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Sense
Job Description
Post:
Direct Marketing Officer
Accountable to
Head of Individual Giving
Location
Pentonville Rd, London N1
Hours
37.5 hours per week
Salary scale
Sense salary point 30-33 £27,195 – £29,443(inclusive of London
weighting allowance)
Job purpose:
To play a key role in the development of Individual Giving communications and
campaigns to existing and new supporters, to drive engagement and commitment to
Sense in order to meet (and hopefully exceed) the team’s targets.
The Individual Giving team (IG) is responsible for recruiting and developing support
from individuals for Sense and Sense International. We do this through a variety of
media including Direct Mail, DRTV, Telephone, Radio, PSMS, outdoor and digital.
The fundraising department, of which the IG team is a part, has ambitious plans to
deliver growth over the next plan period and beyond.
Key objectives:
 To project manage key individual direct marketing projects, including the
development of communications and one-off analysis projects, in conjunction with
the Senior Direct Marketing Officer and Head of Individual Giving.
 To contribute to the development of fundraising strategy for the Individual Giving
function through active participation in evaluating and reviewing strategic direction of
the development programme with the Senior Direct Marketing Officer, Supporter
Acquisition Manager and the Head of Individual Giving.
Key responsibilities
 To work with Senior Direct Marketing Officer – Retention and Development, The
Supporter Acquisition Manager and the Individual Giving Assistant(s) in delivering
the direct marketing operational plan in order to achieve annual net income targets
and other KPIs.
 To project manage individual direct marketing projects including the development of
communications and one-off analysis projects, in conjunction with appropriate team
members.
 To manage key supplier and agency relationships on a day-to-day basis with the
objective of the delivery of successful campaigns while developing strong, respectful
relationships with key agencies.
1. Planning

To play a significant role in setting, monitoring and reviewing annual budgets and
forecasts.

To negotiate project costs with key suppliers to ensure that owned direct marketing
projects are as cost-effective as possible.

To actively participate in planning and review meetings with Individual Giving and
other colleagues and key suppliers, and to maintain a thorough understanding of
latest developments, current trends and legislation as it applies to the fundraising
environment.
2. Activities

To manage the delivery of successful direct marketing activities across a variety of
media in order to recruit and/or develop new individual supporters to Sense.

To prepare briefs, resource gathering, reviewing concepts, reviewing and signing-off
estimates, copy, scripts and artwork, and liaison with key staff members responsible
for Sense services as well as parents of service users to deliver strong and
impactful communications and campaigns.

To take a role in briefing agencies and agency staff as necessary, including
Creative agencies and telemarketing, about what Sense does ahead of campaign
launch.

To assist the Head of Individual Giving in checking the accuracy of monthly
management accounts, producing forecasts and reporting on the reasons for
variances against budget for owned projects.

To liaise with the Supporter Services team and Database Manager to ensure that
activities are effectively co-coordinated and the back-end fulfillment of campaigns is
planned to ensure that a high level of service is provided to donors.

To be responsible for the preparation of data selection briefs for campaigns to the
Sense supporter base, and to contribute to the ongoing segmentation of the
database.

To obtain effective and powerful case studies and other project based resources for
the development of compelling donor communications. This will include active
participation in regular reviews of creative work, as well as assessment of the most
appropriate story resources for future communications, in consultation with
colleagues.
3 Relationships

To liaise with appropriate internal staff and key external agencies and suppliers to
develop and maintain excellent working relationships.
4 Other

Be self-administering

Ensure that the Sense Equal Opportunities Policy is adhered to in all aspects of the
job.

To carry out any other tasks appropriate to the role and to the wider needs of the
Fundraising Division.
Sense
Person Specification
Direct Marketing Officer
Education and Training
Essential Criteria
Desirable Criteria
Educated to degree-level
Advanced Certificate in Marketing or
similar
Experience and Achievements
Essential Criteria
Desirable Criteria
Proven experience of managing all aspects Experience of working on integrated direct
of the delivery of successful Fundraising
marketing campaigns
direct marketing campaigns in a charity or
not-for-profit setting from inception stage to
post campaign analysis.
Proven experience of analysing campaign
results and effectively improving future
campaigns accordingly.
Demonstrable experience of supporter
acquisition, retention and development of
donors
Proven experience of managing data
intelligently to increase response rates and
average value
Proven experience of contributing to the
planning process on delivery of budgets
and operational plans.
Knowledge of Gifts in Wills, and Digital
channels
Experience in briefing and managing
relationships with outside
agencies/suppliers and developing
excellent relationships with internal and
external teams to deliver objectives.
Experience of and desire to work as part of
a team
Experience of successful management of
an annual budget and on-going
reforecasting and reporting
Skills & Abilities
Strong numeracy with the ability to analyse
appeal response data using standard
Direct Marketing analysis techniques
Strong computer literacy with experience
of working with a customer relational
database
Experience of working with The Raiser’s
Edge
Ability to confidently manage all stages of
direct marketing based fundraising
campaigns across a range of media
including Telephone, Direct Mail, Email
and SMS to deliver successful fundraising
campaigns
A good eye for design and a proven
creative flair, with some copy-writing /
editing experience and a strong attention
to detail
Knowledge of Legacy Marketing, and
Digital
Working knowledge of fundraising appeal
literature production process, with proven
experience of assessing the accuracy and
effectiveness of fundraising copy and
artwork.
Working knowledge of a Windows
environment, specifically Word, Excel &
PowerPoint
Excellent communication skills/face-toface/written/telephone, with an ability to
liaise effectively and credibly with
colleagues and senior level staff
Proven ability to work under pressure, to
effectively plan and prioritise a complex and
varied workload, and to undertake multiple
tasks concurrently
Sensitivity to and willingness to develop an
understanding of deafblind issues
An understanding of and commitment to
Sense’s Equal Opportunities Policy and I
statements.