Garden of Eden Autism Retreat CenterCampaign Executive
The Hook: The Oasis vs. The Desert
- The Contrast: For families navigating autism, daily life feels like an exhausting desert of isolated struggles, endless waitlists, and clinical sterile offices.
- The Vision: The Garden of Eden Autism Retreat Center is the oasis. We are building a first-of-its-kind, tranquil sanctuary designed to restore peace, dignity, and growth to the entire family unit.
- The Urgency: We cannot wait years to build this. Families are breaking today. We are executing an accelerated 6-month campaign to open our doors and deliver immediate relief.
2. The Problem: The Overlooked Caregiver Crisis
- A Fractured Approach: Traditional services focus strictly on the child, dropping them off for a session while parents wait anxiously in cars or waiting rooms.
- The Caregiver Strain: Studies show mothers of autistic children experience chronic stress levels similar to combat veterans. Without respite, marriages collapse, mental health suffers, and the family stability shatters.
- The Waitlist Bottleneck: Right now, hundreds of children are losing vital developmental milestones stuck on clinical waitlists, while their parents burn out with zero localized support networks.
3. The Solution: A Integrated Sanctuary
- Holistic Healing: The Garden of Eden brings world-class therapeutic services and parent restoration under one beautiful, supportive canopy.
- For the Children: Cutting-edge, nature-integrated sensory spaces, occupational therapy, speech pathology, and behavioral support tailored to their unique strengths.
- For the Parents: On-site mental health counseling, specialized advocacy training, and peer support groups. Crucially, we provide managed respite care—giving parents the literal breathing room to heal, rest, and recharge.
4. Why $5 Million in 6 Months? (The Fast-Track Narrative)
- The Opportunity: We have identified the property/infrastructure. It is shovel-ready. We are bypassing the standard multi-year timeline because the community need is an active emergency.
- The Deadline: Securing the full $5M within 180 days guarantees we lock in the facility, hire our core clinical team, and begin admitting families by [Insert Target Season/Year].
- The Impact: This capital injection instantly creates a permanent, sustainable ecosystem that will lift [Insert Number] families out of isolation every single year.
Position OverviewThe Interim Capital Campaign Director will rapidly execute a fast-tracked $5 Million Capital Campaign to expand specialized therapeutic services for autistic children and build supportive programs for their parents and caregivers. This position requires an immediate start to manage the compressed 6-month timeline.Accelerated Responsibilities (Next 6 Months)Rapid Campaign Mobilization
- Finalise the Case for Support immediately, highlighting the urgent regional demand for autism therapeutic services and caregiver respite.
- Activate the Board and steering committee within week one to secure 100% internal giving participation.
- Establish immediate tracking and rapid-response pipelines using CRM platforms like Raiser's Edge
Major Gift Execution (Weeks 1–16)
- Identify and solicit high-net-worth individuals, healthcare foundations, and corporate donors for foundational seven-figure lead gifts.
- Prepare executive leadership and board members for high-stakes donor meetings with targeted briefing memos.
- Pitch major corporate partners specifically interested in neurodiversity, pediatric healthcare, and family wellness initiatives.
Public Phase & Community Blitz (Weeks 17–26)
- Launch a highly visible public fundraising phase to close the final 20% to 30% of the $5 million goal.
- Coordinate community events, inclusive site tours, and digital peer-to-peer crowdfunding campaigns aimed at local families and allies.
- Oversee immediate stewardship and recognition plans for all campaign donors to ensure long-term retention.
Job Requirements & Qualifications
- Experience: Minimum of 7+ years in senior development roles, with a proven track record of managing accelerated or fast-tracked multi-million dollar campaigns.
- Sector Knowledge: Deep familiarity with pediatric healthcare, neurodiversity services, mental health, or family support nonprofit spaces.
- Campaign Agility: Exceptional ability to work under intense time constraints, pivot strategies rapidly, and close major gifts quickly.
- Location Network: Ideally possesses an active, established network of local philanthropic contacts and healthcare foundations.
Pay: $69,944.01-$180,404.88 per year
Benefits:
- Dental care
- Flexible schedule
- Paid time off
- Work from home
Ability to commute/relocate:
- North York, ON: reliably commute or be willing to relocate with an employer-provided relocation package (required)
Experience:
- Major Gift : 3 years (required)
- Major Gifts : 3 years (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in North York, ON
