Executive Director

The Merit Award Bursary Program

At Merit, we award bursaries and provide career and life skills support to Merit bursary recipients through our alumni program (we refer to past recipients as alumni).

The Merit bursary is awarded to deserving senior high school students who can benefit from encouragement, recognition, and financial support, to help them complete secondary school or proceed to their first year of post-secondary education.  Our Alumni program is a three-pronged program of networking, mentoring and career development opportunities to support recipients as they continue their post-secondary journey.

Merit currently awards about 280 bursary awards each year, worth a total of over $285,000. The Program operates in 82 secondary schools across Toronto and Peel.   Many of these schools have numerous socio-economic challenges and capture diverse ethnic communities.

For the 2022-2023 school year, we are planning to increase our participating schools by 10 schools and provide an additional $50,000 in awards to be granted.  An ambitious Growth Vision is also in place for the following several years, to expand the Program across the Greater Toronto/Hamilton Area.

We’re proud of our growth and success over the past 26 years.  To help us continue our growth, we’re seeking an experienced Executive Director to join our highly skilled team.

As an ideal candidate, you have experience overseeing organizations, including operations and programs involving multiple stakeholders and volunteers.  You have excellent organizational, communication, and leadership skills, and you enjoy developing solutions to ensure superior organizational functioning.  You’ll work closely with the Board of Directors, and a small staff including the Administrator, Recipient/Alumni Support Program Coordinator and bookkeeper, to support growth and success at Merit.  If you’re dedicated and ambitious, Merit is an excellent place to make a huge impact.

As Executive Director, reporting to the President/Chair of the Board, you will be responsible for helping to make Merit’s Growth Vision a reality.  You will lead the fundraising process with the active support of the President and campaign team, manage program growth and provide oversight and coordination of various, existing Merit Award Program activities. It is expected that the work will average about 2 to 3 days per week (however the work demands are quite variable, depending on the fundraising campaign and application cycle).

Skills and Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in supporting charitable fundraising campaigns
• Success in managing multiple programs and multiple stakeholder groups, including working with boards of directors, in the not-for-profit environment
• Demonstrated success in managing program growth
• Superior knowledge of multiple operational functions in the charitable sector, including communications, finances, fundraising, databases, and volunteer/contractor management
• Proven ability to plan and manage operational processes to optimize efficiency and productivity
• Results driven with experience determining, implementing, and tracking KPIs
• Excellent communication skills
• Self-motivated and ability to work independently

Responsibilities

• Work with board of directors and external consultants to manage both Merit’s Annual and Growth Vision fundraising campaigns, including:
  • Supporting the board’s growth vision planning
  • Supporting board members’ fundraising activities
  • Coordinate with Hussey Philanthropic Consulting
  • Write or assist in the writing of grant applications
  • Complete corporate donor reports annually (TD, RBC, BNS, etc.)
  • Manage fundraising communications, working with experienced volunteers
  • Identify promising fundraising opportunities and donors and work with the Fundraising Committee to pursue those opportunities
  • Manage donor relationship activities
  • Manage fundraising events, such as our annual Wine Raffle and Bowling for Bursaries events
  • Report to board committees and full board regarding progress
• Manage and support the Program Administrator and Alumni Support Program Coordinator to ensure top quality program delivery
• Liaise with the Board Treasurer to help steward sound financial management
• Oversee management of all software systems, including: implementation of, changes and upgrades; maximum utilization of application software; database implementation; cloud-based document management system; volunteer management system
• Draft, maintain, and update policies for the approval of the Board and prepare procedures to implement the organizational policies
• Identify potential program and process improvements and discuss with Board members or entire Board as necessary
• Report to the Board monthly via written report and attendance at monthly board meeting
• Represent the organization at community activities to enhance the organization’s community profile
• Liaise with school board representatives, and oversee the expansion of the bursary program on a region-by-region basis

Please apply to Brian Smneek at brianpljs@gmail.com