Senior Manager - Donor Direct Marketing

Description

U.S. Soccer Overview

The U.S. Soccer Federation exists in service to soccer. Our aim is to ignite a national passion for the game. Because we believe that soccer is more than a sport; it is a force for good.

We understand the importance and the power of teamwork, on and off the pitch. That is why we work closely with our Federation partners and members, to inspire, support and guide every level of the game: from the grassroots to the National Teams. We want to bring soccer into every home and every community, right across America. Because we believe that soccer can transform lives like no other sport. Soccer can represent the best of U.S.

U.S. Soccer is in a period of significant growth, with ambitious plans for U.S. Soccer in the near and far future. We are, therefore, looking for dynamic servant leaders to join us on this journey: in service to soccer. Applicants must be able to demonstrate visionary leadership, analytical decision-making, professional flexibility, and an empathic management style that builds bold teams and delivers globally significant results.

Position Description

Reporting to the Director, Annual Fund, the Senior Manager, Donor Direct Marketing leads the strategy, development, and execution of U.S. Soccer's Mass donor marketing and communications function.

This seat owns the mass audience segment of the donor file, meaning constituents making single gifts outside of a membership, from first gift through the mid-level entry point. It carries a revenue and donor target against that audience and grows it through an agency of record supplying direct mail, email, and paid digital. U.S. Soccer owns the thinking. The agency owns the making. This seat holds that line.

The work is to integrate a channel mix, build an entry ladder, and put a second gift behind every acquisition, and to establish the operating model, campaign calendar, attribution standard, and measurement discipline the program runs on. The Senior Manager also serves as Advancement's liaison to centralized Marketing & Communications.

Primary Responsibilities

The Mass Audience Program

• Own the mass audience segment of the donor file and the FY27 revenue and donor targets committed against it, from acquisition and second gift through retention, reactivation, upgrade, and the transition into mid-level giving.
• Design and execute the second gift program, build monthly recurring giving into every touch rather than running it as a standalone campaign, and lead retention and reactivation, moving reactivation from direct mail to email and paid digital.

Growth, Testing, and Channel Development

• Build and run a rolling test plan across creative, offer, ask string, segment, and timing, each with a stated hypothesis and a read date, and move proven results into the standing program.
• Expand digital reach and revenue through paid social, search, display, and connected TV, lookalike and retargeting audiences built off the donor file, and owned channels including the U.S. Soccer app, match day, and email.
• Evaluate and launch new channels, platforms, and partners, including list and audience partnerships, digital fundraising platforms, and SMS, piloting each against a defined budget, target cost per donor, and decision point. Lead the first-year digital build: a low dollar acquisition pilot against the post World Cup file, and a triggered welcome and second gift series.

The Agency Program

• Manage the agency of record relationship day to day, including the brief, creative review, calendar commitments, and accountability to committed revenue projections. Maintain the division of responsibility that keeps strategy, audience, offer architecture, segmentation, source coding, and copy approval in house while the agency delivers modeling, production, deployment, media buying, and matchback.
• Manage media investment within the approved budget, including target cost per donor acquired, reallocation between channels, and the decision to discontinue an underperforming line. Lead the transition to the go-forward partner and recommend the ongoing mix of internal staff, agency scope, and shared Federation services.

The Campaign Calendar

• Own the campaign calendar across the fiscal year and coordinate timing across the Federation so that appeals, the Fan Experience communications queue, and the membership renewal cycle do not collide.

Attribution and Measurement

• Own attribution for the mass audience. Enforce the source coding standard on every touch, internal and agency, reproduce the agency matchback internally so that every campaign is read twice, and report cost per donor acquired, twelve-month value by acquisition source, response rate, average gift, and second gift rate.

Donor Communications and Storytelling

• Own the message architecture across the donor journey, covering what each segment receives between asks as well as during them, and advance appeal messaging from a benefits framing to an impact framing themed against U.S. Soccer's philanthropic pillars.
• Build the impact story intake process, drawing from Soccer Forward and the stewardship pipeline with rights and release status attached to each item, and own stewardship, acknowledgment, and impact reporting for the mass audience.

Cross-functional Partnership

• Serve as Advancement's liaison to centralized Marketing & Communications on channel access, calendar position, brand approval, audience data, and message alignment.
• Partner with Stewardship & Engagement, Advancement Services, Memberships, Major Gifts, and Principal Gifts on segmentation, gift attribution, and lifecycle transitions into and out of the mass audience, and with Corporate Partnerships on the match or challenge behind each pillar campaign.
• Collaborate with Product, Digital, and Fan Experience on recurring giving capability, donation form performance, and the tracking required to attribute a gift to a specific appeal.
• Support overall goals of the Advancement department.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in nonprofit direct response fundraising, integrated marketing, donor engagement, digital marketing, communications, advancement, or related fields.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing multi-channel direct response programs across direct mail, email, and paid digital that drive donor acquisition, retention, and revenue growth.
• Experience managing an agency or vendor relationship, including briefing creative, holding a partner to a campaign calendar, and evaluating performance against committed projections.
• Experience building or significantly expanding donor marketing, fundraising communications, or audience engagement programs.
• Experience designing and reading a testing program, including hypothesis, sample, and result, and carrying a proven test into the standing program.
• Experience evaluating and launching new acquisition channels, platforms, or audience partnerships against a target cost per donor.
• Working knowledge of fundraising analytics, including cost per donor acquired, donor value by acquisition source, response rate, and matchback methodology.
• Strong understanding of donor lifecycle marketing, audience segmentation, source coding and attribution, and CRM-driven communications.
• Proven ability to think strategically while leading complex campaigns from concept through execution.
• Experience collaborating across fundraising, marketing, technology, digital, and communications teams within a complex organization.
• Exceptional communication, storytelling, project management, and relationship-building skills with the ability to influence stakeholders across all levels of an organization.
• Proficient experience with Microsoft Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook).
• Capable of working in fast-paced and demanding environments.
• Must be able to connect “micro” details to the “macro” vision and mission.
• Ability to work evenings, weekends, and travel as needed.

Desired Qualifications

• General knowledge of soccer.
• Experience supervising staff, agency teams, or cross-functional project teams.
• Experience utilizing Salesforce, marketing automation platforms, email marketing systems, or comparable CRM and digital marketing technologies.

U.S. Soccer offers a comprehensive compensation package, casual work environment, an inclusive culture, and an atmosphere for professional development.

U.S. Soccer is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, military status, political belief, or any other characteristic protected under the law. This policy applies to all our employment practices within our organization. We strongly encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA, veterans, parents, and persons with disabilities to apply.