Director of Fundraising - Hope Channel International (HCI)

Full-time exempt position with comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings plans.

About the Role

The Director of Fundraising develops and executes fundraising strategies to obtain the voluntary financial support necessary to fund current operations and the expansion of Hope Channel’s global mission. The Director cultivates a growing network of dedicated donors and volunteers, identifies new fundraising opportunities, builds strong relationships with potential donors and external stakeholders, and manages integrated campaigns across direct mail, digital, broadcast, and social media channels. This role advances every supporter along Hope Channel’s donor development journey from first engagement to lifelong partnership.

Responsibilities

• Develops fundraising strategy and action plan that identifies, cultivates, solicits, and acknowledges major gift donors and prospects in consultation with the executive team, while researching and identifying new donor prospects.
• Develops comprehensive plan to harvest and analyze metrics that measure results.
• Coordinates the execution and direct response strategies of Hope Channel’s planned giving program in consultation with field representatives.
• Designs and executes activities to derive a revenue stream from direct response and fundraising events.
• Writes grant applications and fundraising proposals for institutional funders.
• Organizes fundraising events while recruiting, overseeing, and motivating teams of volunteers, working closely with the Marketing and Communication departments.
• Cultivates a network of dedicated donors and volunteer advocates, extending fundraising reach through peer-to-peer relationships.
• Effectively conveys the organization’s mission, vision, and programs to potential donors.
• Obtains contact information for viewers and digital audiences through the creation and promotion of effective engagement strategies.
• Develops and implements direct response and digital donor acquisition campaigns targeted at newly identified viewers, worshipers, and other prospects, including Adventists and members of other Christian churches.
• Grows Hope Channel’s prayer partner and monthly (recurring) donor programs, advancing supporters along a defined donor development journey from prayer partnership to financial and legacy partnership.
• Segments the donor database using giving history, wealth assessment, and other relevant research to optimize appeal personalization related to gift amount, frequency, and donative preferences.
• Manages donor relationships and campaigns in the donor CRM, applying responsive fundraising practices to personalize each donor’s journey and improve retention.
• Creates, produces, and distributes highly personalized direct response mail, email, telemarketing, website, and social media appeals for all segments according to the schedule identified in the annual marketing plan.
• Identifies and coordinates expectations related to donation tracking, receipting, acknowledgement, and fulfillment of product and premium offers, and responses to inquiries and complaints with the Donor Care team.
• Prepares text for all donor communications associated with fundraising including receipts, acknowledgements, and product offer fulfillment.
• Identifies, cultivates, solicits, and acknowledges mid-level donors through email, phone, and in-person communications. Assists HCI officers in executing similar activities for major donors and prospects.
• Coordinates the concept, design, and production of Hope Channel’s broadcast, website, and social media fundraising spots, appeals, and programs with the content production and marketing teams.
• Tracks and prepares reports for key fundraising benchmarks and activity indicators including response rates, retention, attrition, average gift, frequency, donor lifetime value, gross and net revenue, production costs, cost per dollar raised, and return on investment.
• Liaises with the VP for Finance & Administration in implementation of internal control on donations processing.
• Prepares and manages the fundraising components of the budget.
• Updates job knowledge and skills by participating in educational opportunities, reading professional publications, maintaining personal networks, and participating in professional organizations.
• Supervises and evaluates assigned staff.
• Serves on boards and committees as assigned.
• Must be a member in regular standing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
• Maintains a regular and reliable work schedule.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in communication, marketing, or related field required; Master’s degree (MA/MBA/MSA) preferred. Appropriate successful work experience may be acceptable in lieu of scholastic requirements.
• Minimum of five years planning and directing a comprehensive fundraising program, including direct response and digital campaigns, with demonstrated success. CFRE certification preferred.
• Minimum of two years comprehensively using donor management/CRM software preferred (Virtuous or comparable).
• Previous involvement with media ministry preferred.

Skills

• Broad knowledge of principles, policies, and beliefs of the General Conference and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
• Ability to translate strategic planning into entrepreneurial execution and work with multiple stakeholders to solve complex problems successfully.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to work resourcefully and efficiently under deadlines.
• Strong understanding of computer technology including Microsoft Office and database programs.
• Flexible and creative, with a willingness to embrace challenges and drive ongoing change through research, planning, and action.
• Ability to mentor, manage, and inspire others.
• Experience with digital fundraising strategies across email, social media, and online giving platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute individualized donor care plans.
• Ability to work cross-departmentally, especially with the marketing team, for integrated campaign development and execution.

Pay

Remuneration range: 91-106% ($88K - $103K annually).