Position OverviewThe Specialist, Digital Giving executes and optimizes email fundraising and donor communications for the National Park Foundation's Annual Giving program, including fundraising, cultivation, stewardship, and engagement campaigns for Annual Fund and Champions Society donors and prospects.
This role is responsible for managing day-to-day email production, audience segmentation, donor journeys, testing, and performance reporting to drive donor acquisition, retention, revenue growth, and lifetime value.
Reporting to the Associate Director of Digital Giving and working closely with the other Digital Specialist, who focuses on paid fundraising ads and SMS efforts, this role helps implement data-driven digital fundraising strategies that strengthen donor relationships and maximize philanthropic support for America's national parks.
This position directly supports a digital fundraising program generating approximately
$3 million annually and plays a critical role in executing revenue-producing email campaigns, optimizing donor communications, and leveraging analytics to improve fundraising performance and constituent engagement.
Essential Functions, Duties & ResponsibilitiesEmail Campaign Management- Execute all email fundraising, stewardship, and cultivation campaigns through the organization's email platform.
- Work with the vendors who build, QA, schedule, and deploy email campaigns, automated journeys, triggered communications, and newsletters.
- Manage email production calendars and coordinate send schedules across departments to ensure audience-centered communications and avoid message conflicts.
- Track campaign testing and approval processes, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to organizational standards.
Audience Segmentation & Donor Journey Management- Support audience segmentation strategies to improve engagement, retention, and fundraising performance.
- Execute donor lifecycle communications supporting acquisition, retention, renewal, monthly giving, mid-level giving, and major gift cultivation.
- Build and maintain automated donor journeys and triggered communications for new donors, sustainers, lapsed donors, event participants, and prospects.
- Partner with Philanthropy, Marketing, and Data Services teams to ensure accurate targeting and audience selections.
Email Content & Production- Draft and edit email copy, subject lines, headlines, preview text, and calls to action that drive engagement and revenue.
- Collaborate with creative and content teams to develop compelling donor-centric messaging and visual assets.
- Ensure all email communications align with organizational brand standards, fundraising best practices, and accessibility guidelines.
- Work with the partner vendor on production to maintain email templates and optimize user experience across desktop and mobile devices.
Testing, Optimization & Revenue Growth- Conduct A/B and multivariate testing on subject lines, creative, audience segments, send times, donation forms, and calls to action.
- Recommend and implement strategies to improve deliverability, engagement, conversion rates, average gift size, and donor retention.
- Monitor industry trends and emerging email marketing best practices to continuously improve performance.
- Support fundraising campaign planning by providing strategic recommendations based on data and audience insights.
- Track and maintain a testing log and report on results of testing efforts.
Analytics & Reporting- Track, analyze, and report on key performance indicators, including deliverability, open rates, click-through rates, conversions, revenue, retention, and return on investment.
- Develop campaign performance reports and dashboards to inform decision-making and future strategy.
- Monitor overall email program health and identify opportunities for growth, optimization, and risk mitigation.
- Provide data-driven recommendations to improve fundraising and constituent engagement outcomes.
Platform Administration & Compliance- Maintain email marketing platform functionality, templates, preference centers, suppression lists, and subscription management processes.
- Ensure compliance with applicable email marketing, privacy, and data-protection requirements, as well as organizational data-governance standards.
- Monitor sender reputation, list hygiene, and deliverability metrics to maximize inbox placement and engagement.
- Coordinate with vendors and internal stakeholders to resolve technical issues and improve platform performance.
Cross-Functional Collaboration- Collaborate with internal stakeholders to translate fundraising and communications goals into effective email strategies and campaigns.
- Support integrated multichannel campaigns by aligning email messaging with direct mail, SMS, paid media, website, and social media efforts.
- Manage relationships with external vendors supporting email production, analytics, or technology solutions.
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to draft, proofread, and edit compelling donor-facing communications, including fundraising emails, stewardship messages, donation pages, and digital content.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines, approvals, and campaign schedules simultaneously.
- Demonstrated ability to define, improve, document, and implement efficient workflows and processes.
- Ability to communicate complex information clearly and effectively, work collaboratively in a team environment, and take initiative to drive projects forward.
- Excellent organizational, time management, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with a commitment to accuracy and quality.
- Ability to build and maintain productive working relationships with staff across multiple departments and levels of the organization.
- Strong understanding of digital fundraising, email marketing, audience segmentation, donor engagement, and donor lifecycle communication strategies.
- Experience managing email campaigns, automated journeys, audience targeting, testing, and performance optimization.
- Knowledge of email marketing metrics and analytics, including deliverability, open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, revenue attribution, and return on investment.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel for reporting and analysis.
- Experience working with CRM and email marketing platforms required; experience with Luminate Online, Engaging Networks, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, EveryAction, or similar platforms strongly preferred.
- Experience with audience segmentation, data management, and list hygiene best practices.
- Familiarity with HTML, CSS, and email template editing preferred.
- Knowledge of email deliverability standards, accessibility guidelines, and CAN-SPAM compliance requirements preferred.
- Ability to analyze campaign results and translate data into actionable recommendations that improve donor engagement, retention, and revenue performance.
- Passion for the National Park Foundation's mission and commitment to delivering exceptional constituent experiences through donor-centered communications.
Preferred Qualifications- 2-4 years of experience in email marketing, digital fundraising, direct response marketing at an agency, or nonprofit digital engagement.
- Experience supporting revenue-generating digital fundraising programs and working with large donor or subscriber databases.
- Familiarity with A/B testing methodologies and digital optimization strategies.
- College degree preferred.
Salary Range: $80,000 - $85,000, commensurate with experience.
Benefits: NPF offers a highly competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 403(b) savings plan, professional development and tuition assistance, generous paid time-off program including primary caregiver leave.
Location: This is a hybrid role based in Washington, D.C., with three (3) days per week in the office.
