Writer, Major Gifts & Campaigns

Are you an organized, independent, self-starter who can write creatively, passionately, and persuasively about healthcare, with a fundraising voice to inspire investment?

Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation has an exciting new opportunity for the right individual to advance their career as our Writer with our Major Gifts and Campaigns Team.  We are looking for someone who is interested in helping to inspire our communities to invest in the future of Southlake, so that we can continue to deliver leading edge care, close to home in York Region and southern Simcoe County.

The Writer supports the Major Gifts & Campaigns Team in a writing capacity and plays a vital role in our success by using dynamic storytelling to support our fundraising efforts. The successful candidate will develop written collateral to cultivate, solicit, and steward Southlake Foundation’s donors and prospective donors for Hospital fundraising priorities.

Our Shared Purpose: Build healthier communities. Shape the future of healthcare.

Southlake Regional Health Centre

Southlake is building healthy communities through outstanding care, innovative partnerships, and amazing people. We deliver a wide range of healthcare services to the communities of northern York Region and southern Simcoe County. Our advanced regional programs include Cancer Care and Cardiac Care and serve a broader population across the northern GTA and into Simcoe-Muskoka. Our team of nearly 6,000 staff, physicians, volunteers, students and Patient and Family Advisors are committed to creating an environment where the best experiences happen. As a recognition of our commitment to quality and patient safety, we have received the highest distinction of Exemplary Standing from Accreditation Canada. With an annual operating budget of over $500 million, we care for one of Ontario’s most rapidly growing and aging populations and have developed an exciting plan for new facilities to serve our communities into the future. A member of the Southlake Community Ontario Health Team, we are working with our partners to deliver connected care to northern York Region and southern Simcoe County.

Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation

Since the inception of Southlake Foundation in 1980, more than $213 million dollars has been raised in support of Southlake Regional Health Centre. Working with members of the community, hundreds of volunteers, the Southlake Family and our incredible donors, Southlake Foundation will continue to support life-saving medical equipment, infrastructure upgrades and expansions, and patient programs, all for the goal of providing leading edge care for patients and families, close to home. For more information visit: southlakefoundation.ca.

About the Major Gifts & Campaigns Team

The Major Gifts & Campaign Team plays a critical role in cultivating and building relationships to drive sustainable growth from donors and prospects at $5K+ to enable the Foundation to meet granting commitments to Southlake Regional Health Centre to deliver leading edge care close to home.

About the Role

Reporting to the Director, Philanthropy, the Writer, Major Gifts and Campaigns will conceive, develop and write donor-centric proposals, reports, articles and other donor communications that cultivate meaningful engagement and inspire philanthropic involvement in Southlake. The successful candidate will have excellent writing, editing, proofreading and analytical skills, and will communicate in a clear, compelling and persuasive manner.

The Foundation is in the early stages of a transformative capital campaign that will be unprecedented in our region and we are currently recruiting the best candidates to our team to play critical roles in our success.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Support the Major Gifts & Campaigns Team and their cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship efforts with the development of template content that can be adapted by team members for use in proposals, letters, case summaries, presentations, speaking remarks etc.
• Support major gift solicitations by preparing highly customized and compelling proposals; as well as letters, presentations and cases for support.
• Translate complex concepts into language that can be easily understood, is engaging to the reader, invoking an emotional response, and conveys the need for philanthropic support.
• Interview hospital staff, patients and families, to collect program impact (both statistical and anecdotal), stories and other information as needed to write compelling proposals, case documents, and impact reports.
• Create, organize and maintain a content management system or information library on various hospital departments, programs, fundraising priorities and facts relevant to our fundraising purposes.
• Help identify visual elements that will be needed in the layout phase of the proposal, and work with our Marketing & Communications team to gather information and imagery to support key messaging in each piece.
• Work in collaboration with the Marketing & Communications Team to ensure one voice and brand alignment.
• Display critical thinking and problem-solving skills, superior organizational skills and detail-oriented, proven ability to work in a fast-paced, multi-task environment.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of 3+ years writing experience for fundraising.
• Strong understanding of philanthropy and the donor development process.
• Proven experience in crafting successful fundraising proposals, cases, impact reports, letters and other donor communications.
• Strong organizational, research, fact-finding and project management skills, with the ability to work in a fast paced environment and manage multiple deadlines and priorities.
• Strong verbal communications skills for both gathering information in an interview setting and sharing information with others.
• Advanced communications skills with the ability to adapt writing styles for various purposes and different audiences.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills including the ability to respond to both internal and external stakeholders with tact, diplomacy and discretion.
• Strong attention to detail in consolidating information from multiple sources, proofreading and finalizing donor communication materials for production.
• Self-motivated team player with proven ability to build and sustain strong working relationships with colleagues and key stakeholders at all levels; capable of exercising independent judgment and flexibility.
• Experience in healthcare philanthropy is considered an asset.
• Advanced computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite is required, experience with Adobe Acrobat DC/Pro would be an asset.

The opportunity:

If you have the qualifications, commitment, and passion to join us and raise the bar for healthcare philanthropy in our communities, we would like to hear from you. It is an exciting time to be at Southlake. The Ontario government is investing $5M to expand Southlake, with funding to support planning to build a new state-of-the art hospital and redevelopment of the existing site to meet the growing demand for services and improve access to high quality healthcare for residents of York Region and Simcoe County; a precursor to a transformational campaign. We offer a competitive remuneration package commensurate with experience and qualifications, plus a comprehensive benefits package and defined-benefit pension program.

We also aim to provide flexibility to enable work/life balance.  If interested, please apply with covering letter and resume at southlake.ca/careers.

As a condition of employment, you are required to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination to the Hospital’s Occupational Health and Safety department. Successful candidates will be required to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination (two doses) from the Ontario Ministry of Health website or other authorized source directly to the Occupational Health and Safety department. In the event that you are unable to be vaccinated as a result of a ground protected under the Human Rights Code, you may submit a written explanation of the ground and any supporting documentation to determine if you are exempt from this requirement to the recruitment team. A recruitment representative may follow up with you for further information if necessary.