BACKGROUND
Over the past 90 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees experiencing war or disaster. The IRC is on the ground in more than 50 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster.
The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.
IRC UK
IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees in England; a programme that is rapidly growing.
In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm.
Job Overview
The Purpose of the Role
The Mass Market team’s mission is to inspire the UK public to financially support the IRC in order to help people impacted by conflict and disaster. Having significantly grown the individual giving programme in recent years, we are now looking for an experienced Supporter Care Manager to take our Supporter Services programme to the next level.
The main focus of this new role is to develop and professionalise our Supporter Services programme, ensuring our supporters have a first-class experience, and that they develop a positive and lasting relationship with the IRC. Working in partnership with the fundraising, gift processing and CRM teams, and overseeing our external call centre, the post-holder will shape the strategy in line with the projected growth of the fundraising programme. Due to the size of the programme, the role will be responsible for service delivery, and there will be opportunity to grow the team in line with the growth of the programme in future years.
Team Chart
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Strategy and planning (30%)
- Work with the Director, Mass Markets UK to create and implement a donor-centric Supporter Care strategy and priorities as part of the wider Mass Markets strategy
- Manage 3rd party inbound call centre relationship and contracts, including leading on procurement of new services, ensuring all work carried out is to a high standard and represents value for money
- Lead annual, quarterly and monthly planning process, defining key deliverables and initiatives that advance the Supporter Care programme, ensuring all activities support the aims of the departmental strategy
- Collaborate with global Supporter Care team members to share best practice, new initiatives and contribute to global projects
- Manage and plan internal and external resource during in peak times, e.g. Year End and emergency appeals
- Work closely with the Mass Market teams to increase connection across the department, contribute to cross-departmental planning with the ultimate aim of developing a seamless progression for new donors and prospects into further cultivation
- Feed into fundraising planning by providing insight, feedback and themes from supporter communications
- Identify and brief support requirements with internal and external stakeholders in order to ensure the smooth running and enhancement of operations
- Create and manage the Supporter Services expenditure budget and reforecasts
- Programme delivery (50%)
- Provide first-class service to our supporters across telephone, email and post, and across comments on our social media advertising and inboxes – ensuring you represent IRC appropriately, by responding to all supporter enquiries, actions and complaints in a professional manner and within agreed SLAs
- Manage the third party inbound call centre, ensuring they are briefed on upcoming campaigns and activity and monitoring their output
- Liaise across Acquisition, Retention and Legacy to ensure response handling and supporter enquiries are streamlined during campaign activity, including during emergency appeals with the Disasters Emergency Committee
- Manage supporters who are fundraising on our behalf (community and events) and provide encouragement, fundraising support and assistance across fundraising platforms
- Be the first point of contact for Legacy enquirers, providing initial stewardship and effectively transferring the relationship to Mass Market and Philanthropy teams
- Use agreed letter templates and craft bespoke responses using the supporter care database and FAQs
- Ensure interactions are logged on the CRM in a timely and accurate manner
- Accurately enter or amend supporter data on the CRM
- Ensure our thanking and acknowledgment communications are up to date and engaging
- Fulfil information packs and other items to supporters and legacy enquirers
- Maintain Community and Events fundraising pages on website, ensuring they are up-to-date, relevant and engaging
- Work closely with the gift processing team to ensure gifts, Gift Aid declarations and other relevant actions are processed or amended in a timely manner
- Compliance and operations (20%)
- Set and manage SLAs across all aspects of the programme, including with external suppliers
- Manage the quality compliance audit with the call centre, including undertaking regular caller listening
- Create and manage a framework to track supporter care performance, including complaints, and provide regular reporting to key colleagues
- Develop and maintain internal and public facing Supporter Care policies and guidelines
- Provide regular training and best practice to public-facing colleagues across IRC UK on handling supporter interactions appropriately
- Maintain an up-to-date knowledge and foster the development of Supporter Care within IRC by networking within the NGO and private sector to learn and import best practice
- Stay up to date on current legislation, and industry standards and adhere to all relevant regulation including the Fundraising Regulator, Gambling Commission and ICO
- Develop and enhance supporter services procedures and documents, ensuring they are kept up to date, particularly during emergency appeals
The above duties are intended to be an outline of the responsibilities for this role and are not an an exhaustive list. You may be expected to undertake other reasonable duties as requested by the Director, Mass Markets and the Mass Markets UK leadership team. This post may involve some national and international travel, overnight stays and very occasional working outside core office hours.
Scope and Authority
Responsibility for Resources: expenditure budget associated with supporter care costs and third party contractors. There is no income expectation for this role.
Key Working Relationships
- Director, Mass Markets UK
- Acquisition team
- Retention team
- Global Supporter Experience
- Supporter Care equivalents in other IRC geographies
- Gift Processing
- Finance
- Data and Analytics
- Comms, Digital Engagement and Creative Studio
- Martech Systems & Platforms
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential Knowledge and Experience:
- Experience leading or managing a supporter (or customer) care programme and strategy
- Experience interacting with supporters or customers in a customer service or customer facing setting
- Excellent written English, with the ability to produce well written, strong communications and reports
- Numerate with confident data interpretation skills
- Excellent organisational skills
- Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)
- Experience with a CRM system
Essential skills
- Ability to communicate confidently and effectively with supporters over the phone, email and other channels
- Ability to handle difficult conversations with supporters sensitively and diplomatically, ensuring a professional attitude is shown at all times
- Strong interpersonal skills, with the confidence to engage with supporters and manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels
- Driven and proactive with a solutions-based attitude
- Willing to work independently and to take the initiative
- A team player who enjoys working collaboratively and supporting colleagues
Language Skills: English (fluent).
How to apply
Please apply through our website