA work, we aim to ensure that their people reflect the knowledge, experience, skills and diversity (including but not limited to diversity of gender, race, and geographical location) of the communities they live in and serve.
Thank you to all for your interest. Please note that only candidates who will move forward in the process will be contacted. At the conclusion of the search mandate all interviewed applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application.
Preston Human Capital Group are leading the search on behalf of Arthritis Society Canada. The application deadline is December 29, 2025, at 5pm ET. Please email your Cover Letter and CV to Lindsay Preston at lindsay@phcap.ca.