Vice President, Direct Marketing

Job Title: Vice President, Direct Marketing Department: Development Location: Hybrid within Washington D.C. Metro area Reports to: Chief Revenue Officer Direct Reports: Yes Classification: Exempt Position type: Full-Time Employee Anticipated Pay Range at Commencement of Employment: $128,000 - $177,000 per year Blue Star Families Blue Star Families is the largest nonprofit dedicated to making military life better for families. Each year, we support over 1.5 million military- and veteran-connected family members through a national network of 450,000+ members and local chapters in communities across the country. Our mission is simple and bold: We make military life awesome for families. We listen, share, partner, and act to deliver evidence-based, data-driven solutions that work for real people. We’re a lifestyle organization, a friend and neighbor, and a trusted partner. Our approach is collaborative, human-centered, and designed with the whole family in mind. A Blue Star Family is one with an immediate family member — a spouse, parent, or child — actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Guard and Reserves. These families face unique challenges: frequent relocations, deployments, career disruption, and isolation. We respond with research-informed programs that create connection, build resilience, and foster a true sense of belonging. We serve with urgency but build trust over time — because change happens at the speed of trust. Whether we’re driving spouse employment, supporting caregivers, or helping communities welcome military families, we strive for upstream solutions. Who We’re Looking For: Bold thinkers. Fast movers. Smart collaborators. People who want to build, lead, and drive measurable change — and who care deeply about making an impact that matters. What You’ll Do Here: Solve complex challenges with data, heart, and humility Build cross-sector partnerships that get things done Help military families feel at home wherever they live If you're ready to work in a high-performance, mission-driven environment — and to make life better for those who serve — Blue Star Families is where you belong. General Description The Vice President, Direct Marketing leads the strategy and performance of Blue Star Families' direct response fundraising programs. This role grows BSF's broad base of individual donors through multi-channel direct marketing. Blue Star Families already runs a multi-channel direct response program with its agency partner, MissionWired. This role exists to scale both into a multimillion-dollar revenue line, and to lead the multimillion-dollar agency investment that growth requires. Reporting to the Chief Revenue Officer, this leader partners closely with Marketing, Development Operations, the Technology team and Chapters/Programs staff Development Operations and Chapters/Programs staff to integrate direct marketing fundraising into the organization's broader revenue strategy. As a fully remote organization, we rely on regular in-person gatherings to fulfill core business functions, including strategic planning, cross-functional collaboration and culture-building. This role requires the ability to travel overnight several times per year to attend team offsites, leadership sessions, fundraising events and company-wide events. Attendance and participation in these gatherings is a non-negotiable component of the position. Key Job Functions Direct Marketing & Mass-Market Fundraising Oversee multi-channel direct response strategy, including donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, and upgrade pathways across direct mail, email, digital advertising, SMS (360SMS), and other mass-market channels. Set annual revenue goals, budgets and performance benchmarks for direct marketing programs. Ensure rigorous segmentation, A/B testing,Ensure rigorous segmentation, list strategy (including cooperative databases, rentals and exchanges), statistically valid A/B testing, and performance-based ROI analysis to inform channel investment, with a bias toward rapid experimentation and scaling winning plays. Own the governance of a multimillion-dollar agency contract: scope of work, fee structure, transparent production pass-throughs, performance guarantees, audit rights, service levels and BSF's full ownership of its donor file and data. Manage relationships with external direct marketing vendors and agencies (e.g., MissionWired), ensuring quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness; hold partners to the same high-performance standard as internal team members. Monitor campaign performance, donor acquisition costs, retention,lifetime value, payback period and break-even metrics, adjusting strategy as needed Translate program economics for the CEO, CFO and Board, including why acquisition is an investment, what the donor file is worth and when the program is projected to break even. Build a clear pathway that moves donors from first-time gifts to recurring, mid-level and major gift potential. Launch and grow a monthly sustainer program across mail, digital, SMS and telemarketing conversion, including payment updating and recapture of lapsed sustainers. Team Leadership & Performance Management <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-