Manager, Fundraising and Direct Response

NTEN; Illinois; On-site; USD 72,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation days & holidays

Health insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

American Lung Association in Chicago, IL seeks a Manager, Fundraising & Direct Response to lead email fundraising programs, automated journeys, and donor engagement. Hybrid work arrangement in the Chicago area.

Role collaborates with Development and Digital Marketing teams to optimize campaigns, improve conversion, and drive revenue. Requires strong analytics, research into industry benchmarks, and experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5-7 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, direct response marketing, or digital fundraising.
• Demonstrated experience and ownership of driving revenue and engagement through email campaigns and marketing automation programs.
• Strong working knowledge of email marketing strategy, production, automation, deliverability and analytics.
• Experience supporting the optimization of digital fundraising tools such as donation forms and landing pages to improve conversion and user experience.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to explain recommendations using data and best practices.
• Excellent written communication skills and the ability to give clear, actionable feedback on copy.
• Experience working with external agencies and cross-functional partners.
• Hands-on experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud or comparable ESP, including automation, journeys, and personalization tools.
• Experience with SMS fundraising or marketing platforms preferred.
• Experience with online fundraising platforms such as FundraiseUp, GoFundMe Pro, Blackbaud or similar, preferred.
• Strong project management skills: ability to manage multiple campaigns simultaneously with competing deadlines and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Manages the Lung Association’s email fundraising and donor cultivation campaigns, including strategy, planning, review, testing, deployment, and performance optimization.
• Serve as the day-to-day point of contact with the external fundraising agency partners, developing and guiding briefs, coordinating schedules, deliverables, and results.
• In partnership with the Development team secure and activate matching gift opportunities, coordinating language approvals, reporting back on match performance.
• Support campaign strategy and content development to improve conversion, retention, and donor lifetime value.
• Manage the development, testing, and optimization of existing and future digital fundraising tools, including automated journeys, donation forms and SMS.
• Support the development of a national SMS program — contributing to strategy, copy, and execution.
• Build, execute and maintain automated campaigns and triggered journeys that support donor cultivation, retention, and reactivation.
• Analyze and report on fundraising email performance, identifying insights and optimization opportunities to inform future campaigns.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to assess incoming requests, determine appropriate solutions, and provide recommendations grounded in data, benchmarks, and best practices.
• Support ad hoc email requests outside of fundraising, particularly for high-priority organizational sends such as signature reports and awareness days/months.
• Partner with IT/data teams to manage audience segmentation, targeting, and suppression for email campaigns.
• Stay current on trends in fundraising, deliverability, privacy, and marketing automation.
• Manage the Email Specialist, providing direction, feedback and development support.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to strengthen email execution and understanding.
• Coordinate with digital channel leads to support alignment and a cohesive supporter experience across touchpoints.

Skills

Email fundraising

Campaign management

Data-driven optimization

Stakeholder collaboration

Marketing automation

Donor lifecycle optimization

Copy editing & review

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or related field (or equivalent experience)

Tools

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

SMS fundraising platforms

Job description

Organization American Lung Association

Employment Manager, Fundraising and Direct Response Organization American Lung Association Type Full-Time Salary $72,000 to $85,000 / Yearly Four-day Week No

The American Lung Association has an excellent opportunity for a Manager, Fundraising & Direct Response. Working as a member of the Digital Marketing department, you will join an outstanding group of professionals dedicated to our mission: to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through research, education, and advocacy.

The Fundraising & Direct Response Manager is responsible for managing and executing the American Lung Association’s email fundraising program and automated digital journeys to support revenue growth and supporter engagement. This role supports the effective use of marketing and digital fundraising tools, including donation forms, to enhance supporter experience and improve campaign performance. This position manages all aspects of fundraising and donor cultivation campaigns – planning, content review and editing, production, testing, deployment and performance analysis. The Fundraising & Direct Response Manager collaborates closely with internal stakeholders to gather assets, facilitate reviews and approvals, and ensure campaigns align with established strategies and best practices. This role serves as a bridge between digital fundraising campaigns and other direct response channels (i.e., direct mail).

As a key contributor to organization’s digital fundraising program, this role will use data, benchmarks and industry insights to inform recommendations, support continuous improvement, and help strengthen the program.

Location: The position is located at the American Lung Association’s Chicago, Illinois office and will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual work.

Responsibilities

• Manages the Lung Association’s email fundraising and donor cultivation campaigns, including strategy, planning, review, testing, deployment, and performance optimization.
• Serve as the day-to-day point of contact with the external fundraising agency partners, developing and guiding briefs, coordinating schedules, deliverables, and results.
• In partnership with the Development team secure and activate matching gift opportunities, coordinating language approvals, reporting back on match performance.
• Support campaign strategy and content development to improve conversion, retention, and donor lifetime value.
• Manage the development, testing, and optimization of existing and future digital fundraising tools, including automated journeys, donation forms and SMS.
• Support the development of a national SMS program — contributing to strategy, copy, and execution.
• Build, execute and maintain automated campaigns and triggered journeys that support donor cultivation, retention, and reactivation.
• Analyze and report on fundraising email performance, identifying insights and optimization opportunities to inform future campaigns.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to assess incoming requests, determine appropriate solutions, and provide recommendations grounded in data, benchmarks, and best practices.
• Support ad hoc email requests outside of fundraising, particularly for high-priority organizational sends such as signature reports and awareness days/months.
• Partner with IT/data teams to manage audience segmentation, targeting, and suppression for email campaigns.
• Stay current on trends in fundraising, deliverability, privacy, and marketing automation.
• Manage the Email Specialist, providing direction, feedback and development support.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to strengthen email execution and understanding.
• Coordinate with digital channel leads to support alignment and a cohesive supporter experience across touchpoints.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5-7 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, direct response marketing, or digital fundraising.
• Demonstrated experience and ownership of driving revenue and engagement through email campaigns and marketing automation programs.
• Strong working knowledge of email marketing strategy, production, automation, deliverability and analytics.
• Experience supporting the optimization of digital fundraising tools such as donation forms and landing pages to improve conversion and user experience.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to explain recommendations using data and best practices.
• Excellent written communication skills and the ability to give clear, actionable feedback on copy.
• Experience working with external agencies and cross-functional partners.
• Hands-on experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud or comparable ESP, including automation, journeys, and personalization tools.
• Experience with SMS fundraising or marketing platforms preferred.
• Experience with online fundraising platforms such as FundraiseUp, GoFundMe Pro, Blackbaud or similar, preferred.
• Strong project management skills: ability to manage multiple campaigns simultaneously with competing deadlines and stakeholders.
• Comfortable working in ambiguity and evolving strategies to drive growth.
• Must have a valid Driver’s license and your own reliable transportation with the ability to travel within assigned area 5% of the time for meetings and conferences, as well as the flexibility to work irregular hours, including evenings and weekends with some overnights required.
• Ability to lift 25 pounds (event supplies).
• Consistent with its mission, the American Lung Association maintains a smoke-free workplace; all employees must abstain from tobacco use in any form, including vaping.

Compensation: Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location. The target hiring range for this position is between $72,000 and $85,000 per annum.

Benefits The Lung Association offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Paid Leave – 10 vacation days in the first year (15 days thereafter), 2 personal days and 15 sick days per year, as well as 12 company-paid holidays per year. We also offer Paid Parental Leave for eligible employees.
• Insurance – Employees (and their eligible dependents) can enroll in our medical, dental, and vision plans, as well as voluntary plans for critical illness, accident, hospital indemnity, short-term disability and supplemental life/AD&D insurance. Employees will be enrolled in company-paid life/AD&D and long-term disability Insurance coverage.
• Retirement Plan – Eligible employees can participate in our 401(k) Defined Contribution Retirement Plan, which offers matching employer contributions (up to 4%) and year-end discretionary non-elective contributions.

Equal Employment Opportunity The American Lung Association is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the American Lung Association to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and to provide equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants, without regard to their race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, religion, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or physical and/or mental disabilities, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

Policy Statement It is the policy of the American Lung Association to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and to provide equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants, without regard to their race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, religion, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or physical and/or mental disabilities, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. This policy applies in all employment actions including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, corrective actions, terminations, compensation, benefits and training.