Graphic Designer

BuildGood is a fundraising growth agency. We help nonprofits change the way they find new donors, retain them longer, and grow lifetime value, building a system that creates moments of generosity from first-time giver to legacy leaver.

Our approach is rooted in understanding why people give. Generosity grows when people feel motivated—when giving supports their identity, creates a sense of connection, and makes supporters feel competent and effective in their giving. We design fundraising systems around building donor motivation and leading first-time donors to become lifelong supporters.

We partner with nonprofits across North America to grow durable revenue, from donor acquisition and direct mail to digital fundraising, retention, and mid-level giving. Our work blends brand and direct response.

We’re a growing, research-informed fundraising agency with a clear point of view and big ambitions—and you can help shape what comes next.

Do you get excited about turning fundraising ideas into creative that makes people stop, pay attention, and give? Are you energized by taking a strategy and bringing it to life through compelling design across print and digital?

Do you know the difference between a lift note and a bounce-back? A Johnson box and an indicia? Static and carousel? Can you spot a widow or an orphan in a design?

Do you love getting into the weeds of a client’s history—reviewing past campaigns, creative, results, and brand guidelines to understand what’s worked and find opportunities to make the next piece even stronger? Do you enjoy solving creative problems, thinking critically about design, and sharing your point of view?

Do you want to become a go-to creative partner for a roster of fundraising clients, while working alongside a talented, collaborative, and supportive team?

If you’re a designer who moves fast, sweats the details, loves solving problems, and gets excited about creating work that looks great and drives results, this job might be for you.

• You’d rather make something beautiful than make something work
• You need a template for everything you create
• You’re not comfortable working across both print and digital
• You take constructive feedback personally
• You don’t want to work within established client brands
• You’re waiting for someone else to catch mistakes
• You have trouble juggling multiple projects or deadlines
• You need every project to be creatively exciting to do good work
• You see new tools or processes as inconveniences rather than opportunities
• You’re uncomfortable asking questions or speaking up when something doesn’t make sense

• This is a fully remote role
• Attendance is required at the bi-annual staff retreat (3–4 days)
• Attendance and on-site participation are required for the BuildGood Summit (approximately 5 working days, including setup)
• BuildGood team members operate with an owner’s mindset and take full accountability for their work

• A workplace that values your need for autonomy, competence and connection
• An entrepreneurial culture that places a premium on rigor and accountability
• A teamwork environment built on both humour and challenging each other to continuously improve in our craft
• Meaningful work that directly influences how organizations grow
• Attendance at the Build Good Summit, Canada’s premier fundraising conference
• Work from home/anywhere (fully remote position)
• 3 weeks vacation (4 weeks after 4 years at BuildGood)
• Bi-yearly team retreat
• Summer Fridays (Fridays off in June, July, and/or August)
• Generous professional development budget
• Group Retirement Savings Plan (GRSP)
• Flexible Spending Account (HSA)
• Yearly profit-share based on meeting goals and targets

The main job:

This role is responsible for developing high-quality, fundraising-focused creative for a range of clients and projects across print and digital, including direct mail, appeals, newsletters, social media, websites, and occasional video projects.

Generally speaking:

The ideal candidate brings strong creative and technical design skills, a high level of proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud, and knowledge of print and digital production. They can take a project from an initial creative brief through to polished, press-ready or final files, while understanding the fundraising strategy and objectives behind the work. They work efficiently across multiple projects and deadlines, and have exceptional attention to detail. The successful candidate will also bring strong organizational, communication, and process skills. They can collaborate effectively with strategists, project managers, writers, clients, and other designers; communicating technical and design considerations clearly.

Your main responsibilities:

• Design creative across a range of print and digital applications, including direct mail, appeals, newsletters, email, social media, digital advertising, websites, and landing pages.
• Partner with fundraising strategists, project managers, writers, and other designers to translate an established fundraising concept and strategy into clear, compelling visual communication that gets audiences to stop and give.
• Design and prepare digital creative for a variety of platforms, placements, aspect ratios, and applications, ensuring assets meet technical specifications and remain effective.
• Establish strong visual hierarchy, typography, imagery, composition, and layouts that support the communication goals of each project.
• Incorporate feedback from clients, strategists, project managers, and internal team members efficiently and with a quick turnaround.
• Adapt creative across multiple formats, channels, languages, and sizes while maintaining visual consistency.
• Work within established client brand guidelines while making thoughtful design decisions that support the goals of each campaign.
• Apply knowledge of direct-response fundraising, including variable data, postal requirements, envelopes, reply devices, lift notes, and other mailing components.
• Prepare files for a variety of print processes, specifications, formats, and finishing requirements, including colour specifications and other production considerations.
• Collaborate with printer and production partners as needed to resolve technical questions, review proofs, and ensure projects are produced accurately.
• Maintain a high level of attention to detail and take ownership of quality assurance, proactively identifying and resolving errors, inconsistencies, missing elements, and technical or production issues before work is delivered.
• Follow BuildGood’s established internal proofing and quality assurance processes for all creative before delivery.
• Manage multiple projects and deadlines efficiently.
• Maintain organized, consistent, and accessible project files, including cataloguing, backing up, archiving, and preparing files for handoff or future use.
• Document processes, production requirements, and share knowledge with other designers and team members.

An important note: Since BuildGood is very much a startup, the exact job description might change over time and depending on the season. The main thing is: you will help nonprofits fundraise effectively in one way or another, and you will help improve and grow the business as part of a team effort.

• 3-5+ years of professional graphic design experience
• Proven track record creating creative for multiple client accounts or across complexprojects
• An understanding of direct-response fundraising
• Experience creating integrated fundraising campaigns (direct mail, digital, email, etc.)
• Excellent communicator: you’re clear, concise, and confident with clients and internal teams alike
• Highly detail-oriented. You catch the things others miss and take pride in work that’s thorough and well-executed
• An innate bias for action: you produce something fast, learn from it, and improve
• Expert in Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop)
• Experience with Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Xd is an asset
• Experience with Canva is an asset
• Proficiency in Google Suite and project management tools (we use Teamwork)

• Operate with a high level of autonomy and ownership of creative assets
• Collaborate closely with Creative and Production, Strategists, and Marketing teams
• You will report to the Senior Graphic Designer

Canadian resident with legal status to work in Canada

Must be willing to work during standard business hours in CST timezone

Access to your own computer (that can run the most recent Adobe software), reliable internet, and a phone is essential

To Apply

• Send an email to [email protected]
• Subject Line: Application – Graphic Designer
• In the email, briefly share why you want to work with BG, why it’s a good fit, and a link to a song that gets you excited about fundraising
• Include a link to your portfolio. Be prepared to share a PDF of your recent work on request. In the email, tell us which nonprofit or fundraising project in your portfolio you are most proud of.
• If you have LinkedIn, include a link to your profile
• Attach your resume (we’ll read it) and don’t attach a cover letter (we won’t read it)
• Fill out this application form.

We can’t guarantee that we will get back to every single applicant. If you have not heard from us two weeks after you’ve submitted your application, please assume that you were not included in the final field of applicants.

What To Expect

1. An initial interview. Selected candidates will be selected for an initial interview to assess fit.
2. A technical assessment. Selected candidates will participate in a technical assessment over Zoom followed by a short interview.
3. Follow-up interview. Selected candidates will be contacted for a final interview.
4. Reference checks. We will complete at least 3 reference checks for the final chosen candidate.