The Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation (DGHF) is the philanthropic heart of Dartmouth General Hospital, connecting donors, families, businesses, and community partners to the healthcare that matters most in their own backyard. Every gift stewarded by the Foundation stays here, supporting patient care, medical equipment, and programs that allow the hospital to deliver better outcomes for the people of Dartmouth and surrounding communities.
Dartmouth is a fast-growing, deeply connected community known as the City of Lakes; a place where people put down roots, support local, and take pride in where they live. The hospital and its Foundation are cornerstones of that community, helping ensure access to modern, compassionate healthcare close to home.
On behalf of DGHF, we are seeking a Stewardship Officer who knows how to turn outcomes into stories, data into meaning, and donor support into impact that people can feel.
This is a role for a thoughtful, detail-driven communicator who thrives at the opportunity when writing, relationships, and purpose come together. You will help donors clearly understand how their generosity is improving patient care, and in doing so, you will help strengthen the Foundation’s most important relationships.
What This Role Is About:
At its core, this role is about bringing donor impact to life.
You will be responsible for coordinating, writing, and delivering donor impact reports that connect giving to real healthcare outcomes. Working closely with philanthropy, stewardship, communications, and hospital partners, you will gather data, stories, and results and translate them into clear, compelling, donor-friendly language.
You will also play a key role in shaping how the Foundation communicates with donors through letters of gratitude, updates, and recognition materials, ensuring every message reflects clarity, warmth, professionalism, and trust.
Stewardship is a vital part of DGHF’s fundraising success. This role plays a pivotal part in building long-term donor confidence and connection by ensuring supporters clearly understand the impact of their giving. Strong stewardship strengthens relationships, inspires continued support, and is essential to sustainable, donor-centred fundraising.
Your Core Responsibilities:
Working with the Senior Manager of Donor Engagement, you will coordinate donor impact reporting from start to finish, managing timelines, approvals, and delivery while ensuring reports are accurate, personalized, and aligned with donor interests. You will gather outcomes, data, and stories from internal partners and translate technical or medical information into accessible, engaging narratives.
You will coordinate content that highlights donor-funded impact for a monthly donor impact newsletter, collaborate with communications and philanthropy colleagues to align messaging, and support stewardship and donor engagement through, thank-you letters, updates, briefing notes, and recognition materials.
You will also support stewardship data and systems, helping maintain accurate records, reporting schedules, and distribution lists in Raiser’s Edge, while contributing to process improvement and documentation.
In this role, you will bring creativity and a strong storytelling approach to donor stewardship, helping to shape meaningful narratives that connect donors to the real impact of their support. You will contribute fresh ideas for engaging and recognizing donors in thoughtful ways, creating stewardship opportunities that go beyond standard reporting. By combining strong writing skills with an ability to communicate impact in a compelling and human-centred way, you will help deepen donor relationships and ensure supporters feel valued, inspired, and connected to the mission.
What Success Looks Like:
In this role, success means donor impact reports are delivered on time, every time. Donors clearly understand the outcomes their support enables. Communications are consistent, clear, and compelling, bringing impact to life through meaningful stories. Internal partners trust the stewardship process and information. Donor engagement metrics (open rates, feedback, and responses) reflect meaningful connections and lasting donor relationships.
Who This Role Is For:
This role is designed for someone who naturally combines accuracy, care, and storytelling.
You are a strong writer who notices the story behind the data and cares deeply about clarity and tone. You think in layers, considering not just what happened, but what it means for patients, families, clinicians, and the wider community. You are motivated by healthcare, integrity, and community impact, and you take seriously the responsibility that comes with donor trust.
You bring both structure and heart to your work. You are organized, reliable, and comfortable managing deadlines, while remaining thoughtful and people-centred in how you communicate. You enjoy collaborating across teams and take quiet pride in producing work that reflects professionalism and purpose.
What You Bring:
You have post-secondary education in fundraising, communications, journalism, public relations, or a related field, along with 2–3 years of experience in donor relations, fundraising support, communications, or project coordination. Experience in nonprofit, healthcare, or public-sector environments is an asset.
You bring exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills, strong organization and time-management abilities, and a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. You are comfortable working with multiple internal stakeholders and handling sensitive information with discretion and sound judgment.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office is required; experience with Raiser’s Edge and design software like Canva is a bonus.
Compensation:
● Annual base salary, depending on experience and qualifications, will be in the $58,500-$71,500 range.
● Health Benefits
● Wellness Allowance ($500.00)
● Defined Benefit Pension Plan (Mandatory)
● 3 weeks of vacation time
Additional Details:
This role works closely with stewardship, philanthropy, and communications teams and reports to the Senior Manager of Donor Engagement. Occasional evening or weekend work may be required to support donor events or reporting deadlines.
To Apply:
Please visit our website to learn more and apply: https://kittiwakeco.zohorecruit.ca/jobs/Careers/5321000000116967/Stewardship-Officer?source=CareerSite
About the Hiring Process:
Kittiwake, in partnership with The Warrington Group, are supporting the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation with a thoughtful, values-led hiring process. We believe a thoughtful hiring process leads to the right fit for both the candidate and the organization. Our process includes the following steps:
- Virtual Pre-Screen: A virtual conversation with Mackenzie Darbyshire and Lindsey Reid (Kittiwake / The Warrington Group) to learn more about your experience, interests, and alignment with the foundation.
- In-Person Interview: Selected candidates will be invited to an in-person interview with Jenna Joyce and Lisa Cottreau from DGHF, focused on skills, experience, and values alignment.
- Writing Assessment: Writing is a core competency for this role. As part of the recruitment process, candidates will be asked to complete written exercises to assess clarity, tone, and donor-centred storytelling. Candidates are encouraged to submit work that reflects their own voice and capabilities.
- Final Meeting: A final conversation with Stephen Harding, CEO of DGHF, offering an opportunity to connect, ask questions, and ensure mutual alignment.