Vice President, Client Services

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Strategic Fundraising, Inc. is a direct response fundraising agency serving a nationwide base of clients in the GOP political arena as well as in the not for profit sector. The company was founded in 1991 and currently employs nearly 700 individuals at its headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota and four other facilities located throughout the Midwest.

Strategic Fundraising provides outbound and inbound telefundraising services, database management, online fundraising and caging and fulfillment services to a growing list of blue chip, nationally recognized political and non-profit organizations.

The company is strongly oriented to create/drive growth and Strategic’s employees take great pride in their ability to provide high quality, results-oriented fundraising services, strategies and solutions to their clients.  Over the past 18 years, Strategic has earned numerous awards and recognition for its innovative, creative fundraising solutions.

THE ROLE

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice-President, Client Services is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, retention, and growth by overseeing the development and delivery of fundraising strategies, services and solutions to all Strategic Fundraising’s clients. 

The Vice President will lead a team of account management and fundraising support professionals.  As a critical member of the company’s executive leadership team, the Vice President will also work closely with his/her peers who lead operations, technology, finance, marketing and human resources functions for the organization.

Success will be measured by the candidate’s ability to provide strong leadership to the client services team, provide outstanding levels of service to our clients and implement best practices to improve overall business performance.  Additional measures of success will include the management of client sales forecasting, budgeting and cost management, employee and client satisfaction and other measures of client service department performance/productivity.  Ultimately, the key measurements are client satisfaction and growth, employee satisfaction and effectiveness, and overall operating effectiveness.

This position will be based in St. Paul, Minnesota and will require some travel related to new business development, client contact and national trade shows or related conferences. 

Direct Reports

There are currently eleven members of the Client Services team including account directors, account associates, a fulfillment manager, a business analyst/modeler, and a communications manager.  The company is currently recruiting candidates for the newly created role of Director of Fundraising Strategy, and several current members of the Client Services team will report to this individual when hired.  In order to support expected new client and business growth, the size of the Client Services staff is expected to increase considerably over the next 12-24 months.

Specific Responsibilities:

• This individual will be responsible for leading, developing and managing a strong Client Services team capable of designing and delivering unparalleled direct-response fundraising services.   


• The Vice President, Client Services, will oversee strategic account planning and forecasting to ensure business efficiency, client retention and realization of full business potential within each client account.   


• This position will require the Vice President, Client Services to demonstrate a leadership role both inside and outside the company by being visible with clients and by attending and presenting at appropriate conferences and industry functions in order to promote the image and objectives of the Company.   


• S/he will help drive overall company growth by helping identify unmet client needs and conceptualizing new service offerings to address them. In addition, the Client Services team will support new client acquisition efforts by partnering with members of the Business Development team in their sales efforts, presentations and delivery of initial projects.  


• This individual will partner with the other members of the Company executive team through development, implementation, and oversight of performance standards, business processes and operating and reporting systems/tools that meet the objectives of the company and its clients.  


• S/he will ensure related client services standards, systems and processes are established, maintained and supported. 


• This individual will participate, as a member of the Company Executive Team, in establishing the strategic plans, goals and direction for the organization.

Ideal Candidate Characteristics:

The ideal candidate will be a proven business leader with a minimum of ten years of senior management experience in providing exceptional client services which resulted in retention and revenue growth.  Specific experience in the direct marketing, direct-response fundraising, advertising or tele-services arenas is a definite plus.

As a strong leader, the ideal candidate will excel at communicating organizational goals, vision and values to the staff and supervising the development of employees, creating a team environment, and fostering cross-functional communication and collaboration.

It is critical that the individual is able to measure, report and effectively use the metrics of the business operations to improve the success measurements of the operation.  Strong analytical skills are required.

The successful candidate will possess a Bachelors degree in Business, Marketing, Communications or other related field.  An MBA is preferred.

The Vice President, Client Services will also demonstrate the following characteristics:

• Communication Skills – An outstanding ability to condense and communicate, both in oral and written forms. 


• Concern for Quality Service – A sense of personal pride and attention to detail in providing service and counsel to the leadership and employees of the organization.  


• Integrity and Ethics – Sets high standards of conduct for self both personally and professionally.  He/she aligns words and actions with the ethical standards of the organization. 


• Desire for Knowledge – A strong desire to know more about the business, its people, and issues.  Asks a series of probing questions to get to the root of a situation or problem, by asking questions of those closest to the problem. 


• Achievement Orientation – Competes against the standard of excellence.  Makes decisions, sets priorities, or chooses goals using all information at his/her disposal. 


• Teamwork and Collaboration – Natural instinct and ability to work collaboratively with others, and to build teams rather than foster competitive or isolated approaches. 


• Direct and Straightforward Style – Ability to discuss complex legal issues frankly and deal with them straightforwardly.  Confronts others openly and tactfully about talent and business issues.  Clearly articulates the needs and aspirations or the company. 


• Persuasiveness – Ability to argue logically, rationally and convincingly.  Utilizes interpersonal skills in situations to limit negative impacts on the company, and to make desired outcomes occur. 

Compensation Package

Recognizing the importance of this role to our overall company success, Strategic Fundraising, Inc. is offering a competitive compensation package including salary, annual bonus compensation and equity opportunity combined with a very solid benefits package.