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Senior Fundraising Activation Specialist (Special Events, Email/SMS Partnership and Social Media Focus)

United States

Job Title: Senior Fundraising Activation Specialist (Special Events, Email/SMS Partnership and Social Media Focus)


Position Summary:
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research ("the Foundation") is seeking top talent for its Senior Fundraising Activation Specialist position.  The Fundraising Activation team amplifies and leads marketing and fundraising strategies across development, provides audience specific recommendations, and identifies data-driven areas for improvement across Development campaigns and projects. Reporting to the Director of Fundraising Activation, this position will join a team of revenue-marketing specialists with a specific focus on strategizing and executing projects under our Special Events programs and playing a major role in developing email and SMS texting channel strategies and organic social plans across all fundraising programs.  

The Senior Fundraising Activation Specialist will develop, articulate, evaluate, and lead Special Events marketing and promotion strategies while maintaining a holistic perspective of the Foundation’s fundraising program, with consideration for goals, budget, channels, audiences, and industry benchmarks. This position can synthesize several goals and provide solutions for complex and matrixed constituencies. This role leads the execution of the unified strategies aligned across channels and Development priorities.   

This position requires a broad knowledge of fundraising including omni channel fundraising, digital marketing, direct response, peer-to-peer, planned giving, major gifts, and special events. The ideal candidate should have exceptional communication and collaboration skills and experience designing, organizing, and directing complex projects with a variety of partners inside and outside the organization. 
 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead creation and manage implementation of multi-channel strategies targeted to increase Special Event donor engagement and registration through conversion, renewal, and stewardship campaigns 
  • Create marketing and promotional strategies that meet registration and revenue goals for the Special Events program. With clear communication, align with Project Leads and Project Managers on timing, deliverables, and tactics 
  • Lead email marketing and SMS texting strategies for all fundraising programs, partnering with the internal Marketing Automation team and any external partners they work with to develop and execute plans aligned with each program’s goals, objectives, events, and audience targeting 
  • Lead social media strategies for all fundraising programs, partnering with the internal Marketing, Corporate Comms, and social team and any external partners they work with to develop and execute plans aligned with each program’s goals, objectives, events, and audience targeting 
  • Lead social media strategies for Development programs, leveraging celebrity and influencers and aligning project budgets with influencer payment opportunities. Partner with the Foundation’s teams to determine the right influencer and celebrity approach, based on past involvement and connections 
  • Work with cross-divisional teams and external vendors with a high degree of autonomy to provide direction and oversight to ensure all strategies and tactics are executed to the Foundation’s standard with accountability for executional elements 
  • Primary liaison with multiple internal partners to determine media mix, creative, content, format, testing strategies and budget allocation for each channel to develop and execute Special Events’ fundraising and marketing tactics 
  • Partner within Fundraising Activation and Fundraising Strategy & Operations to determine feasibility, operational effectiveness, streamlining opportunities, data reporting, and data coordination for the Special Events program efforts 
  • Provide analysis and recommendations for program-level campaign needs for conversion, renewal, engagement, and stewardship campaigns across all Development fundraising and donor programs 
  • Presents, contributes, and influences insightful analysis of Special Events program-level and campaign-level results, including testing outcomes to translate performance into actional take-aways 
  • Align Special Events marketing and promotional strategies within the Development Departments into a cohesive, united year-long cadence of campaigns that amplify programmatic strategies. Through shared goals and metrics, regularly evaluate and adjust marketing plans to improve performance and efficiency 
  • Design and convey messaging priorities, strategic tactics, audience details, and channel-specific goals for the Special Events programs to share across Development, Marketing, and Communications to bring uniformity, clear direction, and data-driven targets to constituent touchpoints. 
  • Coordinate with Dev Project Management group to oversee Communication, Creative, Paid Media, Social, Print, Email, and other outreach tactic deliverables 


Qualifications & Skills:

  • History of relevant experience in creating fundraising and donor marketing strategies for a variety of audiences, channels and donor types 
  • Experience in digital channels (email, paid media, web) and direct mail for fundraising activation, metrics and insights, and messaging development 
  • Experience designing and implementing major fundraising go-to-market campaigns with measurable outcomes and impact across multiple programs 
  • Strong initiative, curiosity, creativity with problem solving, and a drive for personal growth, learning, and individual and team success 
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to communicate needs and ideas accurately, clearly, concisely, and professionally and ability to translate programmatic ideas into strategic communications 
  • Ability to lead peers, manage deliverables from multiple teams, and delegate day-to-day tasks to Fundraising Activation team members 
  • Innovative and continuous improvement mindset, able to be solution-oriented with demonstrated success in converting challenges into opportunities 
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) 
  • Highly motivated and organized; self-starter with ability to take direction and participate effectively in a team environment 

 

Compensation & Benefits
Individual compensation for this role is dependent on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, qualifications, skillsets, and applicable laws.  In addition to salary, the Foundation offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

  • 15+ options for medical insurance (with the Foundation paying 90 percent of the premiums) 
  • Competitive dental and vision plans 
  • 401(k) plan with 6 percent employer contribution 
  • Flexible spending accounts 
  • Employer paid life and disability insurance  
  • 18 Vacation Days; 12 Well-Being (Sick) Days; 2 Personal Days; summer Fridays (office closure at 2pm) and a summer holiday week over July 4 
  • Flexible work environment.  We trust all employees to work closely with their manager and colleagues to determine when, where and how programs and projects get done.   

Employees are also eligible for a discretionary bonus on an annual basis. The Foundation provides staff and leadership cultivation through regular training courses and events.   

Salary Range

$90,000 - $110,000 USD

How to Apply: 
Interested candidates should submit a resume and thoughtful cover letter describing through examples, their specific qualifications and interest in the position. If you think that your skills are transferable and can add value to this role, please apply. Applicants who best match the position’s needs will be contacted. 

 
About Us: 
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research was founded in 2000 with one clear objective: accelerating meaningful therapeutic advances and, ultimately, a cure for Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Foundation applies extraordinary scientific, business and media assets to this singular focus—thus creating a unique and dynamic organization. Since inception, MJFF has quickly grown into the largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s disease research, having funded over $2 billion in research projects in both academic and industry labs worldwide. 

Visit www.michaeljfox.org for more information. 

 
  Research has shown that people from marginalized communities apply to roles only when they meet 100% of the job requirements. If you think that your skills are transferable and can add value to this role, and you are someone who will contribute to our efforts to build and support a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce, we strongly encourage you to apply. 

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