Job Title:
Retention & Development Manager
Contract:
Full-time (36.5 hours per week), Permanent
Cluster/Team:
Fundraising & Communications/Retention &
Development
Location:
Hybrid – High Wycombe/ A minimum of one day per
week on site is required.
Job Band 4:
FTE Salary range: £36,000–£38,000 per annum (depending on relevant skills, experience and qualifications, in line with internal pay structure), plus £312 per annum working-from-home allowance.
Reports To:
Head of Retention & Development
Embrace’s Fundraising & Communications
cluster comprises expertise in fundraising, marketing, communication,
trading (web shop), supporter engagement and retention. Working
collaboratively, we serve our supporters by providing authentic and engaging communications inspiring active
social witness, engagement and giving to charity.
Cluster Purpose:
Strengthen Embrace’s communication, education, and fundraising efforts to drive
growth so that more people engage with our content; more donors are attracted
to support; and the UK church is more deeply engaged with the cause; enabling
us to fund more work in the region and generate a deeper understanding of
Christian service in the Middle East.
Role Purpose:
Grow
sustainable income by keeping individual supporters
inspired, informed and engaged—so they give again, stay longer, and
deepen their support. You will deliver excellent supporter journey experience,
project managing engaging and compelling direct, and digital individual
giving activity (including – but not limited to – appeals, regular giving
conversion & upgrade, lapsed reactivation) and incorporating legacies
marketing, raising more than £1m voluntary income
each year.
What success looks like:
- Higher Life-Time Value (LTV): more second gifts, upgrades and
cross channel giving; stronger legacy pipeline.
- Lower churn: reduced lapse rates for cash and regular givers.
- Better donor experience: faster thank yous, clearer impact
reporting, higher satisfaction with fewer complaints/optouts.
- Sustainable mix: growth in regular giving and mid-value
segments; predictable, repeatable income
Key Responsibilities:
Supporter Experience & Journeys
-Map and continually improve journeys: welcome → second gift; regular giving nurture/upgrade;
mid-value; legacy prospecting; lapsed reactivation; complaint recovery.
-Set cadence and channel mix (email, mail, phone,
SMS, social, events, digital) for consistent, donor‑first communications in
appropriate channels and accessible formats.
-Donor first approach: clear, inclusive language;
accessible formats; low‑friction giving/retention flows and personalisation
e.g. name, last gift, interests, location, project etc.
-Collaborate with Content & Communications
colleague to deliver content that shares the impact of support i.e. what donors
make possible and Embrace’s brand story.
Segmentation, Testing & Insight
-Track Regular Giving – net growth; diagnose
attrition drivers and fix root causes; maintain acceptable Return on Investment
(ROIs).
-Lead supporter segmentation (by behaviour & interest)
and A/B testing (offer, timing, upgrade prompts).
-Adopt an evidence-based, test and learn‑
approach; analyse appeals, campaign performance and share insights to drive
decisions.
-Work with
colleagues to build insight dashboard (e.g. churn, LTV, second gift rate,
tenure, contactability) and understanding of retention.
Mid‑Value & Legacy Development
-Steward mid‑value donors with tailored journeys;
warm handovers to and from Major Giving Manager.
-Develop and test legacy propositions and routes
to market to grow enquiries and pledges.
Acquisition & Cross‑Sell
-Project manage individual giving product development and testing;
identify new audiences and routes to market.
-Collaborate with Webshop team and the Digital Marketing Campaigns
Manager to optimise Alternative Gifts and cross-sell opportunities focusing on
a digital first approach.
Cross-Team Collaboration:
-Work closely with the Supporter Experience Team to ensure
that supporter journeys are being optimised and feedback from supporters is
being captured and acted upon.
-Commission and work with the CRM and Systems Manager to develop
clear and understandable dashboards, ensuring that the insights are used to
develop plans and measure performance.
-Closely liaise with the Legacy administration team, working
with them to ensure the packs and information are up to date and legacy marketing
information complies with the latest Institue of Legacy Management standards.
-Develop an understanding of the Partner projects and Advocacy
agenda, ensure all supporter briefings are aligned to agreed messaging.
Organisation-wide Contribution
-Model Embrace’s values of trust, respect, integrity,
and compassion.
-Uphold safeguarding responsibilities and compliance
with GDPR and charity regulations.
-Actively support cross-team collaboration and
organisational goals. Maintain CRM hygiene
KPIs you will own:
– Retention / churn: 12‑month retention (one off
& RG), lapse rate, save ‑rate on failed payments.
– Value & growth: second gift rate, LTV by segment, average gift,
RG net growth and tenure, mid-value upgrades, legacy enquiries.
– Experience & quality: thank you‑ SLA, complaint rate
– Data & compliance: growth in contactable base; preference completeness;
data hygiene.
3/6/12‑month milestones:
3 months: Retention dashboard live; thank‑you refresh
delivered; welcome→second‑gift test
launched; RG plan drafted.
6 months: Lapse/reactivation plan running; retention rates
improved; early LTV gains visible in key segments.
12
months:
Reduced churn; higher second gift and upgrade rates; larger contactable supporter
base; legacy pipeline growth.
Person specification
Essential:
Qualifications, Experience & Knowledge:
- Educated to
degree standard or equivalent (E.g. practical experience within fundraising).
- Member of
Chartered Institute of Fundraising
- Proven
individual giving or CRM led retention experience in a
charity, membership or subscription context.
- Hands‑on
journey design and automation
- Strong data
literacy: segmentation, dashboards (CRM/Excel), test and learn.
- Excellent
written communication—able to brief compelling, impacted content and clear
supporter updates.
- Practical
project management; calm under pressure; collaborative and solutions focused.
- Working
knowledge of GDPR/PECR and best practice supporter care.
Experience stewarding midvalue supporters and
legacy pipelines.
Experience with payment recovery
tools and card update flows.
Familiarity with UK charity sector
metrics and fundraising codes of practice.
Personal
qualities:
Donor first mindset, inclusive and empathetic.
Curious, evidence driven, and
comfortable iterating.
High
integrity, discretion and good judgment.
Tools
& systems:
CRM
Dashboards & analysis
Payments: Direct Debit management,
card‑updater/failed‑payment recovery
Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint,
Planner), project boards
Personal
Attributes:
Highly motivated and results-driven.
Demonstrates integrity, trust, and respect in all interactions.
Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities.
Passionate about the work of Embrace, with the ability to
enthuse and engage others
A natural collaborator who enjoys working as part a team to deliver
organisation wide objectives.
Role
requirements:
Committed to
the Christian mission, vision and values of the charity, either as a practising
Christian or someone with a sympathy for Embrace’s mission with the Christian
faith and character.
Closing date: Tuesday 12th May at 5pm.
