Senior Associate, Marketing & Communications: Cradles to Crayons

ABOUT CRADLES TO CRAYONS:

Cradles to Crayons (C2C), founded in 2002, provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive—at home, at school, and at play. We supply clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies, and more, free of charge. Our vision is that one day all children will have the essentials they need to thrive.

Two in 5 kids in the United States are currently facing Clothing Insecurity, going without basic essentials like pants, shoes, diapers, and school supplies during their critical development years. Three of the top 10 reasons kids miss school are rooted in Clothing Insecurity—just one example of the significant short- and long-term social and economic costs when these needs go unmet. Cradles to Crayons keeps Clothing Insecurity at the core of our mission and is the only large-scale nonprofit organization to focus on this resource gap. Since its founding, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than three million customized packages of essentials to children in Massachusetts, Greater Philadelphia, Chicagoland, and nationally, through Giving Factory Direct—a first-in-kind online product donation platform launched in 2021.

Cradles to Crayons takes a three-pronged approach to mitigating Clothing Insecurity:

  1. In-person Engagement—through tens of thousands of children and adults volunteering at our Giving Factory warehouses to sort and package high volumes of new and like-new donations from our communities for our Service Partners to distribute to the children they serve.
  2. Online Product Donations—Giving Factory Direct matches product donors directly to children who need the items they have to donate. GFD is currently available in a growing number of communities as we expand our reach nationally.
  3. Advocacy and Awareness—Cradles to Crayons is uniquely positioned to raise Clothing Insecurity as a national issue through awareness campaigns, data/evaluation, and legislative outreach.

Cradles to Crayons has earned the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator for 13 consecutive years. Only 2% of charities nationwide have received this distinction. C2C has a budget of $12.9M for FY22.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

You will be joining a small team working in a start-up environment, but with the added benefits of significant institutional knowledge and shared services, which enables the team to focus on achieving its ambitious goal of scaling to serve 100K children in 3 years. Reporting to the Digital Marketing Manager (DMM), the Sr. Associate, Marketing & Communications (SAMC) will be responsible for coordinating Giving Factory Direct’s marketing and communications efforts, including content development and design of marketing collateral, website, press releases, social media, and email communication and the implementation of consistent GFD/C2C branding. They will also support and provide GFD’s perspective on strategic marketing initiatives as opportunities arise, as well as act as a key contributor on the Cross Market Marketing Team. Additionally, they will work in partnership with external agencies and vendors to support the development and implementation of marketing campaigns.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Model and lead a positive “One Cradles to Crayons” culture, underpinned by Cradles to Crayons’ Cultural Values and related behaviors. Partner with Giving Factory Direct leadership to ensure positive and engaging experience for donors and partners

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS:

Strategy

  • Work with DMM, GFD colleagues, and external Marketing consultants/agencies to increase presence and brand awareness for Giving Factory Direct in New York City and Nationally.
  • Work with the GFD leadership team and staff to recognize internal and external communications opportunities and solutions and define and execute appropriate strategies to support them.

Messaging

  • In partnership with the DMM and Marketing Team, create and test persuasive, sensitive, and engaging messaging.
  • Maintain copy and voice consistency, accuracy, and editing for all communications.

Email

  • In partnership with the DMM and the Marketing Team, design engaging email marketing campaigns and e-blasts establish and track relevant metrics.

Social Media

  • In conjunction with the DMM, conceptualize, write, and edit content for the website and social media platforms and engage with followers on all GFD social media platforms;
  • Work with C2C National to implement One Cradles to Crayons social media messaging

Design

  • Conceptualize and design flyers, graphics, informational packets, presentations, and other requisite print and online collateral.
  • Ensure that internal and external communications and collateral materials are current, effective, and are consistent with Cradles to Crayons’ brand and messaging.
  • Maintain the integrity of sponsor logos and brand in marketing and sponsor materials.
  • Create and manage an asset library for creative resources.

Website

  • Create, coordinate, and maintain new and updated content for the GFD & NYC website, including blogs, testimonials, awards, and news.
  • Work across C2C departments to ensure information is engaging, accurate and timely, and relevant depending on initiative and audience.

General

  • Maintain a press archive for print, radio, video, or TV articles and a photo database for use in email communication, social media, and marketing collateral.
  • Collect, create, and distribute “impact stories” and short video snapshots
  • Create and manage the marketing and communications plan, and internal and external calendars, in conjunction with the DMM and XMKTG Team.
  • Test and track marketing (e.g., email, social media, website) to determine which elicit the best response/return. Adjust marketing efforts accordingly.
  • Report out regularly on marketing results; recommend results-based next steps
  • Assist in the planning of existing and new events; assist during events as needed.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

  • Donor acquisitions
  • Donor behavior and trends
  • Donor social engagement
  •  % of projects delivered on time and budget
  • Revenue generation and user growth from digital initiatives

Required Experience/Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

  • 1-3 years relevant marketing and communications experience.
  • Bachelor’s degree in related field
  • Demonstrated excellence in written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail.
  • Experience using digital marketing to raise awareness and acquire leads
  • Working knowledge of Sugar, or other email/marketing automation tools.
  • Facility/familiarity with Adobe Suite design tools, Salesforce or another CRM, and WordPress.
  • Experience using Google Analytics
  • Endlessly curious in how emerging digital marketing trends can translate into excellent user experiences
  • Ability to thrive in a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and collaborative environment and juggle multiple projects simultaneously.
  • Can-do attitude.
  • Non-profit experience a plus.

COVID-19 Vaccines

Cradles to Crayons has a COVID vaccine requirement for all staff. We are committed to a safe workplace and doing our part to address the pandemic.

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH

Diversity and Inclusiveness are core values at Cradles to Crayons, and we continuously strive to be a team where everyone feels welcome and supported. It is the policy of Cradles to Crayons to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Working Conditions:

This is an office / work from home remote virtual environment with occasional visits to C2C Giving Factories. There are no hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions.

Accommodation:

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made by Cradles to Crayons which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others, or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

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