Director of Membership Programs

Title: Director of Membership Programs

Schedule Format - Location: Hybrid - San Francisco

Pay Information: Salary Range: $125,547 - $137,000

Position Summary The Director of Membership Programs leads the strategy and growth of KQED’s on-air, third-party, and emerging membership fundraising channels. This role manages a portfolio that includes on-air fundraising, matching gifts, vehicle and real estate donations, and other third-party programs, while identifying and testing new opportunities to grow membership revenue. This is a strategy and growth role with responsibility for evaluating the performance and potential of each fundraising channel, determining where KQED should invest, improve, scale, or shift resources, and building a disciplined pipeline of new tests and initiatives. The Director develops business cases, establishes goals and measures of success, manages key vendor relationships and contracts, and uses performance data to make recommendations about the future of the portfolio.

The Director supervises the Fundraising Manager, who leads the day-to-day planning and production of KQED’s radio membership drives and year-round on-air fundraising calendar, as well as a NABET-represented staff member who manages the day-to-day operations of KQED’s current third-party fundraising programs. The Director sets strategy, priorities, and revenue goals across both areas and is accountable for overall performance.

This role works closely with colleagues across Membership, Development, Product, Data and Analytics, Programming, Content and Donor Services to ensure fundraising channels work together to grow revenue, acquire new members and strengthen long-term donor relationships.

The ideal candidate is analytical and entrepreneurial, with experience growing or improving fundraising programs. They are comfortable testing new ideas, making decisions with imperfect information, managing external partners, and translating data into clear recommendations. They are also a collaborative leader with a strong commitment to public media and KQED’s mission.

KQED envisions a public media organization with a culture that centers on human dignity, equity, and belonging. This will enable us to better serve and reflect the Bay Area through diverse and inclusive storytelling. 

We value the contributions of marginalized people in society — including Black, Indigenous, and all people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ people — and we believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do, and we strongly encourage members of these communities to apply.

KQED Code of Ethics

The mission that drives us:

KQED provide citizens of Northern California with a community-supported alternative to commercial media. We provide citizens with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions; convene community dialogue; bring the arts to everyone and engage audiences to share their stories. We help students and teachers thrive in 21st-century classrooms, and take people of all ages on journeys of exploration- exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

This role will work hybrid between working in KQED's newly renovated headquarters and working remotely.

Essential Functions:

Fundraising Channel Strategy & Growth

• Own the strategy, growth, and performance of KQED’s portfolio of third-party and emerging membership fundraising channels.
• Supervise and support the NABET-represented staff member responsible for the day-to-day management and administration of KQED’s existing third-party fundraising programs.
• Manage key vendor and partner relationships, including contracts, performance expectations, and service levels.
• Evaluate existing programs, including vehicle and real estate donations, to identify opportunities to grow, improve, restructure, or discontinue programs.
• Develop a pipeline of new fundraising channel opportunities and establish a disciplined process for testing, evaluating, and scaling them.
• Identify trends, technologies, partnerships, and fundraising models that could create new revenue opportunities for KQED.

• Work closely with Donor Services, Finance, Legal, Marketing, and other teams to ensure programs operate efficiently and provide a strong donor experience.

On-Air Fundraising Leadership

• With the department lead, set the annual strategy, revenue goals, and overall approach for KQED’s radio fundraising and year-round broadcast membership promotion.
• Supervise and support the Fundraising Manager, who leads the planning, production, and execution of radio membership drives and the on-air fundraising calendar.
• Partner with Programming, News, Content and Membership leadership on drive strategy, campaign timing, messaging and major promotional opportunities.
• Review performance across drives and on-air campaigns and identify opportunities to improve revenue, donor acquisition, recurring giving and audience experience.
• Ensure on-air fundraising strategies are coordinated with digital, direct marketing and other membership efforts.

Cross-Departmental Collaboration

• Partner with acquisition and retention teams to ensure new fundraising channels complement existing donor strategies rather than operate in isolation.
• Coordinate with Development on opportunities that connect membership fundraising with major donor and philanthropic initiatives.
• Work with Product and digital teams to ensure donor journeys from broadcast, third-party, and emerging channels connect effectively to KQED’s digital donation experience.
• Bring audience, donor, and channel insights into broader Membership planning and strategy.
• Build alignment across teams around priorities, investment decisions, and measures of success.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Manage, coach and develop the Fundraising Manager and NABET-represented third-party fundraising staff member, providing clear priorities, feedback and support while respecting the roles, responsibilities and requirements of represented staff.
• Foster a collaborative, creative and mission-driven environment within the Membership team.
• Encourage experimentation while creating clear expectations for how tests are structured, evaluated, and learned from.
• Champion continuous improvement and a culture where teams use data and audience insight to make stronger decisions.

Other Job Functions

• Serve as a leader for new strategic initiatives within the Membership department as assigned by the VP of Membership.
• Represent Membership in cross-functional planning and organizational initiatives when appropriate.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Candidate Qualifications

Professional Background

• 7+ years of experience in fundraising, membership, revenue growth, business development, direct-to-consumer programs, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success launching, growing, or improving revenue-generating programs.
• Experience managing a portfolio of programs or channels and making decisions about where to invest, scale, or shift resources.
• Experience developing business cases, setting revenue goals, managing budgets, and forecasting performance.
• Experience managing external vendors, partners, or contracts.
• Experience managing and developing staff.
• Ability to operate effectively in an environment where not every opportunity has a clear roadmap or established playbook.

Strategic & Analytical Skills

• Strong analytical skills and experience using data to evaluate opportunities and make decisions.
• Ability to move from broad strategy to clear priorities, tests, and action plans.
• Experience establishing success metrics and evaluating performance against them.
• Comfort balancing short-term revenue goals with longer-term growth opportunities.
• Strong judgment and the ability to make recommendations with incomplete information.
• Ability to clearly communicate the rationale behind investment and prioritization decisions.

Collaboration & Partnership

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as a peer partner across teams and functions.
• Strong relationship-building skills and experience bringing together stakeholders with different priorities.
• Ability to influence without relying solely on direct authority.
• Skilled at managing external partners and holding vendors accountable for results.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate strategy, performance, and recommendations clearly to a range of audiences.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in public media, nonprofit membership, subscription, direct response, or another audience-supported business.
• Familiarity with on-air fundraising, broadcast fundraising, or public media membership programs.
• Experience with third-party fundraising programs such as vehicle donations, planned giving lead-generation programs, or other external fundraising partnerships.
• Familiarity with CRM and donor data systems; ROI Solutions experience is a plus.
• Experience testing and launching new revenue or acquisition channels.

Mission Alignment

• Deep commitment to the values and mission of public media, including service to diverse communities and audiences.
• Commitment to fostering a workplace culture rooted in collaboration, equity, inclusion, and respect

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