Job Description
Digital Fundraising Lead
£52,408 - £54,654pa
City of London E1 8QS and we are a hybrid working organisation
This role is offered on a hybrid contract giving you the opportunity to also work from home three days a week.
Purpose of Role
As Digital Fundraising Lead you’ll oversee Comic Relief’s Digital Fundraising & Engagement programme, from strategy to delivery; managing and developing a team of high performing colleagues. You’ll be role modelling and leading expert collaboration across the organisation, and with partner organisations, to deliver integrated digital fundraising and audience engagement growth in line with organisational objectives.
As a digital first organisation, a significant proportion of Comic Relief’s fundraising and public engagement is delivered via digital channels. In this high impact role, you will lead individuals and cross-organisational project teams to innovate, optimise and execute digital strategies and activities including shaping web UX journey’s; designing email communications and integrated digital media campaigns (including media targeting and digital content); and leading product and proposition development, all to deliver agreed annual income targets from a growing active supporter base. Championing innovation, robust test and learn and performance marketing methodologies, the Digital Fundraising Lead will ensure Comic Relief’s investments in digital fundraising and engagement deliver maximum gains towards a just world free from poverty.
Key responsibilities:
Strategy & Planning
· Lead the strategy setting; annual planning and budget setting for Comic Relief’s Digital Fundraising and Engagement activity, including keeping abreast of external trends; innovations and digital developments and exploring how these factor into Comic Relief’s objectives; building financial models, developing business cases, setting and monitoring budgets and managing reforecasts throughout the year.
· Where appropriate, bring x-organisational project teams together to strategise, plan and deliver digital fundraising and engagement change projects.
Delivery & Performance
· Working as a lead within the Public Activation & Individual Giving team, work with the team and wider organisation to champion digital innovation and performance optimisation, specifically leveraging new technologies, tools, approaches and data-driven insights to ensure digital communications and experiences are appropriately targeted, designed and delivered in a way that maximises audience growth, engagement and income; return on investment and / or life time value in line with agreed objectives.
· Ensure a robust and continuous test and learn methodology is applied across the team; results and learnings are recorded, systematically actioned and shared for maximum impact.
· Bring teams together to ensure our Digital Fundraising and Engagement strategies and plans are aligned with organisational capabilities and priorities and
oversee direct interventions to take advantage of opportunities; solve problems and mitigate risks to delivery and performance.
· Lead stakeholders across the organisation, unifying separate digital fundraising and engagement campaigns and activities (paid, owned and earned) to ensure digital efforts and investments are integrated and streamlined to maximise effectiveness and efficiency in delivering organisational goals. This includes collaborating to optimise the website and use of social channels to drive agreed data acquisition, supporter engagement and income KPI’s.
· Accountable for Comic Relief’s:
- development of agreed digital campaigns, content, products and propositions and their performance against agreed organisational objectives and KPI’s.
- paid digital media programme, including the contractual and performance management of external digital agencies, specifically paid digital media, ensuring value for money and delivery to agreed KPI’s. This includes coaching and supporting the Digital Growth Manager to inspire, optimise, manage and evaluate supplier performance.
- email marketing strategy, including strategic use of marketing cloud and integration with CRM to maximise engagement and fundraising, through effective segmentation, targeting and personalisation of audiences and messages. Coach and support the Email / Digital Officer(s) to continuously test, optimise and evolve email activities to achieve agreed KPI’s.
- use of digital data (including GA4) to inform the development and optimisation of user experience and supporter journeys.
- Operate as primary point of contact with BBC Marketing and other partners, specifically in relation to digital fundraising strategies, retaining accountability for the development of Red Nose Day web pages, supplying content and performance tracking.
Leadership & Management
· Manage and coach a team of digital fundraisers to execute fundraising, (acquisition and engagement), activity across digital channels to deliver against agreed plans and objectives to time and to budget, specifically focussed on the UK public audience: individuals and communities of individuals (including schools and workplaces).
· Foster a culture of high performance and build organisational expertise through a structured test, learn and iterate approach where data, learning and insight is used to make informed decisions and implemented swiftly to ensure ongoing optimisation.
· Maintain regular two-way communication and dialogue with staff and peers, ensuring information is cascaded and escalated as needed.
· Provide balanced, constructive feedback, undertake effective performance management to embed accountability and proactively support the professional development and growth of colleagues.
· Proactively undertake performance management, prioritising workplans and setting clear and realistic objectives for individuals based on capacity, expertise, and aspirations, in line with organisational objectives.
· Play an active role in the Fundraising & PR Team, championing best practice, working collaboratively to support on a wide range of projects at peak periods and enabling inclusivity and diversity in order to drive high performance and an action-oriented culture.
Person specification
Essential criteria
· Experience of designing, implementing and optimising digital strategies and user journeys to achieve ambitious B2C sales/fundraising outcomes for a high profile brand.
· Significant experience of paid, owned and earned digital channel planning and delivery; media buying and performance management, including attribution modelling/tracking.
· Extensive knowledge and proven technical experience of using Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM); Email Service Providers (ESP) and Google Analytics (GA4) & associated systems to optimise engagement and income.
· Experience of designing and leading the development and execution of digital products and content for defined audience segments based on data insight.
· Experience of defining digital strategy and designing and managing budgets including planning, building and managing detailed, annual and campaign models and budgets.
· Proven team leadership, line manager and effective relationship builder with strong stakeholder management and communication skills, and the ability to adapt to different styles and ways of working. Able to demonstrate a coaching approach to effectively manage and motivate a team.
· Effective relationship builder with the ability to influence stakeholders and partners with proven evidence of leading and working effectively in cross-functional digital project teams to deliver organisational goals from high impact below the line public campaigns.
· Good working knowledge of regulatory requirements related to digital marketing activities, including GDPR; PECR and advertising standards.
· Commitment to Comic Relief’s values, cultural charter and Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Belonging principles.
Desirable criteria
· Experience working with Salesforce Non-profit Cloud and Marketing Cloud
· Accreditation / Qualification in Fundraising or Digital Marketing
· Experience of working within the charitable sector, including knowledge of relevant legislation and the specific considerations related to the digital fundraising context
· Evidence of deploying AI technology to pursue organisational goals and objectives
Perks and benefits:
· Flexible working hours
· Work from home option
· Life Insurance
· Wellness programs
· Employee Assistance Programme
· Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
· Paid emergency leave
· Sabbatical Opportunities
· Professional development
· Mentoring/coaching
· Paid volunteer days
· Payroll giving
· Salary sacrifice
· Team social events
· Extracurricular clubs
· Cycle to work scheme
· Free fruit
To apply please visit our website via the link and apply online.
Closing: 11:55pm, 13th Jul 2025 BST
Comic Relief reserves the right to close the role early if a large number of applications are received.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
Why work at Comic Relief
There are lots of good reasons to join us at Comic Relief. You can read more about our employee benefits, such as our commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We ask staff to come to the office twice a week, normally on agreed team days, so that we can do all those things that are difficult to do online. Our office is based in Whitechapel, London,
There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills and experience at Comic Relief, including opportunities to become a Mental Health First Aider or to participate in our Employee Network Groups that focus on making Comic Relief a more inclusive place to work.
Disability Confident Employer
As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we take positive action by providing first-round interviews to candidates who have a registered disability, provided they meet the minimum criteria for the role, as demonstrated on their CV and application questions.