Job Description
Job Title / Head of Direct MarketingJob Band / MSP / Job Reference / UKO00204
Department / Individual Giving – Direct Marketing /
Division
/ FundraisingLocation / UK Office, London /
Duration
/ PermanentReporting to / Head of Individual Giving /
Responsible For
/ Team of 30+ staff (5 direct reports)Last Updated / May 2012 /
Context
The British Red Cross is the largest voluntary humanitarian organisation in the world. It promotes humanitarian values, and provides emergency help to people in short-term crisis in the UK and overseas. Within the UK, the British Red Cross operates through nearly 31,000 volunteers and over 3,300 staff.
The Individual Giving team is responsible for recruiting new supporters via printed, broadcast, face-to-face and new media. Relationships with these supporters are then developed so as to maximise lifetime value to the charity, predominantly by generating cash donations, regular gifts, and legacy pledges.
The charity can only deliver its services because of the voluntary income it receives, and well over half of its net voluntary income is raised by the direct marketing team. In 2012 the direct marketing team aim to raise well over £70 million from an expenditure of over £30 million and this is set to rise substantially over the coming years. Indeed many recent developments within BRC have only been possible because of the continued success of this area.
At the heart of the BRC fundraising strategy is a commitment to direct marketing, in particular the recruitment and development of regular givers; this has been and will continue to be the prime driver for income growth. This area has seen ongoing and increasing investment in recent years and with further growth planned is the critical driver of growth for the entire organisation. Being able to recruit and just as importantly retain and develop supporters is key to this growth.
Over recent years the direct marketing team has experienced considerable success and is on course to almost double its income in just three years. Approaching 500k regular givers and well over 500k ad hoc cash donors have helped fuel growth in this area. We’re now embarking on an exciting new donor-centred strategy and are further developing our supporter recruitment strategy, so a challenging and rewarding time lies ahead for all involved.
Scope
The post is within the Individual Giving Team, reporting directly to the Head of Individual Giving and managing a team of over 30 people.
The success of the direct marketing and legacy marketing programme is business critical to ensuring the overall performance of fundraising and BRC plans to grow our ability to deliver aid and services in the years to come. The post-holder is directly responsible for creating and managing an expenditure budget of over £30m and income in excess of £70m from direct marketing alone.
In addition this post is responsible for generating the majority of BRC emergency income (varies by year but always millions of pounds). 2012 will see direct marketing income continue to grow and with ambitious plans in the pipeline this could grow to exceed £100m within the next 5 years.
The work of the team directly helps to transform the lives of millions of people in crisis around the world. Motivating and inspiring our donors to give donations and legacies is essential to continued success.
This post is responsible for developing and implementing our direct marketing strategy and requires inspirational leadership, planning and budgeting skills as well as an outstanding record of fundraising in a growing and dynamic fundraising environment.
The post requires excellent communication skills, as the post-holder liaises regularly with internal departments and external agencies and suppliers, notably:
· Senior Management and Trustees (e.g. presenting at Finance Committee/SMT).
· The other fundraising teams to ensure consistency and co-ordination of communications and maximise opportunities for ‘cross-selling’ and ‘upselling’.
· Database Marketing, overseeing data analysis, reporting and selection requirements.
· Supporter Services, to enable effective response-handling of acquisition campaigns.
· Digital fundraising, to co-ordinate and make best use of off/online opportunities.
· Major Giving, to help provide new donors of high value.
· Fundraising strategy, to ensure effective relay of information and contribution to strategy/planning.
· Fundraising finance, to ensure accuracy and relevance of financial/management information.
· Community fundraising, to develop and implement the legacy marketing strategy.
· Communications, to ensure the organisation is aware of planned activity and that our campaigns receive the media support they need.
· Other internal departments, to maximise cross-fertilisation opportunities.
· Key account direct marketing agencies and suppliers, to maximise the contribution of the agencies to the charity and to maintain an excellent working relationship with them.
· Cross Charity Initiatives e.g. DEC appeals.
· Other external agencies to ensure consistency of messaging and compliance with sector standards e.g. FRSB, PFRA, ICO, IoF.
Overall Purpose of The Post
To create and implement the BRC direct marketing strategy and to develop and manage an integrated programme of donor acquisition, supporter development and retention as well as legacy promotion focusing on the people and methods that will be of the greatest long-term benefit to the Society. Overall to maximise short, medium and long-term net income streams from Individual Givers.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
1. To be responsible for developing strategies and operational plans for the acquisition and development of individual supporters to British Red Cross ensuring seamless transition from initial recruitment through to ongoing tailored communications and retention programmes.
2. To be responsible for developing and managing a budget of over £30m (2012 est. income £70+m) to ensure that donations are generated cost effectively and to ensure that funds are used to the maximum profitability.
3. To make a case for support to Senior Management and Trustees (e.g. through Finance Committee) for ongoing investment and to report back as required.
4. To be responsible for developing, implementing and managing a strategy to develop direct mail, DRTV, door drops, inserts, face to face, door-to-door, payroll giving, raffles and other direct response campaigns to acquire and develop individual supporters to meet the objectives of the Society’s fundraising programme.
5. To develop and implement a central programme of communications to maximise the number and value of legacies left in favour of the British Red Cross. To develop a strategy to increase legacies, through managing central campaigns and direct marketing approaches to current and potential supporters, and to generate legacy leads for our Community Legacy Fundraising team to follow up with personal one-to-one approaches.
6. To be responsible for developing an effective “integrated communications” programme for cash donors and regular givers, and to be responsible for strategies to segment donors and tailor communications according to donor profiles.
7. This post is directly responsible for creating and managing direct marketing communications to virtually the entire UK population through one medium or another. The impact, ‘opportunities to see’ and sheer volume and richness of messaging are significant. In essence literally tens, if not hundreds, of millions of communications each year (many of which involve prolonged exposure and involve durable communications media) present a unique opportunity to promote the BRC message and brand. Key to this role is considering the likely interpretation, impact and indeed potential risk associated with every communication. There is great opportunity and also a huge duty of care as, whilst unlikely if managed well, any inappropriate communications would have an immediate, high profile and potentially very damaging impact.
8. To be responsible for leading and motivating a team of 30+ people. Within this, to line manage the four managers and DM assistant to ensure that they are appropriately trained, briefed and motivated to achieve their objectives and meet targets and to recruit to these posts when necessary.
9. To oversee and ensure due diligence in the creation, development and maintenance of excellent working relationships with contracted external suppliers to help achieve the objectives of the programme, including agencies providing direct marketing, print and media buying, telemarketing and ‘outdoor recruitment’ expertise and services.
10. To enable and oversee the management and implementation of a ‘high value’ and ‘middle donor’ programme with the aim of recruiting/developing donors at higher giving levels and feeding them through (as appropriate) to the Major Donor Team.
11. To commission donor research, data analysis and profiling as appropriate, and interpret campaign results, in order to make improvements to future strategy and targeting. To identify and improve retention rates and lifetime value through data analysis, giving the society a greater return on investment in the long term.
12. In the event of a major emergency appeal, to be responsible for developing and implementing an appeal, across a range of media, to the public and existing supporters at very short notice.
13. To be fully aware of, and work within, Charity Commission and Data Protection legal requirements and to follow good practice as outlined by the relevant bodies (e.g. IOF, PFRA, IDM).
14. To support and advise regional fundraisers in generating new donors and regular givers, and to help other colleagues who may require advice or help with direct-marketing focused activity.
15. To be aware of trends affecting the charity marketplace for donor recruitment activity and direct marketing in general, identifying changes, predicting future trends and implications, and making recommendations as necessary.
16. To undertake other tasks and duties as may reasonably be requested by the Head of Individual Giving or Director of Fundraising.
Person Specification
Education/ Training
/ Educated to degree level or equivalent. **A formal Marketing qualification is a distinct advantage e.g. IDM/CIM Diploma
Experience
/ Extensive experience of fundraising/direct marketing to individuals with a proven track record of success in a dynamic environment. **Specifically experience of devising and implementing major campaigns to mass market audiences. **
Extensive experience of being responsible for devising, implementing and managing a multi-million pound income and expenditure budget. **
Proven experience and evidence of managing messaging to the public including assessing all marketing opportunities and paying special attention to any reputational risk associated with communications. **
Proven ability to assess and manage risk (linked to above) in both specific marketing/financial terms and also the reputational risk and associated implications of communications to millions of people. **
Proven experience of devising marketing strategies and then creating and implementing appropriate and effective operational plans. Specifically to follow multiple inc/exp streams. **
Experience of working within an environment of constant change often working to very tight deadlines and potentially changing priorities. **
Experience of appraising new ideas and proposals and testing (or not) as appropriate. **
Demonstrable experience of leading, managing, motivating and inspiring a team including ideally managing managers. **
Proven experience of devising and monitoring relevant performance indicators for fundraising campaigns. **
Excellent direct marketing technical experience and skills** (preferably including):
1. Print buying – including negotiating contracts, strong knowledge of production techniques, formats and quality control.
2. F2F – including agency and in house; contracts/pricing, LTV/ROI projections and reputation management.
3. List buying – including profiling, overlays, negotiating names deals/bulk buying and setting up testing matrices
4. Media buying – including Off the Page, DRTV, inserts and door drops.
5. Telemarketing – including scripting, volume prediction and ROI projections. Per contact vs by results pricing.
6. Contract/price negotiation - Negotiating one-off and annual contracts up to millions of pounds. Assessing risk and the level of contract required in each case.
7. Testing segmentation – good understanding of the application of various analytical techniques including significance testing.
Competencies
/ Strategic thinking.**Highly numerate.**
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.**
Strong analytical ability.**
Outstanding negotiating skills. **
Proven strategy development, project management and planning skills. **
Innovative and creative thinking including ability to assess creative and copy. **
Strong decision making and problem solving skills. **
Excellent management and leadership skills.**
Strong team working.**
Behaviours
/ Recognise and value the contribution of others, giving feedback and support.**Take responsibility for own and team’s decisions and actions.**
Demonstrate flexibility and open mindedness.**
Understanding of/commitment to equal opportunities policy and practice and to the Fundamental Principles.**
**Minimum short-listing criteria. N.B. All disabled candidates who meet these criteria must be short-listed for interview in line with our commitment under the two- tick symbol scheme.
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