Retention & Development Manager

Hybrid / High Wycombe (a minimum of one day per week on site)

Band 4: £36,000 – £38,000 + £312 working-from-home allowance

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:

The Fundraising & Communications cluster strengthens 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:

As Retention & Development Manager, you’ll 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

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 mid-value 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.

Company Overview

As a Christian development charity, we partner with Christians in the Middle East as they work to transform lives and restore the dignity of the most excluded and marginalised communities. Where there is a need – for refuge, a home, for health care, for education, for justice and human rights – we, with our partners, respond. Our goal is to contribute to a culture of human flourishing in a troubled region.

For more information and to apply, please visit our careers portal.

Closing date: 5.00pm on Tuesday, 12th May 2026.