Vice President, Direct Marketing & Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Job Title: Vice President, Direct Marketing & Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Department: Development

Location: Hybrid within Washington D.C. Metro area

Reports to: Chief Development Officer

Direct Reports: No

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 300,000+ 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 & Peer-to-Peer Fundraising leads the strategy and performance of Blue Star Families' direct response and peer-to-peer fundraising programs. This role grows BSF's broad base of individual donors through multi-channel direct marketing. It also builds scalable peer-to-peer and grassroots giving programs that engage volunteers, ambassadors, chapter members and community members as fundraisers on behalf of military families.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer and directly supervising [direct report title(s)], this leader partners closely with Marketing, Development Operations and Chapters/Programs staff to integrate direct marketing and peer-to-peer fundraising into the organization's broader revenue strategy.

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, and other mass-market channels.

Set annual revenue goals, budgets and performance benchmarks for direct marketing programs.

Ensure rigorous segmentation, A/B testing, and performance-based ROI analysis to inform channel investment, with a bias toward rapid experimentation and scaling winning plays.

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, and lifetime value metrics, adjusting strategy as needed.

Build a clear pathway that moves donors from first-time gifts to recurring, mid-level and major gift potential.

Peer-to-Peer & Grassroots Fundraising

Design and grow peer-to-peer fundraising programs (e.g., team and individual fundraising campaigns, DIY fundraising, ambassador programs) to diversify and expand BSF's donor base.

Partner with Marketing to build compelling peer-to-peer campaign assets, digital fundraising pages, and participant communications.

Develop toolkits, training and playbooks that equip volunteers, ambassadors and chapter leaders to fundraise effectively.

Set and track participant recruitment, fundraising, and retention goals across peer-to-peer campaigns.

Create a visible scoreboard and recognition program that celebrates top fundraisers and teams and fuels healthy competition.

Launch, test, and iterate on new peer-to-peer concepts quickly, scaling winning approaches and retiring those that underperform.

Convert peer-to-peer donors and participants into ongoing supporters through targeted direct marketing follow-up.

Team Leadership & Performance Management

Supervise staff and provide leadership and coaching to expand the chapter fundraising support function.

Develop, coach, and appraise staff to ensure high performance and professional growth, providing regular, candid feedback and addressing performance gaps promptly.

Build a high-talent-density team in which every member understands the strategy, owns their results, and makes decisions quickly.

Foster a collaborative, solutions-oriented culture aligned with BSF values across the chapter network, grounded in freedom, responsibility, and accountability.

Program Integration & Cross-Functional Coordination

Partner with Marketing & Communications on donor messaging, campaign creative, branding and channel strategy.

Coordinate with the Chapters/Programs team to engage chapter members and volunteers in peer-to-peer campaigns.

Ensure alignment between direct marketing, peer-to-peer, major gifts, corporate and events strategies to build strong donor pipelines.

Systems, Data & Reporting

Oversee accurate tracking of chapter and peer-to-peer fundraising activity within the CRM, ensuring data integrity and consistent reporting.

Establish performance dashboards and revenue pacing for direct marketing and peer-to-peer channels, using them as a real-time scoreboard for the team.

Provide regular reporting to the Chief Development Officer, and to the Board as needed, on channel performance, donor retention and revenue forecasts.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Experience, Skills, Background

8+ years of progressive nonprofit development experience, including experience with chapter-based, affiliate, or peer-to-peer fundraising models.

3+ years of experience managing staff or leading a team.

Demonstrated experience building or scaling peer-to-peer, grassroots, or volunteer-driven fundraising programs.

A proven track record of meeting or exceeding ambitious revenue and participation goals, with specific, measurable wins you can speak to.

An athlete's mindset: high energy, competitive drive, resilience after setbacks, and a hunger to keep improving.

A coach's ability to motivate, hold accountable, and bring out the best in staff and volunteers alike.

Comfort operating with a high degree of autonomy and accountability, and the ability to give and receive candid feedback.

Experience developing training, toolkits, or resources to support a distributed or volunteer fundraising network.

Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to motivate and support volunteer leaders across a geographically dispersed organization.

Demonstrated success working with CRM systems (preferably Salesforce) and peer-to-peer fundraising platforms.

Strong organizational, analytical, and communication skills.

Ability to travel to chapters and organizational gatherings several times per year, including overnight travel.

May be required to work nights, weekends, and holidays as necessary to carry out key job functions.

Desired Experience, Skills & Background

Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, business administration, or a related field.

Experience in membership-driven, chapter-based, or affiliate nonprofit organizations.

Familiarity with the military and Veteran-connected community.

Experience with peer-to-peer fundraising software (e.g., Classy, GoFundMe Charity, OneCause).

Experience in a high-growth, performance-driven culture (nonprofit or private sector).

More About Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families empowers military and Veteran families to thrive by connecting them with their civilian neighbors — both people and organizations — to create strong communities of mutual support. We believe we're all stronger when we take care of one another.

Our groundbreaking research is raising the nation's awareness of the unique challenges of military family life. With the help of neighbors across the country, Blue Star Families is overcoming the isolation and alienation of frequent moves, deployments, and reduced support from the government. Our innovative programs are solving specific challenges for military families, including fighting economic insecurity with resources that foster spouse career development, creating family strength with rich family programming, and providing critical peer support for caregivers, whose numbers are only increasing.

Blue Star Families is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

EEO Policy

Blue Star Families is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Why Blue Star Families?

Mission-driven work supporting military service members and their families

Flexible work options (remote, or hybrid depending on the role)

Competitive salary

Comprehensive benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance

403(b) retirement plan with employer match

Flexible Spending Accounts, life insurance, and disability insurance

Communications allowance

Professional development and career growth opportunities

PCS leave for Active Duty military spouses