Director, Development

At UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, our vision is to lead the most vibrant Jewish community in North America – a community characterized by its diversity, unity, compassion, generosity and commitment to Jewish values. Together with our philanthropic, volunteer and professional leadership, we’re changing lives.

As one of North America’s leading Jewish non-profits, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto works to preserve and strengthen the quality of Jewish life in Greater Toronto, Canada, Israel and around the world. UJA advances this mission through fundraising, programs, and research focused on our strategic pillars: fighting poverty and improving well-being, growing Jewish education and identity, countering antisemitism and hate, and strengthening connections with Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

About The Opportunity

Situated within UJA’s Integrated Development Department, UJA’s Philanthropic Leadership Gifts team engages leading donors to support UJA’s mission through a range of high-impact gift opportunities.

Reporting to the Vice-President, Philanthropic Leadership, Operations and Stewardship, the Director, Development is a critical thinker with strong communication skills, who will be responsible for the development and implementation of strategies to grow the number of high-level gifts to the Annual Campaign and to transformational campaigns. S/he will research, recommend and analyze prospects for major and top gift cultivation and solicitation and will conduct both high-level and in-depth research to find prospects whose goals and interests best align with a philanthropic investment in UJA. The Director of Development will be a partner to the fundraisers in cultivating relationships with existing donors and new prospects, tracking noteworthy occasions and events in the prospects/donors’ lives and recommending to the fundraiser next steps.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Identify new prospects who are non-donors, as well as existing donors with greater capacity
• Curate a prospect pipeline and keep it up-to-date with relevant information
• Ensure that the appropriate fundraiser is pursuing each prospect in the pipeline
• Oversee traditional and social media monitoring process to flag relevant news, current events, and donor-specific news
• Work closely with the professional fundraising team to produce a range of research information products and reports including research profiles
• Proactively identify prospective major donors, and promptly respond to research requests from senior fundraising professionals
• Review lists of prospects and provide input and analysis in terms of capacity and proclivity to give
• Deliver value-added information to professional fundraising staff with respect to their prospect and donor portfolios
• Support accurate data maintenance, strategic tracking, analysis and critical thinking around the movement of top prospects
• Track the number and dollar amount of all gifts made by prospects identified by the Director of Development
• Draft biographical, financial and philanthropic bios and briefings on donors and prospective donors in support of staff
• Help plan and organize prospecting events and follow-up processes

Qualifications:

• Relevant Education or equivalent experience
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to quickly build rapport with colleagues
• Experience researching prospects and donors on social media and conventional media
• Ability to work independently and handle multiple priorities in a busy environment
• Advanced level of proficiency in Microsoft Excel and associated functions
• Willingness and ability to learn additional applications and platforms as needed
• Knowledge of Salesforce an asset
• Proactive with excellent organizational, prioritizing and time-management skills
• A self-starter able to leverage his/her knowledge, skills and experience to manage complex change from start to finish
• Ability to manage complex projects and budgets, working collaboratively with staff as well as with multiple stakeholders to deliver results
• An ability to think strategically and critically
• Strong problem-solving, decision-making and analytical capabilities with excellent attention to detail
• Enthusiasm, creativity, innovation and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Maintain a high degree of discretion and confidentiality
• This is a full-time permanent position. We support a flexible work schedule and all of our employees engage in hybrid work. Engagement and connection are key to supporting the best employee experience and we want to ensure that this puts balance and well-being at the forefront of our approach to ways of working. In addition to a rich time off policy, UJA’s offices are closed on all Jewish holy days (yom tov) and we support early office closures to observe the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat).

We look forward to connecting with you to understanding what you can bring to the UJA team and how we can support your career goals. Qualified applicants are invited to submit a cover letter and resume. Only those applicants invited for interview will be contacted.

Selected candidates will only be contacted through Bamboo HR or a ujafed.org email address. No emails will come from Gmail accounts or other email accounts. Should you receive recruitment related emails from other accounts, please forward to; [email protected]

Commitment to Inclusion and Accessibility:

UJA Federation supports a diverse candidate and employment experience. We are proud of our dynamic professional team, which reflects the diversity of the Jewish community and general community alike in Greater Toronto. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all communities. We encourage you to follow us to get regular updates on open roles. We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace and believe this is essential to ensure that every member of our team can thrive.

We adhere to barrier-free and accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Should you require Code-protected accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please notify us and we will work with you to meet your needs.