Senior Marketing Manager

brighthope; South Barrington (IL); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Bright Hope in the Chicago area seeks a Senior Marketing Manager to lead marketing, communications, and brand initiatives. This full-time role oversees strategy, campaigns, website, print, email, social media, PR, analytics, and budgets, reporting to the President and serving on the Core Leadership Team.

The ideal candidate will have at least five years of experience in marketing, fundraising, and communications, with a track record of donor acquisition and engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in fundraising or marketing preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience in fundraising, sales or marketing, and communications or related fields preferred.
• Proven experience in leading, managing, and developing others.

Responsibilities

• Maintains an active, personal relationship with Jesus Christ and integrates faith into daily work, interactions, and decision-making.
• In partnership with the Relationship Management lead, develop and execute integrated marketing strategies to engage annual fund donors, reengage lapsed donors, acquire new donors, and support donor stewardship throughout the donor lifecycle.
• Collaborate with the Relationship Management lead to plan and promote donor cultivation, stewardship, and acquisition events, including conferences, webinars, dinners, and in-home gatherings.
• Lead and manage the Marketing team, including a direct report and a team of U.S. and international marketing contractors, ensuring the successful execution of fundraising and marketing initiatives.
• Collaborate with in-country staff and marketing contractors to gather compelling stories, photos, videos, and other content that supports fundraising and organizational communications.
• Direct the development and execution of integrated marketing and communications campaigns across print, email, direct mail, web, social media, video, public relations, and other channels to advance Bright Hope's mission and fundraising goals.
• Oversee the organization's brand strategy, annual marketing and communications calendar, and website to ensure consistent, compelling messaging across all platforms.
• Write, edit, and review fundraising appeals, website content, reports, email campaigns, and other marketing materials as needed.
• Manage key marketing platforms and digital tools, including Pardot, Google Analytics, Meta Business Suite, ClickUp, Fundraise Up, Stripe, and the organization's digital asset library.
• Analyze marketing and fundraising performance, monitor key metrics, identify industry trends, and recommend improvements to increase engagement and fundraising effectiveness.
• Ensure timely donor acknowledgement and stewardship through reports, thank-you letters, and other donor communications.
• Lead up to one or two international trips annually to strengthen donor relationships and/or collect marketing content, as needed.
• Monitor marketing budgets and expenditures to ensure alignment with approved budgets and organizational goals.
• Recruits, manages, and develops full and part-time staff, as needed.

Skills

Fundraising

Marketing

Donor relations

Digital marketing

Project management

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Pardot

Salesforce

Google Analytics

Job description

Bright Hope Overview

Bright Hope exists to bring Hope to people living in extreme poverty (less than $3/day) by empowering the local church. We believe the church is an underutilized resource in the global fight against extreme poverty, and that empowering the church to bring Hope for Today, Tomorrow, and Eternity is the most effective way to help the poorest of the poor with their immediate, economic, and spiritual needs. We currently are active in five countries: Bolivia, Haiti, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia, with plans to begin work in Benin soon.

Job Summary

The Senior Marketing Manager is a full-time (40 hours per week) position that provides strategic leadership for Bright Hope's marketing, communications, and brand initiatives to advance the organization's mission and fundraising goals. This role develops and executes integrated marketing strategies that support donor acquisition, retention, and stewardship while ensuring consistent, compelling communications across all channels. The Senior Marketing Manager oversees the marketing department budget, leads external marketing resources, stewards the organization's brand, and identifies innovative opportunities to strengthen engagement and increase philanthropic support. Reporting to the President, the Senior Marketing Manager serves on the Core Leadership Team and collaborates across the organization to expand Bright Hope's visibility and impact.

Relationship Management owns the donor relationship and fundraising strategy. Marketing owns audience acquisition, communications, campaigns, content, and the systems and channels that support fundraising.

The ideal candidate will have at least five years of experience in marketing, public relations, fundraising, communications, or related fields.

The Senior Marketing Manager is responsible for marketing strategy, brand, fundraising campaigns, website, print, email, direct mail, social media, video, PR, writing and editing appeals, analytics, multiple software platforms, events, international trips, contractors, staff, and the departmental budget.

These are the four primary outcomes we are looking for this role to provide:

1. Grow annual fund donor acquisition and retention.
2. Lead Bright Hope’s brand, communications, and marketing strategy.
3. Equip Relationship Management with effective fundraising campaigns and donor communications.
4. Lead the Marketing team, contractors, systems, and budget.

Lastly, the Senior Marketing Manager must maintain an active, personal relationship with Jesus Christ and endorse Bright Hope’s statement of beliefs.

Job Responsibilities

The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Maintains an active, personal relationship with Jesus Christ and integrates faith into daily work, interactions, and decision-making.
• In partnership with the Relationship Management lead, develop and execute integrated marketing strategies to engage annual fund donors, reengage lapsed donors, acquire new donors, and support donor stewardship throughout the donor lifecycle.
• Collaborate with the Relationship Management lead to plan and promote donor cultivation, stewardship, and acquisition events, including conferences, webinars, dinners, and in-home gatherings.
• Lead and manage the Marketing team, including a direct report and a team of U.S. and international marketing contractors, ensuring the successful execution of fundraising and marketing initiatives.
• Collaborate with in-country staff and marketing contractors to gather compelling stories, photos, videos, and other content that supports fundraising and organizational communications.
• Direct the development and execution of integrated marketing and communications campaigns across print, email, direct mail, web, social media, video, public relations, and other channels to advance Bright Hope's mission and fundraising goals.
• Oversee the organization's brand strategy, annual marketing and communications calendar, and website to ensure consistent, compelling messaging across all platforms.
• Write, edit, and review fundraising appeals, website content, reports, email campaigns, and other marketing materials as needed.
• Manage key marketing platforms and digital tools, including Pardot, Google Analytics, Meta Business Suite, ClickUp, Fundraise Up, Stripe, and the organization's digital asset library.
• Analyze marketing and fundraising performance, monitor key metrics, identify industry trends, and recommend improvements to increase engagement and fundraising effectiveness.
• Ensure timely donor acknowledgement and stewardship through reports, thank-you letters, and other donor communications.
• Lead up to one or two international trips annually to strengthen donor relationships and/or collect marketing content, as needed.
• Monitor marketing budgets and expenditures to ensure alignment with approved budgets and organizational goals.
• Recruits, manages, and develops full and part-time staff, as needed.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of fundraising strategies including ally acquisition, cultivation, and growth.
• Knowledge of non-profit, mission focused marketing communication, and public relations.
• Knowledge of email management and donor management software. Pardot and Salesforce preferred but not required.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects.
• Skilled in donor development including annual campaign management
• Ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders from different teams to achieve goals.
• Knowledge of event planning and conference-planning a plus.
• Up to 10-15% local, domestic, and international travel may be required.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in fundraising or marketing preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience in fundraising, sales or marketing, and communications or related fields preferred.
• Proven experience in leading, managing, and developing others.
• Experience in digital marketing and content creation preferred.
• Missions experience and/or experience in serving the abject poor a plus.

Note - This job description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the job's principal elements.

Job Location Details

Hybrid - Chicagoland area preferred. Mostly remote with some in person meetings. Will consider fully remote for the right candidate.