Direct Response Director

Remote

Full Time

Marketing and Communications

Experienced

ABOUT SHATTERPROOF

Shatterproof is a national nonprofit working toward a world where addiction never defines or ends a life. Through evidence-based programs, advocacy, and public education, Shatterproof works to transform systems for tomorrow, support families today, and end stigma forever. Learn more at shatterproof.org.

WHO SUCCEEDS AT SHATTERPROOF
Shatterproof is in a period of transformative and rapid growth. We are building new systems, reimagining how work gets done, and creating more cross-functional alignment to accelerate our mission.
To thrive here, you should be energized by building, not just maintaining — and excited to bring structure, clarity, and innovation to evolving spaces.
We’re looking for team members who:
• Build systems and processes from the ground up and improve them continuously as we scale.
• Take ownership and act with a builder’s mindset, bringing forward solutions rather than waiting for direction.
• Influence and collaborate across teams, shaping work through strong communication and relationship-building.
• Move quickly, learn fast, and adapt with resilience, especially in a high-growth, high-impact environment.
• Are mission-driven and motivated to leave their mark on an organization working to reverse the addiction crisis.

POSITION:

The Director of Direct Response will serve as Shatterproof’s lead strategist for direct response fundraising growth and lifecycle engagement.

This role will own the organization’s direct response donor engagement strategy including acquisition, retention, reactivation, and lifetime value ensuring all channels (email, SMS, paid media, and P2P communications) operate as a cohesive system that drives measurable revenue and deepens supporter engagement.

This role will also lead the evolution of Shatterproof’s email and messaging operations into a centralized, high-performing model within Marketing. This includes establishing standardized processes, workflows, and quality assurance practices to ensure all organizational communications are strategically aligned, brand-consistent, and optimized for performance across teams.

This leader will set strategy, define segmentation and journeys, and direct execution through internal team members and external agency partners, ensuring best-in-class performance across all direct response efforts.

This is a highly cross-functional leadership role, partnering closely with teams across the organization to align fundraising strategy with organizational priorities and maximize growth.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy & Leadership

Define and lead Shatterproof’s enterprise-wide direct response fundraising strategy, focused on sustainable revenue growth and donor lifetime value.
Establish a clear donor growth model across acquisition, retention, upgrade, and reactivation.
Translate organizational goals into integrated fundraising campaigns and lifecycle strategies, with clear KPIs and performance benchmarks.
Lead and mentor the Senior Manager of Direct Response while leveraging agency partners and internal specialists for execution.
Serve as the primary strategic counterpart to agency partners, ensuring alignment on goals, performance, and optimization.
Partner closely with Advancement and P2P teams to support cohesive donor and participant experiences across all giving pathways.
Build a test-and-learn roadmap focused on scaling what works and improving underperforming segments.
Lead organizational change management required to transition to a centralized direct response and communications model, ensuring strong adoption, clarity of roles, and cross-functional alignment.

Marketing Operations & SFMC Transformation

Lead the transition to a centralized email and messaging model, where Marketing owns the strategy, execution, and performance of all outbound communications across the organization.
Design and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs), intake processes, and workflows that enable efficient, scalable, and high-quality campaign execution.
Establish clear governance and quality assurance standards across all email, SMS, and campaign outputs.
Partner with programmatic teams to intake, prioritize, and translate business needs into effective direct response campaigns.
Ensure all communications are aligned to donor strategy, audience segmentation, and lifecycle best practices.
Oversee the end-to-end campaign process including briefing, QA, scheduling, deployment, and reporting across internal and external partners.
Continuously refine processes to improve speed, collaboration, and performance across teams.

Email, SMS & CRM Management

Define the donor segmentation strategy and lifecycle architecture that powers all direct response channels.
Oversee and continuously evolve the strategic use of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, ensuring it supports both enterprise fundraising goals and a centralized, scalable communications model.
Maintain a strong working knowledge of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, contributing to campaign design, QA, and optimization as needed to support team execution and ensure best practices
Partner with internal staff and external agencies to translate strategy into effective campaign execution.
Ensure all communication channels (email, SMS, paid media, P2P platforms) are integrated into a unified supporter journey.
Identify gaps and opportunities in the current ecosystem and recommend improvements to enhance performance and scalability.

Paid Direct Response Social & Digital Fundraising

Oversee paid media strategy and execution in collaboration with external partners — across paid social, Google Ads, and the Google Ad Grant program — to ensure cohesive messaging, efficient spend, and measurable performance across acquisition and retention campaigns.
Manage Shatterproof’s paid media agency, ensuring performance-based optimization and cross-channel consistency.
Integrate paid social and digital ad performance into email/SMS reporting and testing to improve ROI.
Partner with the creative team on messaging, targeting, and design that supports conversion goals.

Analytics & Reporting

Own the reporting infrastructure for all direct response channels, providing leadership with monthly dashboards, trend analysis, and actionable insights including dedicated peer to peer participant journey performance.
Translate performance data into strategic recommendations.
Define segmentation models and donor journeys that maximize lifetime value and retention.
Drive a test-and-learn culture — continuously improving based on data-driven insights.
Provide regular insights based on campaign results, user behavior, and segmentation performance.
Lead forecasting and revenue modeling in partnership with leadership.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Act as the organization’s expert on donor behavior, fundraising strategy, and lifecycle engagement.
Partner with program teams to ensure fundraising is aligned with impact storytelling.
Bring a fundraising lens into all major campaigns and organizational initiatives.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree required
8–10+ years of experience in nonprofit direct response fundraising, digital fundraising, or donor strategy
Proven track record of driving revenue growth across digital fundraising channels, including acquisition and retention
Deep expertise in donor lifecycle strategy, segmentation, and retention optimization
Experience managing agency partners and cross-functional teams to deliver integrated campaigns
Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate performance data into actionable growth strategies
Experience building and executing testing frameworks and performance optimization roadmaps
Strong working knowledge of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, with the ability to guide strategy, evaluate execution, and contribute hands-on when needed
Deep understanding of CRM and marketing automation ecosystems, including data integration and campaign workflows
Experience managing multi-channel digital campaigns (email, SMS, paid media)
Familiarity with peer-to-peer fundraising and participant engagement strategies
Experience leading teams, influencing across departments, and driving organizational change
Excellent communication and project management skills

Apply for this position

Required*

First Name*

Last Name*

Email Address*

Phone*

Address

Resume*

We've received your resume. Click here to update it.

Attach resume or Paste resume

Attach resume as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf (limit 5MB) or Paste resume

Paste your resume here or Attach resume file

Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?*

What base salary range are you targeting for your next role?*

Have you led direct response fundraising strategy for a nonprofit organization, including donor acquisition, retention, and lifecycle engagement?*

Have you owned annual direct response revenue goals and forecasting?*

Have you developed and presented direct response or lifecycle marketing strategies to executive leadership?*

Have you personally managed integrated fundraising campaigns across email, SMS and paid media?*

Have you managed external agencies and/or cross-functional internal teams with accountability for campaign performance?*

Have you personally led the centralization, transformation, or optimization of communications operations, marketing workflows, or lifecycle marketing processes?*

Have you worked in a nonprofit or mission-driven organization?*

Have you built or optimized donor/customer lifecycle journeys beyond one-off campaigns?*

Are you comfortable owning KPIs, reporting, forecasting, and performance analysis for fundraising or marketing programs?*

What are the 3–5 most important metrics you use to evaluate the health and performance of a direct response fundraising program?*

How would you describe your experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?*

Are you based in or near Washington, D.C., with the ability to commute to our office 1–2 days per week?*

Human Check*

Submit Application