Donor Lifecycle Engagement Strategist

About Heifer International

In 1944, Heifer International’s founder, Dan West, began outlining a simple but groundbreaking plan to tackle hunger around the world. West, a farmer from the Midwest and Church of the Brethren member, had recently returned from feeding weary refugees during volunteer service in the Spanish Civil War.

He had seen firsthand that giving people food was a short-term solution, whereas providing them with animals offered a steady supply of nutritious food for an entire family. His philosophy still inspires Heifer’s work today. Partnering with farmers across a range of different livestock and crops, we create unique solutions to local challenges.

Today, Heifer International has operations in 19 countries around the world, working alongside local farmers, business owners and their communities, as they mobilize and envision their futures. Together, we build inclusive, resilient economies, so communities can develop effective ways to end global hunger and poverty in a sustainable way.

To date, we have supported more than 42 million farming families across Africa, Asia and the Americas and in the past five years alone. We have worked alongside 2.7 million families to close the living income gap or set them on a path to doing so. Between now and 2030, we will support an additional 10 million people to reach a living income by scaling up our signature programs. To achieve this, Heifer International relies on its passionate, committed, and highly skilled staff.

ROLE FUNCTION

Donor Lifecycle Engagement Strategist 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 for designated audiences, 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 the operating processes behind qualified handoffs, and using performance results to improve donor engagement and lifetime value. The Donor Lifecycle Engagement Strategist works closely with the Marketing Insights Creative Strategist, translating audience understanding into creative strategy, concepts, messaging frameworks, and touchpoint recommendations. This role turns those strategies into executable journeys, communications, and coordinated production plans.

The Senior Director owns the engagement strategy, governance, audience priorities, qualification approach, and overall results. The Donor Lifecycle Engagement Strategist owns day-to-day insights application, journey implementation and optimization for assigned audiences, including marketing automation, project plans, quality assurance, documentation, reporting, and coordination of cross-channel touch-points.

The Successful Candidate

Organized, collaborative, curious, donor-centered, adaptable, accountable, and attentive to detail. Comfortable coordinating work across teams and turning an evolving strategy into reliable execution.

RESPONISIBILITIES & DELIVERABLES

Build and Optimize Donor Journeys (40%)

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, so teams understand what each donor receives and why.

Lead Integrated Engagement Delivery (25%)

Coordinate the people, content, channels, and dependencies required 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 the assessment and seamless transition of appropriate prospects into Philanthropy portfolio management.
• Coordinate closely with Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing so automated, direct mail, website, other media, and personal touch-points for designated audiences support the same audience strategy.
• Partner with the Marketing Insights Creative Strategist, who leads the creative strategy, concepts, messaging direction, and creative brief. Translate that direction into production requirements, channel specifications, timelines, and approval processes; coordinate Creative Services or external agencies; and ensure final assets are ready for implementation in the communications.
• 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 early, facilitate working sessions, document decisions, and keep stakeholders informed of changes that affect timing or donor experience.

Measure, Test, and improve Performance (20%)

Use journey results and donor feedback to recommend practical improvements.

• 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 in partnership with the Senior Director, Marketing Insight Creative Strategist, and channel owners.
• Monitor and analyze results, identify where donors progress or disengage, and provide the evidence and recommendations needed to improve creative strategy, journey design, audience rules, and operational processes.
• Maintain a shared record of tests, findings, decisions, and changes, so learning carries forward across campaigns and teams.
• Incorporate survey findings, frontline feedback, and donor behavior into journey improvements.

Support systems standards and team operations (15%)

Help establish reliable systems and standards needed to sustain integrated engagement.

• Translate engagement needs into clear 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.
• May perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum 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.
• Minimum of 2-3 years of demonstrated experience with email production, audience segmentation, personalization, testing, quality assurance, and performance reporting. Minimum of 2-3 years of experience.
• 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.

Preferred Requirements:

• 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.

Most Critical Proficiencies:

• Journey execution and marketing automation, with the judgment to turn donor strategy into clear audience logic, communications, and workflows.
• Cross-functional project management that creates clarity about owners, dependencies, decisions, risks, and deadlines.
• Donor-centered judgment that considers the complete supporter experience across automated and personal touch-points.
• Testing and performance analysis that converts results into specific improvements.
• Careful quality assurance and documentation in work involving donor data, personalization, and coordinated communications.

Essential Job Functions and Physical Demands:

• Build and monitor digital communications and automated journeys; review detailed data, content, and platform configurations for accuracy.
• Coordinate projects and communicate regularly with colleagues, partners, agencies, and consultants; prepare accurate plans, briefs, reports, and presentations.
• Ability to travel as needed for the role.
• Regular communication across multiple channels, including in-person, phone, and electronic interaction with colleagues and external stakeholders.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines, establish priorities and make sound judgments often in a fast-paced environment, and the flexibility, energy, and attention to detail needed to manage a heavy workload and rapidly changing contexts.
• Proofread correspondence for correct punctuation and grammar and produce documents in a well-designed, attractive format.
• May require constant sitting and moving; working at a computer for extended periods.

Salary Information:

The salary range for this position is $78,000–$88,000. Placement within the range will be based on the experience and competency level of the candidate. To be considered for this role, please apply by 11/11/2026.

What We Offer:

Heifer International offers a variety of benefits for U.S. based employees working 30 or more hours per week.

• Health and wellness benefits including Flexible Spending Account and/or Health Saving Account
• Employee assistance program
• 403(b) retirement plan (match 1% employee to 2% employer up to a maximum of 4% match +3% employer discretionary contribution regardless of employee contribution)
• 22 vacation days in addition to 12 statutory and discretionary holidays, and 10 sick days per year
• Employer-paid life insurance and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D)
• Professional development and annual merit increase opportunities
• Optional critical illness insurance, legal assistance plan and pet protection
• And more!

Heifer International is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with some form of disability.

Originally posted on Himalayas