Prosper Canada is seeking an experienced and highly entrepreneurial development leader to build a high-calibre development strategy, program, and team over the next 5+ years, leveraging our powerful brand, unique alignment with Canada’s financial sector, and strong fundraising performance to date.

We regularly raise $4-6 million in annual funding without a dedicated development team. We do this largely by securing major corporate and foundation gifts, acting as an innovation partner and granting intermediary for governments, and fostering a small but growing base of individual donors.

We are able to sustain our success by focusing on innovation and measurable large-scale impact in our programs, building lasting partnerships with leading organizations in all sectors that share our vision and goals, and targeting financial sector firms and regulators for major gifts because they understand the value and need for the work we do and it aligns strongly with their purpose.

We have only just begun to leverage our strong relationships in the financial sector. We believe this is a fertile target market for further giving. Over the past five years, we have secured 75% of the asks we have made. Recently, in response to the affordability crisis, the Government of Canada announced a landmark $60 million investment in Prosper Canada to expand community financial help services across Canada over the next 5 years. These funds will enable us to help 1+ million people with low incomes to build their financial stability and health and to access $2 billion in income benefits they are eligible for, but not receiving.

We know that achieving this level of fundraising success without a development team is unconventional. We have a strong foundation in raising funds but are ambitious for much greater impact. We look forward to realizing this with our new Director in place, leading our philanthropic strategy and development team.

We are seeking our next star performer to help us leverage this game-changing federal investment, grow our fundraising over the next 5+ years, and help 1+ million people to move from poverty to opportunity.

Your goal is to shape Prosper Canada’s fundraising future for the next decade and beyond.

Compensation

Compensation for this role ranges from $100,000 to $130,000. Employee benefits include: health and dental coverage; employer RRSP contribution; enrolment in the Common Good retirement savings plan; paid personal, professional development, and sick days; 20 paid vacation days and paid time off when Prosper Canada closes the office from Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day.

Workplace

Prosper Canada’s offices are in mid-town Toronto, but we offer a flexible, hybrid work environment. We also welcome applicants from across Canada and have the ability and experience to support fully remote staff. Staff largely work from home but have the option to work in the office when they prefer or as needed. Staff are periodically required to attend onsite meetings and training sessions and some teams also opt to meet regularly in person. We value in-person connection but expect many staff will want to blend office and remote work and look forward to discussing hybrid options with candidates.

Our ideal candidate

A strategic, dynamic and entrepreneurial development leader

As the ideal candidate, you are a strategic, dynamic, entrepreneurial leader who will build on our strengths to position us for long-term fundraising stability, growth and success.

You relish the opportunity to design and build your own strategy, program and team, but appreciate that you are not starting from scratch – we have an established reputation, strong funding partnerships, and a still largely untapped target market that is hyper aligned with our work and motivated to partner with us.

You’re excited by the extraordinary opportunity to leverage the federal government’s $60 million investment to attract new corporate partners, continue growing our individual donor base, and begin engaging high-net-worth prospects interested in game-changing opportunities for impact on a national scale.

You are also mission-driven, highly adaptable, collaborative by nature, and skilled at building and sustaining partnerships. You lead by example and thrive in the company of colleagues, volunteers, and partners who share your values.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are important to you, and you have invested personally and professionally to deepen your understanding of these values and to actively promote them in your work and community. You welcome opportunities to continue your learning and to contribute to our efforts to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization and financial empowerment field.

You have experience working at the senior management level and with a volunteer Board of Directors. You have developed and successfully executed strategic fundraising plans to achieve optimal results with the resources at your disposal. You have mobilized volunteers, managed a staff team, and are adept at handling associated personnel, work planning, and financial management responsibilities.

You’re an excellent written and verbal communicator who understands how to connect to and motivate volunteers, partners and prospects. You are also comfortable engaging stakeholders and prospects from diverse backgrounds and sectors.

In all your efforts, you have successfully mobilized the people and resources available to you to meet and ultimately exceed expectations, and those you have worked with are glad and proud to have been on the journey with you.

Key responsibilities

Build and lead the development team

Reporting to the Vice President, Strategy & Development, you will work with the VP, CEO and senior leadership team to build a best-in-class development team to take fundraising at Prosper Canada through the next five years and beyond. As a member of the leadership team, you will have autonomy and significant support to frame requirements and hire, inspire and build Prosper Canada’s future fundraising team for long-term stability and growth.

You will build, lead and manage Prosper Canada’s fundraising staff team – modelling and reinforcing our organizational values; setting clear roles, responsibilities and expectations; and fostering a culture of ownership and responsibility for goals and objectives. Your team members will receive regular feedback and coaching from you, annual performance reviews, and support to advance their professional development goals.

Develop and drive implementation of development strategy & plans

You will lead creation, implementation and ongoing refinement of Prosper Canada’s growth-focused, multi-year, strategic fundraising plan, aligned with the organization’s impact strategy. You will be fully supported by the VP, Strategy and Development and the CEO. The strategic fundraising plan will be right sized for the present and scalable in the future.

You will work with your team to identify areas for growth and investment. Plan components may include leading the creation and implementation of individual giving, major giving and high-net-worth plans for individual donors as well as major gifts from corporations and foundations. They may also include prospecting and research, reporting and presenting as well as stewardship and recognition.

Coordinate collaboration of Board, other staff teams & stakeholders

Understanding that fundraising at Prosper Canada is a distributed function supported by staff on multiple teams, you will collaborate with other internal teams, Board volunteers, and external stakeholders, defining clear responsibilities and processes to shape Prosper Canada’s fundraising strategies, systems and processes.

You will lead engagement with the senior leadership team and Board members to identify, cultivate and solicit funders and prospects. Working in collaboration with our communications team, you will also ensure fulfilment of funder recognition and reporting commitments and help inform broader external communication priorities.

Participate on our Senior Management Team

As a member of our Senior Management Team, you will help shape and implement organizational strategies, priorities, and plans; actively participate in efforts to strengthen organizational policies, processes, and infrastructure as these arise; and work to foster a positive organizational culture built on diversity, equity, inclusion, and staff wellbeing.

Required skills and experience

The ideal candidate should possess many of the following attributes and experiences:

Motivated by bold aspiration and the opportunity to help foster greater inclusion and opportunity for people with low incomes across Canada
Possesses passion, idealism, integrity, and a positive attitude marked by grace under pressure, good humour, and support for those around you.
Strongly results-oriented, entrepreneurial, innovative and adaptable approach to business planning and execution.
Extensive fundraising experience at the leadership level, with the ability to build and successfully execute strategic fundraising plans in collaboration with your team and internal and external stakeholders from diverse sectors.
Experience cultivating and stewarding high-value partners and donors
Proven ability to lead and manage a high-performing team – inspiring, managing, coaching and developing your staff to achieve performance goals and professional development objectives.
Has sat on senior management teams and is skilled at helping to shape organization-wide strategy, plans and initiatives, in addition to advancing their team’s objectives.
Success working and building strong relationships with Board volunteers, supporting them to be active fundraising champions and participants.
Experience establishing and/or executing prospect research and associated prospect qualification processes
Experience collaborating with marketing and communications teams to align fundraising, marketing, and communication strategies and products to advance fundraising goals.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage, motivate and persuade diverse audiences.
Ability to manage and oversee the submission of high quality funding proposals
Mission-driven and self-directed but values and facilitates opportunities for others to share their ideas and expertise to help achieve your goals.
A continuous learner who embraces innovation and change with openness, curiosity and flexibility.
Passionate about fostering a collaborative, collegial and respectful work environment.
Demonstrated awareness and understanding of anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion concepts and willingness and commitment to adopt and promote meaningful practices in your workplace.
Proven ability to create and sustain collaborative relationships with diverse internal and external partners and stakeholders.

Prosper Canada also values and welcomes:

Experience and knowledge related to issues of poverty, economic inclusion, and financial empowerment.
Applicants living with a disability.
Applicants from all racialized groups, including black, Indigenous, and people of colour.
Applicants of all gender expressions and sexual/romantic orientations, including queer, trans, non-binary, and people who identify as two-spirit.
Applicants experiencing intersectionality.
Your personal experience of living on a low income, being a newcomer, or living with a disability, and the insights and perspectives this would bring to your work.
Your understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and under-represented communities.

About Prosper Canada

Our mission and vision

For over 30 years, Prosper Canada has been Canada’s leading national champion of financial empowerment for Canadians living in poverty.

Dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for people with low incomes through program and policy innovation, we work with government, business and community partners across Canada to develop and promote financial policies, programs and resources that transform lives and foster the prosperity of all Canadians.

We envision a Canada where everyone has access to the financial policies, programs, products and advice they need to build their financial wellbeing.

Our values

Prosper Canada values being collaborative, human-centred, and forward thinking. We recognize, accept, and celebrate our differences. We see power in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and believe we all thrive by being our boldest true selves.

Diversity is at the core of what we do and who we support to build financial health. Our financial empowerment efforts focus on equity-seeking groups, including those living on low incomes, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities, and people living with disabilities. We seek to systematically bring diverse perspectives to our work that represent the lived experience, needs, and challenges of equity-seeking groups.

Our goal is an organizational culture and a financial empowerment community where all feel valued, respected, and a true sense of belonging.

Our programs

We work to remove financial barriers and build the financial stability, health and resilience of Canadians living in poverty by:

Building free community financial help services

We equip non-profit community organizations across Canada with training, tools and resources to provide year-round, one-on-one, tax filing, benefit access, and financial coaching services that build the financial capability and health of people with low incomes.

Simplifying access to income benefits

Our step-by-step online tool, the Benefits Wayfinder, helps people with low incomes to quickly and easily identify the benefits they are eligible for, how to access them, and where to get hands-on help if they need it to tax file or apply for benefits.

Turning public services into Prosperity Gateways

We’re helping municipalities to build financial help into key public services to reduce poverty and achieve better financial and life outcomes for their residents.

Promoting upstream solutions

We provide evidence-based insights and advice to policy makers and regulators to help remove financial barriers for people with low incomes and promote policy, program, regulatory and tax changes that build their financial health and prosperity.

Scaling our impact

Since 2016, Prosper Canada and its community partners have been piloting a suite of financial help services purpose-built for people with low incomes. These services have successfully helped over 1 million people to enhance their financial capability, boost their collective incomes by over $1.26 billion, tackle financial challenges, and build their financial stability, health, and resilience for the future.

In response to Canadians’ growing affordability challenges, the 2024 Federal Budget committed $60 million over 5 years to Prosper Canada to enable us to establish free financial help services for people with low incomes in every region of Canada. In return, we are committed to raising $4 million annually from business and philanthropic partners to expand the reach and impact of this historic federal investment.

To apply

Prosper Canada welcomes and encourages applications from all qualified individuals who are permanent residents or citizens of Canada including, but not limited to, women, Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Tell us about yourself in your cover letter and we invite you to highlight how your lived experience helps you to understand the needs and challenges faced by equity-seeking groups.

We are committed to making accommodations for all candidates and staff with temporary or permanent disabilities. Accommodation will be provided to applicants with disabilities on request throughout the recruitment, selection and/or assessment process. If you require accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know.

Applications (cover letter and resume) for the Director, Strategic Philanthropy role should be submitted in confidence to:

bd-recruitment@prospercanada.org.

Director, Strategic Philanthropy