Director of Membership and Marketing

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: 
Our distinctive approach to environmental protection emphasizes a focus on scientific and economic disciplines, and on the use of market mechanisms where appropriate to reach well-crafted, durable solutions. The organization builds teams of scientists, lawyers, economists, and other professionals to investigate the scientific causes of environmental problems, and to devise solutions to those problems. We strive to shape and reform a wide range of government policies and programs, particularly those which otherwise encourage and subsidize patterns of environmental damage.

Focusing primarily on issues related to biodiversity, climate, human health, and the world's oceans, Environmental Defense seeks practical, equitable, and science-based solutions to contemporary environmental problems that policy makers and industry can incorporate into practice, law, or regulation.

Background

The Membership Department at Environmental Defense each year produces and mails more than 10 million pieces of traditional direct mail?prospecting for new members, seeking to move current members into a higher donation category and supporting membership renewal. The program generates in excess of $10 million in revenue annually, raised both through Environmental Defense (c3) and the Environmental Defense Action Fund (c4). Increasingly, this fundraising is conducted in the online environment. Membership also responds to member inquiries, produces and sends educational material and works with development in identifying major donor prospects.

Leadership of this function requires superior direct marketing instincts; strong operations management, vendor management and team building skills; the capacity to envision and implement complex database and other systems; and the ability to integrate functions both within and outside the organization.

The Director of Membership and Marketing, reporting to the Vice President for Marketing & Communications, is responsible for the program and supervises a staff of six located in the Washington DC office of Environmental Defense.

The Director is responsible for managing third party licensing and marketing relationships including the management of list rentals and the affinity credit card program. The Director of Membership and Marketing serves on the senior staff and works closely with other members of the Development, IT and Finance staffs in New York City, as well as program staff throughout the country.

Key Responsibilities

• For both Environmental Defense (c3) and Environmental Defense Action Fund (c4): 
• Translating Environmental Defense programs and brand attributes into compelling fundraising strategies, themes and appeals. 
• Approving all creative execution for the program for strategic fit, branding compliance, program accuracy and fundraising effectiveness. 
• Establishing annual membership growth and fundraising goals, and formulating annual direct marketing plans and budgets to meet those goals. 
• Evaluating and introducing innovative approaches to the fundamental tasks of recruiting, retaining, upgrading and educating members utilizing all pertinent direct marketing channels. 
• Analyzing direct marketing campaign performance and reporting results for senior management review. 
• Developing a smoothly functioning direct mail, online fundraising and telemarketing operation, ensuring on time, error free and cost effective performance. 
• Maintaining valid expense monitoring and cost controls, ensuring accurate charging of income and expenses to the c3 and c4 organizations, and conducting benchmarking and cost benefit analysis to improve program productivity and profitability. 
• Supervising a proactive planning process and production schedule involving a variety of outside vendors - direct mail agency, online agency, database management, telemarketing, data entry cashiering, fulfillment, etc. 
• Maintaining productive working relationships within the Marketing & Communications Division, as well as with Finance, IT and Development divisions, ensuring information sharing and collaborative program planning. 
• Recruiting and motivating a strong staff team

• Established track record managing and growing a major direct marketing program in a political advocacy environment. Ten years of direct mail and telemarketing experience with bottomline accountability required; online fundraising experience a distinct plus. 
• Demonstrated ability to identify and position issues/programs for fundraising appeal and to develop compelling creative work with proven results. 
• Keen analytic insight to assess individual campaign and overall program performance, and to identify productive markets, file segments, and fundraising tactics. 
• Demonstrated record of managing budgeting and financial monitoring systems, conducting process redesigns, managing databases and related marketing software and systems, and mailing list management. 
• Successful experience working with senior management and outside consultants to craft marketing strategy and translate strategy into effective operations and performance. 
• Demonstrated success in team building, problem solving, and staff motivation; experience with lean staffing preferred.