Director of Engagement, Marketing & Events

Position Summary

At Halifax Humane Society, our mission is simple: we champion pets and empower their people. Every adoption, every lifesaving surgery, every pet reunited with their family, every bag of pet food distributed, and every family helped through AccessVet begins with philanthropy.

The Director of Engagement, Marketing & Events serves as a critical member of the Advancement Division and is responsible for helping power the financial engine that makes our mission possible. This leader transforms stories into support, community passion into philanthropy, and donor generosity into lifesaving impact for thousands of animals and the people who love them.

Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, this position oversees integrated fundraising events, annual giving campaigns, donor communications, digital fundraising, and brand stewardship while helping ensure Halifax Humane Society has the resources necessary to save lives today and build a more humane community for tomorrow.

This role is ideal for an individual who believes fundraising is mission work, understands the power of storytelling, and wants to be part of a team committed to keeping pets healthy, happy, and at home with the families who love them.

Signature Fundraising Events

• Provide leadership and hands-on production oversight for Furball and Mutt Strut, two signature fundraising events that collectively generate more than $1 million annually in unrestricted operating support for Halifax Humane Society's lifesaving mission.

• Direct event strategy, sponsorship fulfillment, budgets, volunteer committees, vendor relationships, logistics, timelines, and exceptional donor experiences.

• Supervise and support the Events Assistant while coordinating volunteers, sponsors, community leaders, and event committees.

Digital Fundraising & Annual Giving

• Provide strategic oversight and execution support for integrated annual giving and digital fundraising campaigns across email, online giving, paid media, text messaging, direct mail, and social media channels.

• Manage relationships with external fundraising and marketing partners including:

  - Faircom New York, serving as the organization's digital fundraising partner and manager of the Google Ad Grant program.

  - Synergy, supporting SMS and text fundraising campaigns and mid-level constituent engagement strategies.

  - Black Swan, overseeing direct mail fundraising strategy, production, and performance.

• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to grow donor acquisition, retention, recurring giving, and online revenue performance.

Brand Stewardship & Storytelling

• Serve as steward of the Halifax Humane Society brand and ensure all communications align with organizational mission, values, and strategic priorities.

• Lead storytelling efforts that connect donors to impact and demonstrate how philanthropy changes lives for pets and families throughout the community.

• Provide leadership and direction to the Social Media & Marketing Manager and support integrated communications planning across all channels.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, nonprofit management, business, or related field.

• Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit fundraising, advancement communications, annual giving, or event leadership.

• Demonstrated success producing large-scale fundraising events with six- and seven-figure revenue goals.

• Demonstrated experience managing integrated fundraising campaigns across direct mail, digital fundraising, email marketing, online giving, text messaging, and social media platforms.

• Experience managing agency and vendor relationships to achieve fundraising and engagement objectives.

• Salesforce for Nonprofits, GoFundMe Pro, or comparable CRM and fundraising platform experience required.

• Significant hands-on production experience leading volunteers, vendors, sponsors, and multiple teams in complex event environments.

• Strong storytelling, project management, leadership, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential preferred.

• Candidates without CFRE certification should demonstrate a commitment to obtaining the credential within an agreed-upon timeframe after hire.

• Halifax Humane Society proudly supports professional development and will provide financial support for CFRE coursework, examination fees, continuing education, and ongoing professional credential maintenance.

Closing Statement

Since 1937, Halifax Humane Society has worked to champion pets and empower their people throughout our community.

If you believe every family deserves access to veterinary care, every healthy and treatable pet deserves a chance, and every donor deserves to know their generosity changes lives, we invite you to join our team.

This is more than a marketing position. This is an opportunity to help build the future of animal welfare in our community and ensure that more pets remain healthy, happy, and at home with the people who love them.