Senior Director, Membership
Compensation: $130,000 – $150,000
Location: Portland, OR
The Opportunity:
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is hiring a Senior Director of Membership to lead one of the most effective sustainer-based fundraising programs and teams in public media. This is an opportunity for a digital-forward innovator with sharp fundraising instincts and an eye for emerging opportunities at scale. You will be part of the team that boldly writes the next chapter of our public service and expands our mission for communities across Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Oregon Public Broadcasting is a national leader in public media; our growing, multi-channel membership program of more than 173,000 supporter households annually contributes more than $38 million, aligning with and powering our public service journalism mission.
We have served the Pacific Northwest for more than a century, and are now in a moment of incredible momentum and opportunity. Our Senior Director will lead with excitement to build on and retain growing support from listeners, viewers and readers across the region.
Our Senior Director will be a highly effective strategist, people leader and collaborator. They will be laser-focused on building member relationships and revenue from highly engaged audiences across every audience channel and touchpoint. This position will steward our growing Membership team of fundraising professionals, who are building on an exceptional foundation and elevating our member-centered and mission-focused fundraising and retention to its next level of excellence.
This team, along with colleagues in Philanthropy, Grants & Strategic Initiatives and Sponsorship, as well as key partners across the organization, will drive the long-term growth, excellence and sustainability of OPB’s public service journalism and KMHD’s Jazz Without Boundaries.
About OPB’s Membership Program & Team
Membership provides the foundation of our total fundraising effort, driving more than half of our operating budget and sustaining our expanding public service journalism mission.
The Membership program includes: Sustainers (ongoing monthly giving), digital engagement and conversion, canvassing, direct mail, telemarketing, vehicle donations, on-air fundraising, employee giving programs, member/audience service for OPB and KMHD, a jazz radio service. Together, these member relationships represent more than half of our operating budget.
The Senior Director will lead a staff of fifteen (including investments in several new positions) who direct and execute these programs, develop new revenue and retention strategies at scale, and collaborate with teams across the organization driving audience experiences from discovery through engagement and conversion.
Position Summary:
The Senior Director is a collaborative leader and champion for membership fundraising best practices across the organization, and a strategic voice in enterprise conversations about audience engagement and conversion.
This is a role for someone who is passionate about the future of digital membership growth, and understands how to balance innovation and engaging new audiences toward conversion with the retention of longstanding, current members.
As Senior Director, Membership, your responsibilities will include:
- Fundraising strategy and leadership: Lead the strategic development, implementation and analysis of a comprehensive, multi-channel, data-informed Membership program with a digital focus.
- Secure and cultivate member relationships that represent more than half of the organization’s operating budget.
- Create and support development of compelling messaging, enticing incentives and effective calls to action across program features and communications.
- Identify opportunities to test and innovate to maximize revenue and member acquisition and retention at scale.
- Provide high-level direction for donor retention strategies and practices, building a strong-affinity member experience through service, engagement and communications.
- Contribute to the organization’s culture of philanthropy by building an understanding of our program (test-and-learn outcomes, awareness of how we fundraise, performance, opportunities and challenges), strategy and outcomes with staff and volunteers.
- Explore and develop opportunities for innovation and new membership revenue streams; prioritize and identify activities to de-prioritize or stop in favor of critical growth potential.
- People Leadership and Development: Lead and coach a team of 15 professionals overseeing membership giving programs, digital fundraising and a retention-focused member/audience service team.
- Directly supervise three positions: Director, Membership Fundraising and Retention; Director, Digital Membership; and Member Experience Manager.
- Integrate effectively with other Development teams (Operations, Philanthropy, Grants & Strategic Initiatives, and Sponsorship) to maximize effectiveness and shared success in fundraising efforts and to build optimal lifetime giving relationships with our members.
- Lead your staff with a growth mindset, providing (and accepting) regular feedback, coaching and motivation to develop and retain existing staff and lead recruiting as needed.
- Build and foster effective relationships with collaborators across the organization. Seek opportunities to leverage together for impact and to drive achievement of organizational priorities, approach misalignment with curiosity and productive communication.
- Program metrics and analysis: Continually assess programs with an eye toward maximizing effectiveness, building scale, driving return on investment and continual improvement to meet the present and future needs of a growing non-profit media organization focused on regional journalism and programming of the highest quality.
- Define success of multi-channel campaigns and initiatives and lead comprehensive data analysis to evaluate overall program performance and prioritize resources for future growth.
- Collaborate with peers in public media and other non-profit sectors to continually improve best practices through benchmarking and shared learning.
- Working with program leads, develop revenue projections and fundraising budgets that maximize effectiveness, and align with strategy and priorities.
- Compliance: Ensure compliance requirements are met for member accountability and regulatory requirements.
Working Conditions:
This position works on-site with hybrid flexibility. Most activity takes place in an office environment, including extended periods at a desk and using a computer during regular work hours. Some work takes place in the evenings and weekends for meetings and events, and some regional and national travel is required for industry conferences, meetings and professional development.
Minimum Position Requirements (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Attitudes):
- At least 10 years of experience, including 7 years in a leadership role supervising and developing managers and fundraising teams.
- Demonstrated success and increasing responsibilities leading large scale and complex multi-channel direct-response fundraising including digital engagement and conversion. Expertise in strategic campaign development, effective message development, copy writing for call to action and stewardship communications, data management, testing and integration of leading technologies.
- Demonstrated success in consistent growth of multi-channel member acquisition, retention and revenue.
- Demonstrated success in digital membership growth and retention through: engaging digital audiences, conversion of digital audiences to sustaining members and bringing traditional audiences to digital platforms.
- Ability to lead, inspire and build constructive cross-functional partnerships with colleagues in a creative, collaborative, dynamic and fast-paced environment.
- ROI-driven project and budget management, complex revenue analysis and projection experience, ability to identify and make the case for new opportunities for revenue growth and articulate a business case for prioritization and investment.
- Effective prioritization, organization, time management, and teamwork skills.
- Skill in leading people effectively through change—adopting new data-informed approaches, creating efficiencies and implementing new and emerging technologies, creating conditions that support innovation and nimbleness
- Effective solutions focus, skilled in team building around a common purpose, systems thinking, and pursuit of constant improvement.
- A clear and empathetic communicator with exceptional listening skills, internal/external service skills.
- Demonstrated marketing acumen and understanding of what motivates people to support a non-profit mission; a talent for business and creative communications; a passion for mission-focused marketing and fundraising.
- Demonstrated understanding of fundraising business tools including strategic CRM ecosystems, high proficiency in Microsoft Office products and project management software.
- Enthusiasm for the mission and organizational values of OPB and desire to engage in work with positive impact every day through public service to our region.
Preferred Position Requirements (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Attitudes):
- Experience in fundraising for media organizations.
- Experience with Salesforce-based CRM environments.
- Knowledge and practical experience in ethical, impactful incorporation of AI in fundraising and donor engagement and AI governance frameworks.
- ROI and data-informed experience with effective event strategies for member engagement and conversion.
Additional Information:
- This position reports to the Senior VP and Chief Development Officer and is benefits eligible.
- The probable hiring range for this exempt position is between $130,000 – $150,000 annually, depending on qualifications.
- This position has access to highly sensitive data and therefore must pass a background check.
How to Apply:
URL Media is leading this search. To apply, please submit your materials at the link provided. In your cover letter, please answer the following questions:
- Please describe a significant project or experience in which you grew digital memberships for an organization, while maintaining existing member retention. How did you achieve the growth, and how would you apply those learnings to OPB?
This position will remain open until filled; however, we will begin reviewing applications by June 22.
OPB is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
