Development & Strategic Relations Coordinator

**Job Title**:
**Development & Strategic Relations Coordinator**

**Reports To**:
Executive Director

**Location**:
Aquatarium - 6 Broad Street, Brockville, ON (On-site Only)

**Position Type**:
Full-Time

**Position Overview**:
The **Development & Strategic Relations Coordinator** supports the Aquatarium’s mission through fundraising, communications, and relationship-building initiatives. This full-time, on-site role combines creative content development, digital outreach, CRM oversight, administrative organization, and support for grant and sponsorship initiatives.

A central focus of this position is the creation and management of a separate philanthropic platform, currently branded as _Friends of the AQ_. This includes building and maintaining a standalone **website** (using platforms such as Wix or WordPress), and **social media presence** tailored to donor engagement, community partnerships, and public support — distinct from the Aquatarium’s core visitor-focused marketing. The Coordinator will also support the Executive Director in representing the Aquatarium to donors, funders, and external stakeholders, and may attend select meetings or events on behalf of the ED when appropriate.

This is a proactive, detail-oriented, and mission-driven role for someone who is both creative and highly organized, and who can “set up the pins” for others to knock down.

**Key Responsibilities**:
**Development & Fundraising Support**
- Support the Executive Director and Development Subcommittee in identifying and researching grant opportunities, donor leads, and funding partners.
- Maintain a centralized development calendar with grant deadlines, follow-ups, reporting dates, and campaign milestones.
- Assist in drafting and editing grant proposals, donor appeals, stewardship letters, and sponsorship materials.
- Coordinate fundraising activities and donor campaigns with clear documentation and workflow processes.
- Utilize and maintain the **CRM system (Zoho)** to track donor engagement, segment audiences, record interactions, and support reporting and fundraising analytics.
- Maintain a “**Development Playbook**” to document campaign concepts, donor journeys, and outreach strategies.
- **Write and submit final reports for grants and sponsorships**, ensuring alignment with funder requirements, narrative impact reporting, and data integrity.

**Donor Engagement Platform: Friends of the AQ**
- Manage and evolve the standalone **Friends of the AQ** brand — a donor
- and community-focused presence distinct from the Aquatarium’s primary marketing.
- Build and maintain a separate **Friends of the AQ website** using tools such as **Wix**, **WordPress**, or other CMS platforms.
- Develop and oversee dedicated **social media channels** (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) to promote philanthropy, impact, donor recognition, and community involvement.
- Ensure visual consistency and compelling storytelling tailored to donors, grantors, sponsors, and community partners.
- Collaborate with the Executive Director on evolving or renaming the platform based on long-term engagement strategy.

**Marketing, Communications & Content Creation**
- Design materials including newsletters, infographics, event signage, reports, donor decks, social graphics, and sponsorship packages using **Canva**, **Adobe Creative Suite**, or similar tools.
- Capture and curate photography and video content for use in campaigns and digital outreach.
- Develop content calendars and scheduling workflows for digital and print communications.

**External Relations & Representation**
- Support the Executive Director in donor cultivation, funder outreach, and community partnerships.
- Attend meetings, community events, development conferences, or seminars **on behalf of the Executive Director** as needed — with preparation, note-taking, and follow-up.
- Prepare briefing materials, reports, and summary documentation for donor-facing engagements and partner introductions.

**Administrative & Executive Support**
- Provide executive support to the Executive Director for development-related functions, including scheduling, follow-ups, note-taking, and meeting coordination.
- Prepare materials and take minutes for Development Subcommittee meetings and related working groups.
- Organize and maintain digital records related to donor correspondence, grants, reporting, and marketing archives.
- Input and manage donor and grant data in the **CRM system (Zoho)**, ensuring records are clean, up-to-date, and usable for campaign targeting and stewardship tracking.
- **Create and manage internal tasks using ClickUp** to track deadlines, assignments, approvals, and progress for development-related projects and campaigns.
- Use Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams) for daily communication, planning, and reporting.

**Skills & Qualifications**:

- Post-secondary education in Communications, Marketing, Fundraising, Nonprofit Management, or a related field.