Advisor, Donor Strategy (P3)

Save the Children

For over 100 years, Save the Children has been fighting for the rights of children. The right to a healthy start in life. To have access to education. To be in a safe environment, protected from harm. We work in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach places – over 100 countries, including the U.S. No matter what your role is, when you join Save the Children, you’re creating positive, irreversible change for children, and the future we all share.

The Role

As the Advisor, Donor Strategy, you’ll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will develop and optimize strategies to engage and upgrade highvalue massmarket donors and highdollar sustainers as part of Save the Children’s broader audience retention efforts. This role will focus on audience and segment development, insights, and experience design with the objective to increase donor lifetime value, loyalty, and engagement. As part of a newly formed Audience Strategy team, and reporting to the Senior Director, Audience Strategy, the strategist will play a key role in shaping integrated donor development strategies and optimizing donor journeys. In alignment with Save the Children’s ambition to grow private revenue, this role will help build the pipeline to higher levels of giving by designing targeted strategies that deepen donor engagement and accelerate upgrade potential.

Location

Hybrid – Washington DC, Fairfield, CT or Lexington, KY office locations

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

*not inclusive of all role responsibilities. May be subject to change.

Audience Strategy & Development (40%)

• Develop and implement audience strategies for high-value mass market donors and sustainers with the goal of upgrading to mid-level giving
• Support the Senior Director in driving the next best action strategies across the high-value pipeline audience to optimize engagement, retention, and upgrade outcomes
• Define segmentation approaches and donor profiles to support fundraising goals
• Deliver audience briefings – including segments, profiles, behavioral considerations, and message guidance – for channel and campaign teams to develop detailed channel strategy
• Collaborate with internal teams to identify emerging donor segments and opportunities for growth of the high value pipeline
• Deliver actionable audience insights to channel leads and internal partners to improve in-channel performance

Donor Experience & Journey Design (30%)

• Within the broader audience retention strategy, develop and optimize a relational fundraising strategy focused on engaging high-value donors through personalized cultivation, strategic stewardship, and data-informed approaches that drive retention, activation, upgrade potential, and long-term growth
• Provide strategic insights for new donor acquisition across all join channels, ensuring high value pipeline audience growth and alignment
• Lead the strategic design and continuous improvement of high-value donor journeys (welcome, cultivation, stewardship, upgrade, and lapsed) to increase retention, loyalty, and lifetime value
• Partner with creative, digital, and channel teams to align messaging and experiences with audience needs
• Partner across audience team to enhance high-value donor experiences, including sharing insights and learnings that support retention, engagement, and upgrade strategies
• Ensure high value pipeline audience strategies are embedded in integrated marketing plans and go to market strategy
• Own the implementation of niche high-value experiences – such as leading a donor concierge program, virtual engagement officer, etc.

Insights & Performance Optimization (20%)

• Monitor KPIs and recommend optimizations to improve ROI and donor lifetime value
• Translate donor data and fundraising performance metrics into strategic recommendations for audience growth
• Collaborate with analytics and research teams to refine audience understanding and engagement strategies
• Define learning agenda and test plans to improve audience engagement and conversion

Ad Hoc Support & Cross-Functional Collaboration (10%)

• Work closely with the Senior Director of Audience Strategy and other audience strategists to align on team goals and priorities
• Partner with the mid-level team to effectively graduate donors from the mass market to higher levels of giving
• Contribute to cross-functional planning and execution with fundraising, brand, and donor experience teams

Required qualifications for the role

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 5 years of relevant experience

• Proven expertise in donor or customer segmentation and audience development
• Strong analytical skills and ability to translate insights into actionable strategies
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills across cross-functional teams
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

Preferred qualifications for the role

• Experience in nonprofit fundraising, especially in mass market or individual giving programs
• Experience with journey mapping and experience design
• Familiarity with CRM platforms, marketing automation tools, and donor analytics
• Background in lifecycle marketing, direct response, or customer experience strategy
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and lead through change in a complex, matrixed organization

Compensation

Save the Children is offering the following salary ranges for this position, dependent on candidate location:

• Geo 1 – NY Metro, DC, and other locations with labor costs significantly above national average: Target Salary for this position is $91,800 – $102,600 base salary

• Geo 2 – Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $83,725 – $93,575 base salary
• Geo 3 – Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $74,800 – $83,600 base salary

The salary ranges listed above are for US based candidates. For candidates located outside of the US, salary ranges will be based on the salary scales of the local employer of record. Actual base salary may vary based on, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location (more information on job structure is available here).

About Us

We are looking to build an inclusive team at Save the Children. We offer a range of outstanding benefits to support this goal:

• Flexible schedules and time off: Flexible schedules, generous PTO, 11 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays, and hybrid working opportunities
• Health: Competitive health care, dental and vision coverage for you and your family
• Family: A variety of paid leaves: caregiver, parental/adoption, critical child illness and fertility benefits
• Employee Rewards Program: Annual merit increases and/or additional incentives for eligible employees
• Retirement: A retirement savings plan with employer contributions (after one year)
• Wellness: 15 safety and wellness days annually (if hired on or after July 1, safety and wellness days prorated to 8 days), mental health benefits and support through Calm and company-hosted events
• Employee Assistance Program: free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services
• Learning & Growth: Access to internal and external learning & development opportunities and mentorships

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in you.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.

If you require disability assistance with the Application or recruitment process, please submit a request to applicantsupport@savechildren.org