Direct Response Fundraising Manager

Operation Smile; Virginia Beach (VA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Operation Smile seeks a Manager, Direct Response Fundraising to drive multichannel donor acquisition, including DRTV, direct mail, telemarketing, face-to-face, and select digital channels. You will coordinate agencies, internal partners, and budgets while ensuring accuracy and brand alignment.

You will collaborate with Data and Analytics, Global Marketing, and Donor Care to optimize audience targeting, reporting, and campaign optimization. Some travel may be required.

Qualifications

• Strong project management, organizational, and communication skills with attention to detail.
• Ability to review creative, copy, proofs, data and translate results into summaries and recommendations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially Excel and PowerPoint, and familiarity with project management tools and donor databases.
• Working knowledge of donor acquisition, cultivation, retention and reactivation.
• Self-starter who works well in a fast-paced environment and collaborates across teams.
• Spanish-language proficiency and fundraising/marketing agency experience preferred.
• Willingness to travel domestically up to four times per year.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day execution of multichannel donor acquisition campaigns (direct mail, DRTV, telemarketing, face-to-face, select digital channels).
• Liaise with fundraising agencies, vendors, and internal partners to keep projects on schedule and within budget.
• Maintain integrated campaign calendars, project plans, status reports, and meeting notes.
• Coordinate review of concept presentations, copy, creative, scripts, and production files with QA.
• Review materials for accuracy, brand alignment, donor focus, and offer consistency.
• Support Spanish-language fundraising materials in partnership with bilingual stakeholders and agencies.
• Collaborate with Data and Analytics to support audience selection, segmentation, and data requests.
• Develop presentations, campaign recaps, and annual plans; monitor performance and summarize results.

Skills

Project management

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Spanish language

Donor acquisition knowledge

Tools

Blackbaud CRM

Luminate Online

Tatango

Job description

General Description

The Manager, Direct Response Fundraising supports the growth and long-market donor file through multichannel campaigns. Reporting to the Director of Multichannel Fundraising, this role manages day-to-day execution of donor acquisition across DRTV, direct mail, face-to-face fundraising, telemarketing, select digital channels, and cultivation efforts for English-speaking core single-gift donors.

The Manager serves as a key liaison with fundraising agencies and internal partners, coordinating campaign schedules, creative reviews, meetings, reporting, invoicing, and other deliverables. The position may also support the review and coordination of Spanish-language fundraising materials in partnership with internal stakeholders and external agencies. This role requires strong project management, attention to detail, comfort with performance data, and the ability to manage multiple campaigns and stakeholders.

Essential Functions

• Manage the day-to-day execution of multichannel donor acquisition campaigns across direct mail, DRTV, telemarketing, face-to-face fundraising and select digital channels.
• Serve as a primary day-to-day liaison with fundraising agencies, vendors, and internal partners, ensuring projects remain on schedule, within budget, and aligned with approved strategies.
• Maintain integrated campaign calendars, project plans, status reports, meeting notes, and other documentation needed to keep campaigns and stakeholders organized.
• Participate in agency status meetings, track decisions and action items, and follow up with responsible parties to ensure timely completion.
• Coordinate the routing, review, and approval of concept presentations, campaign copy, creative, scripts, production files, proofs and quality control.
• Review campaign materials for accuracy, brand alignment, donor focus, offer consistency, and adherence to approved strategy.
• Support the review and coordination of Spanish-language fundraising materials in partnership with bilingual internal stakeholders, translators, and agency partners.
• Work with the Data and Analytics team to support audience selection, segmentation, campaign coding, source-code setup, data requests, and quality-control.
• Develop presentations, campaign recaps, business reviews and annual plans.
• Monitor campaign performance and prepare clear summaries of results, trends, risks, and opportunities for internal stakeholders, helping translate findings into recommendations for future campaigns.
• Collaborate with Global Marketing & Communications, Donor Care and Data and Analytics to support integrated donor experiences.
• Maintain organized campaign files, historical results, samples, standard operating procedures, and other shared resources.
• Stay informed about direct response fundraising trends, emerging channels, agency capabilities, and nonprofit industry best practices.
• Support peak fundraising periods and special projects as assigned to increase revenue, improve donor engagement, and strengthen team efficiency.
• Support SMS and MMS fundraising campaigns, reviewing audience selection, copy and URLs.
• Support the planning and execution of test tactics and upper-funnel audience-growth initiatives, including brand collaborations, partnerships, events, and activations designed to increase awareness, engagement, and future donor acquisition.
• Track campaign budgets, expenses, invoices, and forecasts in coordination with agency partners, Finance, and Procurement, identifying potential variances or issues for escalation.

Qualifications

• Strong project management, organizational, and communication skills, with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple campaigns, deadlines, agencies, vendors, and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to review creative, copy, proofs, data, and campaign documentation for accuracy and translate performance results into clear summaries, presentations, and recommendations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, and familiarity with project management tools and donor databases.
• Working knowledge of donor acquisition, cultivation, retention and reactivation.
• Self-starter who can work effectively and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with Blackbaud CRM, Luminate Online, and Tatango, or comparable fundraising platforms is preferred.
• Spanish-language proficiency and prior fundraising or marketing agency experience are preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically up to four times per year for agency meetings, conferences, or other organizational needs.