Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens

Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens (Foundation & Friends) is a not-for-profit organisation that builds the community that supports the growth, sustainability and impact of the Botanic Gardens. This includes the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, the Domain, the Australian Botanic Gardens Mount Annan, and the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens Mount Tomah.

The recently renewed vision of Foundation & Friends is for “a thriving, connected community that leads fundraising and philanthropy to help the Gardens realise their vision”. That is the people, communities, institutions, and industries are informed and inspired by our Botanic Gardens, public spaces and the Australian Institute of Botanical Science. We aim to motivate them to recognise the importance of plants in their lives and to support their conservation.

It is an exciting time to be joining the team at the Foundation & Friends as a new five-year transformative strategic springboard has been confirmed by the Board, with an ambitious five-year fundraising strategy to drive real philanthropic impact for the future of the Gardens. It’s an opportunity to join an organisation supportive of investment for future growth to enhance its support of one of Australia’s oldest cultural institutions.

The Purpose of Position

This role aims to foster and build the community that supports the growth, sustainability, and impact of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney. Working with the Head of Fundraising, this role will shape the thriving community supporting the Botanic Gardens – overseeing the retention strategy, creating a cohesive communication journey for the supporters of the Foundation and driving acquisition for members and donors.

The focus will be on enhancing member benefits, leveraging data insights for communications strategy, and collaborating with the fundraising team to drive connections and engagement. This role will play an important part of building a community of 40,000 supporters including 10,000 financial members and 750 active volunteers – a role that intersects and has impact with all departments across the Foundation.

This will include identifying through data analysis prospects for engagement across membership and donations, creation of annual plans to drive membership revenue through retention programs, and the account management of highly engaged members.

This will also include development of an overarching communication strategy (in collaboration with the Marketing Manager and the Head of Fundraising) focused on supporter engagement and communication journeys for the Foundation. This role will have oversight of their lifecycle of our supporters - with the goal to cross-pollinate the membership base into other broader community areas at Foundation & Friends. Onboarding new members, and assisting the identification of, and the creation and implementation for customer journey communications will be an important part of this role.

Main Responsibilities

A: Supporter Acquisition & Retention Strategy

• Create and execute a supporter acquisition plan to identify, attract, and acquire new supporters and donors for the organisation.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive retention strategy to strengthen relationships with existing supporters. This includes building customer engagement journeys, newsletters for engagement and the development of impact reporting to connect supporters to the Gardens
• Design and execute initiatives to enhance member satisfaction, loyalty and long-term engagement of support of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney
• Create and oversee a schedule of engagement events for supporters, from event creation to event execution. This will include creation of an annual schedule, concept development, and liaison with the F&F events team for execution & logistics
• Undertake supporter research to help identify potential new connections to support the Gardens, with a view to developing long-term relationships.
• Working with the Fundraising Coordinator, support the engagement of the mid-donor (Waratah) program, ensuring a high level of engagement and renewal

B: Membership Management and Engagement

• Oversee the annual renewal process for members, including receipting, acknowledgment and payment reminders
• Develop and implement a comprehensive retention strategy to strengthen relationships with existing supporters.
• Ensure process flows are built for regular increases to membership fees that ensures bench marketing against industry standards
• Identify potential members through data analysis and engagement initiatives, collaborating with the staff team to drive donations and secure new members
• Working with the Fundraising Coordinator, support the management of the Foundation’s Waratah membership program, including engagement strategy development and relationship management
• Work with relevant staff to ensure all digital platforms and membership tools align with broader communication engagement strategy and create efficiency across membership management

C: Member Product Review and Refinement

• Undertake a thorough review of current member benefits, seeking feedback through a dedicated member engagement survey with supporters to inform and guide strategy development
• Propose and implement a new suite of benefits that align with member expectations, industry standards and organisational objectives
• Collaborate with internal departments at the Foundation and Friends to refine and optimise existing benefits and introduce new offerings aligned with member preferences and organisational goals. Implement strategies to convert engaged community members into supporters and advocates for the Foundation & Friends
• Assist creating compelling impact updates for each target group and/or individual across the supporter group at the Foundation and Friends

D: Data-driven Communication and Engagement

• Utilise data insights to understand member behaviour, preferences, and engagement patterns.
• Determine key data metrics to track and report on. Analyse the results to inform supporter retention, acquisition and events strategies as well as the donor journeys.
• Develop targeted communication and engagement strategies to build a vibrant and connected community, in collaboration with the relevant staff at Foundation & Friends
• Monitor and analyse the effectiveness of communication strategies, adjusting as needed for continuous improvement, in collaboration with key staff at Foundation & Friends

E: Other Duties

• Ensure the accurate management of data related to members
• Work with the Botanic Gardens of Sydney staff to create strong connections and relationships between the two organisations
• Undertake and support other supporter engagement activities as required by the Head of Fundraising.
• Support and assist in other projects as required by the CEO (or delegate) from time to time.

Key Responsibilities (estimate only)

• Relationship management & acquisition 30%
• Data analytics and insights 30%
• Communications 30%
• Administration 10%

Essential criteria

• Hold relevant qualifications in membership, relationship or account management, marketing, sales or relevant fields.
• Sound knowledge and/or experience in data segmentation and analysis, preferably for fundraising purposes.
• Advanced proficiency in communication, both written and verbal, with external stakeholders and in digital settings. Possesses robust copywriting skills applicable to communications, emails, and reports with a focus on external stakeholders
• Strong interpersonal skills, with ability to interact professionally with a diverse group of people.
• Advanced communication skills (writing and verbal), including with the public and in digital environments.
• Broad experience with administration including computing skills including CRM database (such as ThankQ and/or Salesforce) and excel reporting and data analysis.

Desirable Criteria

Have had experience in paid or voluntary work for a not-for-profit organisation, especially within environment or cultural institutions

Key relationships

• Reporting to the Head of Fundraising
• Work closely with the Chief Executive Officer, Business & Finance Manager, Fundraising Coordinator, Marketing & Communications Manager and Finance & Database Officer
• Key internal relationships include other Foundation & Friends staff, Board, members, and volunteers
• Key external relationships include staff and volunteers of the BGOS

Eligibility

To be appointed to this position you must be an Australian/New Zealand Citizen, or an Australian Permanent Resident currently residing in Australia.

Terms

• Remuneration as determined by non-profit benchmarking in line with Foundation & Friends policies and procedures.
• Super guarantee of 11% of base annual salary.
• Incidental expenses covered.
• Discounted parking at the Sydney Gardens and for Botanic Gardens cafes.
• Professional development is supported.
• Working at one of Australia’s most beautiful locations.

Hours of work

• Full time (37.5 hours per week, exclusive of meal breaks).
• Flexible working hours offered. Position requires the ability to work on occasion out of normal hours, including on weekends.

Place of work

• 6 Mrs Macquaries Road, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.
• Flexible working arrangements are available.

Probation

This position has a 3-month probation period.

To submit your application, click Apply Now.

Please contact Louise Claridge, Head of Fundraising at Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens via [email protected], using the subject line: Community Builder enquiry via EthicalJobs, if you have any questions.