Donor Lifecycle Engagement Strategist

Heifer International

2d • $78,000 - $88,000

About The Position

The Donor Lifecycle Engagement Strategist turns donor insights and engagement strategies into coordinated supporter experiences for key donor groups. The role builds and manages automated email journeys and related communication streams, translates segment criteria and behavioral signals into executable workflows, and coordinates delivery across Marketing and fundraising partners.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Donor Insights and Integrated Engagement, the Strategist supports the Hybrid Engagement Model by implementing personalized journeys, maintaining processes for qualified handoffs, and using performance results to improve donor engagement and lifetime value. The role works closely with the Marketing Insights Creative Strategist to translate audience understanding and creative direction into executable journeys, communications, and coordinated production plans.

The Senior Director owns engagement strategy, governance, audience priorities, qualification approach, and overall results. The Strategist owns day-to-day insights application and journey implementation and optimization for assigned audiences, including marketing automation, project plans, quality assurance, documentation, reporting, and coordination of cross-channel touchpoints. The successful candidate is organized, collaborative, curious, donor-centered, adaptable, accountable, and attentive to detail, and is comfortable coordinating across teams and turning evolving strategy into reliable execution.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, business, fundraising, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in email marketing, marketing automation, donor or customer journeys, digital engagement, fundraising, or related work.
• Demonstrated experience building and managing multi-step automated journeys in Salesforce Marketing Cloud or a comparable platform.
• Two to three years of demonstrated experience with email production, audience segmentation, personalization, testing, quality assurance, and performance reporting.
• Experience managing cross-functional projects with multiple owners, dependencies, deadlines, and approval steps.
• Ability to translate strategy and audience insights into clear requirements, workflows, communication plans, and measurable actions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare briefs, documentation, status updates, and performance summaries.
• Ability to travel as needed.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines, establish priorities, and make sound judgments in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work at a computer for extended periods and review detailed data, content, and platform configurations.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud Journey Builder, Email Studio, Automation Studio, Klaviyo, and CRMs.
• Experience with nonprofit fundraising, donor stewardship, the donor lifecycle, or relationship-based fundraising.
• Experience coordinating email with direct mail, website, SMS, paid media, events, or personal outreach.
• Working knowledge of HTML and CSS for email, email deliverability, accessibility, and data privacy requirements.
• Experience partnering with writers, designers, creative teams, agencies, analysts, and technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Translate approved audience, donor experience, and creative strategies into journeys that can be implemented, measured, and improved.
• Develop journey maps, communication plans, business requirements, audience rules, triggers, cadence, and decision logic for assigned donor segments.
• Build, configure, schedule, and maintain multi-step email journeys and related automations in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Klaviyo, or comparable platforms.
• Create audience selections and personalization requirements in partnership with Philanthropy, Digital Marketing, Direct Marketing, Operations, and Analytics.
• Conduct end-to-end quality assurance for audience counts, exclusions, consent, personalization, links, tracking, rendering, accessibility, approvals, and launch readiness.
• Monitor active journeys and resolve or escalate data, platform, timing, content, and delivery issues.
• Maintain current journey maps, configuration records, calendars, and operating documentation.
• Coordinate the people, content, channels, and dependencies needed to deliver consistent experiences for designated audiences.
• Create and manage project plans, production schedules, review cycles, decision points, and launch checklists for new and revised journeys.
• Partner with Philanthropy on donor segments identified for qualification, supporting assessment and transition of appropriate prospects into Philanthropy portfolio management.
• Coordinate with Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing so automated, direct mail, website, other media, and personal touchpoints support the same audience strategy.
• Translate creative direction into production requirements, channel specifications, timelines, and approval processes; coordinate Creative Services or external agencies and ensure assets are ready for implementation.
• Support personal engagement and qualified handoff workflows by preparing donor context, coordinating next steps, documenting disposition, and tracking follow-up with Philanthropy and the Heifer Foundation.
• Identify dependencies and risks, facilitate working sessions, document decisions, and keep stakeholders informed of changes affecting timing or donor experience.
• Track journey participation, email engagement, donor response, conversion, retention, revenue, handoff activity, and other measures defined for each audience.
• Develop testing plans for content, cadence, channel mix, personalization, and behavioral triggers with the Senior Director, Marketing Insights Creative Strategist, and channel owners.
• Monitor and analyze results, identify where donors progress or disengage, and provide evidence and recommendations to improve creative strategy, journey design, audience rules, and operating processes.
• Maintain a shared record of tests, findings, decisions, and changes, and incorporate survey findings, frontline feedback, and donor behavior into journey improvements.
• Translate engagement needs into requirements for CRM, Marketing Cloud, reporting, and related tools in partnership with Operations and technology teams.
• Follow and reinforce standards for data privacy, consent, security, accessibility, brand consistency, deliverability, and responsible use of donor information.
• Support vendor and agency coordination, including timelines, deliverables, quality review, and budget tracking when assigned.
• Contribute implementation insight to planning, governance, and prioritization decisions for the Hybrid Engagement Model.
• Provide clear status updates, performance summaries, and recommendations to colleagues and leaders.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.
• Build and monitor digital communications and automated journeys; review detailed data, content, and platform configurations for accuracy.
• Coordinate projects and communicate with colleagues, partners, agencies, and consultants; prepare plans, briefs, reports, and presentations.
• Travel as needed for the role.
• Manage multiple tasks and deadlines, establish priorities, and make sound judgments in a fast-paced environment.
• Proofread correspondence and produce documents in a well-designed format.

Benefits

• Health and wellness benefits, including Flexible Spending Account and/or Health Savings Account.
• Employee assistance program.
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer matching and discretionary contributions.
• 22 vacation days, 12 statutory and discretionary holidays, and 10 sick days per year.
• Employer-paid life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance.
• Professional development and annual merit increase opportunities.
• Optional critical illness insurance, legal assistance plan, and pet protection.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level