Senior Manager, Prospect Research
The Opportunity
Campfire Circle is seeking a Senior Manager, Prospect Research to lead the prospect research and pipeline management functions as part of a dynamic and expanding team as Campfire Circle embarks on an exciting campaign to expand programs to serve thousands more children with serious illness in Ontario.
Reporting to the Director, Donor Experience & Insights, the Senior Manager will be a strategic partner in advancing Campfire Circle’s fundraising goals as it strengthens, cultivates, and stewards relationships with major donors and prospects. With a strong understanding of the major gift environment, the new incumbent will excel at uncovering connections and surface insights on prospects, collaborating with the Development team to ensure active pipeline management through monitoring, analysis, and reporting.
Building on a solid foundation, the successful candidate will bring knowledge of best practices. With an eye to continuous improvement, the Senior Manager will be curious, creative, and have a desire to refine and improve systems, tools, and strategies that drive growth.
This is a new role and signals an investment in philanthropy at Campfire Circle. As a key member of the Donor Experience team within the Development department, the Senior Manager will play a crucial role in supporting the fundraising efforts that help bring joy, laughter, and vital support to medically complex children and their families during some of life’s most challenging moments.
This position is hybrid, working from our Toronto office 2-3 times per week in an open concept working environment. Occasional evening and weekend commitments will be required. In consideration of the population Campfire Circle serves, the incumbent must be a non-smoker.
About Campfire Circle
Vision: Campfire Circle is a world where children thrive, and families heal.
Mission: We foster resilience, well-being and lifelong connections for children with serious illness and their families through camp-inspired programs.
Values:
Care
We hold our campers and their families at the heart of all we do. We support the well-being and development of staff and volunteers. We provide enriching experience in a safe and caring environment, working with our healthcare partners.
Inclusion
Campfire Circle strives to provide equitable access to our programs, and we are committed to ongoing improvement. We believe diversity makes us stronger. Everyone is welcome and respected.
Community
We are committed to building community by making joyful moments that ignite laughter, create memories, and build meaningful, lifelong friendships through shared experiences.
Integrity
We create an environment that fosters trust and transparency. We are focused on the impact of our programs on all of our stakeholders.
Sustainability
We preserve and protect the lands used by Campfire Circle. We consider environmental sustainability in our decision-making.
Help Bring Back the Joy of Childhood
Since 1983, Campfire Circle has delivered healing through happiness to thousands of kids with cancer or serious illness and their families across Ontario. Our programs are offered in paediatric hospitals across Ontario, in local communities, and at our medically supported overnight camps, offering year-round experiences that provide life-changing moments of joy, connection, and resilience.
But we’re just getting started. Today, over 40,000 kids in Ontario face serious illness, many without access to the psychosocial support they urgently need. That’s why we have a bold vision: to grow from serving 3,000 campers a year to 10,000. We’re building a passionate, talented team to help make that vision a reality. When you join Campfire Circle, you become an integral part of a dynamic team helping to transform the lives of thousands of kids with serious illness, alongside our dedicated community of volunteers and donors.
Beeps to Peeps
At Campfire Circle, kids with cancer or serious illness can feel like kids again. Watch this new video to learn more about how you are helping Campfire Circle bring joy and laughter to kids and families who need it most https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOBLyXu5WDY.
Childhood cancer changes lives. So does camp.
Campfire Circle is a privately funded charity that brings laughter and joy to kids affected by childhood cancer or serious illness and their families. Year-round community, in-hospital and overnight camp programs deliver fun, friendship and a sense of community at any stage of a childhood cancer journey.
The Power of Camp
Campfire Circle is often referred to as the social cure for cancer. It’s a place where kids play, grow and enjoy new experiences in a safe, welcoming environment. Our programs celebrate kids for who they are – not what they have.
The joy and confidence gained from camp is a crucial aspect of our Campers’ health and well-being. Campfire Circle gives Campers the chance to meet other kids, families or Counsellors who’ve faced the same illnesses, had the same surgeries, or other Campers who know what it’s like to have a sick sibling. Camp restores a sense of normalcy, new found strength and hope.
When you’re at camp, the only elephant in the room is the elephant that Campers have handcrafted out of paper mache and pipe cleaners.
In-Hospital Programs
We are proud to work with leading pediatric healthcare partners across Ontario to bring our camp-inspired experiences to children receiving treatment in hospitals, often at their bedside, all year round. Our Program Specialists provide thousands of daily one-on-one bedside, group, or in-clinic camp-inspired experiences for newly diagnosed families, kids on active treatment, or during palliative care. These play-based sessions bring normalcy and connection to kids and caregivers during their time in the hospital. Our programs are offered at: The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), McMaster Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Southlake Regional Health Centre, and Credit Valley Hospital, along with other satellite centers throughout the province, all delivered at no cost to patients or hospital partners.
Community Programs
Campfire Circle offers year-round medically-accessible programming for children, youth, and their families in their local communities. Programs are inclusive for kids with serious illnesses and their families. Programs include day camps, family weekend camping trips, and virtual programs for maximum accessibility.
And our medically supported overnight camps ensure that even the most fragile children can experience the joy and freedom that comes from being at camp.
Overnight Camp Programs
Campfire Circle offers an opportunity no one else can: medically accessible, overnight camps with no financial barriers for kids with complex needs. Kids, teens, siblings, and parents can attend everything from family camp to teen camps, to camper-only experiences. Our Muskoka site is the only camp in Canada equipped with IV chemotherapy and blood transfusions so kids can attend even while undergoing active treatment. Our Rainbow Lake site hosts family camp so the whole family can benefit. Both sites host Weekends at Camp (WACs) all year round so campers and families can stay connected.
We believe that every child deserves to laugh, play, create memories and make lasting friendships. That’s why when Camp Ooch and Camp Trillium merged in 2020 and became Campfire Circle, we expanded our mission to serve children with other life-impacting illnesses.
Land Acknowledgement
Campfire Circle acknowledges that we operate on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
On this land, we are grateful to share the magic of camp with children and families, and we endeavour to create a community of joy, hope and healing. Acknowledging the land that we occupy is just one small step on the path towards Truth and Reconciliation.
Additional Information
- The Story of Camp Ooch & Camp Trillium
- Our Model
- Our Stories
- 2023-24 Impact/Gratitude Reports
- 2024 Financial Statements
- Board of Directors, Leadership and Medical Advisory Committee
Key Duties & Responsibilities
Prospect Research
Conduct detailed research on prospects and donors using internal information, subscription-based services, public resources and emerging tools to identify and qualify their philanthropic interests, capacity, relationships and inclination to support Campfire Circle.
Proactively identify new major gift, corporate and mid-level prospects, using a range of tools for identifying and qualifying prospects, including data mining, media and sector screening and relationship mapping.
Lead the preparation of all research intelligence for profiles, prospect review sessions, briefing documents for engagement and fundraising events and other resources as required
Ensure relevant information regarding prospects and donors is updated and accurate on the donor database and track research data on the donor database.
Monitor media for news relating to donors and prospects, disseminating updates to appropriate stakeholders.
Lead specialized research projects as required, including market scans and trend research.
Ensure compliance with applicable legal requirements and Imagine Canada standards.
Play a key role in prospect management meetings to provide input on prospects being discussed and ensure the information is updated on the donor database.
Pipeline Management
Work closely with the Director, Donor Experience & Insights and the Development team to support systematic approach to manage the movement of prospects through the pipeline
Support the development and delivery of prospect management procedures, guidelines and training.
Create and prepare reports and track analytics to monitor the state of the pipeline.
Participate in financial forecasting and reporting.
Qualifications & Experience
Experience related to prospect identification, research and/or prospect management,
Understanding of the fundraising cycle with ability to develop and maintain tools that accurately reflect, monitor, and interpret the activity of the prospect pipeline
Proficiency with central research methodologies including data mining, capacity analysis, and conducting advanced online searches.
Naturally curious to surface leads, opportunities, ideas, forge connections and identify trends.
Proficiency in managing and analyzing data in a relationship management database.
Experience with Raiser’s Edge or comparable database experience.
Knowledge of external research tools, such as iWave and Grant Connect, is advantageous.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Excellent time management and organizational skills with demonstrated ability to work in a deadline-driven environment.
Excellent analytical, problem-solving skills and highly attentive to detail.
Self-directed, and able to work independently.
Team player with a positive attitude, tact, and diplomacy.
Proven ability to work independently with the flexibility to take on a wide variety of assigned duties and projects
Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.
Maintaining membership in APRA Canada and adhering to the association’s ethics and professional standards.
KCI Search + Talent has been retained to conduct this search on behalf of Campfire Circle. For more information about this opportunity, please contact Ellie Rusonik, Senior Vice President, KCI Search + Talent by email at Campfire@kcitalent.com.
All inquiries and applications will be held in strict confidence. Interested candidates should send resume and letter of interest to the email address listed above by August 7, 2025.
To view the full Position Brief, please visit: www.kcitalent.com
This position offers a competitive annual salary range of $80,000 - $95,000. Campfire Circle is invested in our staff’s health, wellness and career growth. As part of the total compensation package for this role, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including $4,000 annually for mental health practitioners (premiums fully paid by the organization with the exception of Long Term Disability), a wellness benefit up to $500 annually, an accelerated RRSP matching program up to 5% of base salary, paid vacation time plus a paid winter shutdown period up to eight days, flexible hybrid work arrangements, on-going professional development, and the opportunity for paid participation at Camp programs.
Campfire Circle is deeply committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We welcome applications from racialized persons/persons of colour, Indigenous People from North America and around the world, persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, and those who bring diverse perspectives and experiences. Our commitment is to provide equitable employment opportunities to all and to maintain a work environment free from discrimination and harassment.
We are equally committed to providing an inclusive and accessible workplace. Applicants requiring accommodations to access our job postings and apply for roles with our organization are invited to reach out to the Search Consultant at the email address above or in a manner that fits their accessibility needs, and can trust that their application will be considered equitably for our available roles. More information about our accessibility commitments can be found at https://campfirecircle.org/about-campfire-circle/accessibility-at-campfire-circle