Associate Director, Donor Acquisition

ABOUT THE JOB

The ACLU seeks applicants for the full-time position of Associate Director, Donor Acquisition in the Development Department of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month. 

The ACLU’s passionate community of donors and activists is stronger than ever. The mission of the ACLU’s Development Department is to unlock the full potential of donors and the ACLU as partners in the creation of a more perfect union. We pursue our mission by building long-term donor relationships and organizational partnerships, by demonstrating impact in response to threats, by engaging donors how they wish to engage, by taking interest in our donors and facilitating personal action, by being accountable stewards of their funds, and by asking donors to consider giving the ACLU their full support.

WHAT YOU'LL DO 

Reporting to the Deputy Director, Donor Marketing & Production, the Associate Director, Donor Acquisition will be responsible for managing multi-channel acquisition investments to grow the ACLU’s file of low and mid-dollar donors. This position oversees the Manager, Donor Acquisition, and key internal and external partners who develop and implement acquisition campaigns across online and offline channels. They collaborate on the development of annual goals and budgets to achieve the ACLU’s aggressive growth and retention targets. They oversee expenses, ensuring that programs have the resources necessary to hit and exceed goals, recommending tactical changes as needed. A strong working knowledge of direct response marketing, data literacy, and experience collaborating with diverse teams to build a dynamic and successful acquisition program are essential for success in this position.

YOUR DAY TO DAY

• Oversee the development of annual fundraising campaign plans, investments, and goals for new donor acquisition in existing and emerging channels
• Supervise the Manager, Donor Acquisition and key internal and external partners who develop and implement acquisition campaigns across online and offline channels to ensure deadlines and key deliverables for multi-channel acquisition plans are met
• Collaborate on the development of annual goals and budgets to achieve the ACLU’s aggressive growth and retention targets
• Monitor progress towards overall goals, KPIs, and long-term value projections for new donor audiences, and recommend testing strategies and investment mix
• Convene internal and external stakeholders for ongoing strategizing, planning and review of the acquisition program
• Collaborate with Donor Upgrade, Retention, and Sustainer teams to develop second ask strategy for new to file donors to ensure optimal donor journey and best lifetime value
• Direct testing strategy to convert prospective donor audiences (existing non-donor supporters and new, unique audiences) via online and offline channels
• Serve as key relationship manager for list brokerage and management partner, approving acquisition list plans, monitoring owed balances, and approving list rental and exchange requests for higher value list segments
• Identify new models, cooperatives, and other list sources for audience diversification across channels, and negotiate contracts
• Monitor and optimize all existing acquisition efforts. Update scripts, provide quarterly briefings for callers, and work with list modeling partners to continually improve list performance
• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned

FUTURE ACLU'ERS WILL 

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Strong command of fundraising KPIs, marketing tactics, and evolving market trends in direct marketing, preferably in a nonprofit context
• Robust experience developing and overseeing complex expense budgets
• Experience managing cross-department work and teams outside of formal reporting lines
• Vendor relationship management
• Familiarity with developing audience segmentation plans

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience overseeing and managing budgets
• Past management of donor acquisition and conversion campaigns
• Experience with c3 and c4