Dan Hitchen
Jersey City
Summary
Fundraising and marketing professional with experience contributing to mission-driven fundraising efforts to support conservation and science, while consistently sparking annual giving participation and growth.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
5
5
Certifications
Work History
Direct Response Fundraising Coordinator
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Ithaca
02.2020 - Current
- Planned and executed integrated direct response fundraising campaigns across mail, email, social, and digital channels, generating 10% annual revenue growth and engaging 130,000 donors and members.
- Managed end-to-end production for 10+ multi-channel campaigns annually, defining scope, timelines, and deliverables; coordinated creative assets (photo, video, audio) and partnered with 10+ internal teams and vendors to deliver projects on time and on budget.
- Collaborated with program staff and agencies to write and deploy 20 solicitation and stewardship emails, mail pieces, and related fundraising materials annually, enhancing donor engagement and support.
- Led organization-wide copy approvals and quality assurance across 50+ campaign assets per year-including emails, mail pieces, landing pages, scripts, audience segmentation, and data plans-ensuring accuracy and alignment with fundraising strategy.
- Managed and optimized more than 20 online donation forms annually, updating copy, visuals, and gift-tracking elements to improve donor experience and increase conversion rates by 12%.
- Monitored campaign performance across channels, analyzing response rates and average gift to recommend strategic adjustments that improved overall fundraising effectiveness.
- Deployed email campaigns and managed landing pages using platforms such as Engaging Networks and HubSpot, sending dozens of emails per year to more than 6 million contacts.
Communications Intern
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence
06.2019 - 08.2019
- Created content for departmental magazine and developed narrative of institutional and alumni history for alumni website.
- Crafted segmented letters to enhance donor relations and strengthen engagement with RISD Fund contributors.
- Researched RISD and Providence archives to compile significant histories, chronologies, events, and documents for institutional messaging.
Annual Giving Graduate Assistant
The College of New Jersey
Ewing
09.2018 - 05.2019
- Assisted in planning and executing events like TAG (Thank a Giver) Day and TCNJ's 4th Annual Day of Giving, driving participation that exceeded goals by 35%.
- Crafted targeted copy for solicitations, stewardship, email, direct mail, crowdfunding, and social media to enhance engagement.
- Developed annual giving marketing strategy, utilizing marketing and fundraising platforms like ThankView, Social Toaster, and GiveCampus to maximize constituent engagement.
Education
Masters - English
The College of New Jersey
Ewing, NJ01.2019
Skills
- Donor Acquisition & Stewardship
- Fundraising Copywriting & Editing
- Integrated Campaign Management
- Email & Digital Marketing
- Audience Segmentation
- Campaign Performance Analysis
- A/B Testing
- Email Platform Management (HubSpot/MailChimp)
- Engaging Networks
- Project Management
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Vendor Management
- Content Strategy
- HTML & CSS (Working Knowledge)
- Microsoft Office Suite
Certification
Digital Marketing
Timeline
Direct Response Fundraising Coordinator
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
02.2020 - Current
Communications Intern
Rhode Island School of Design
06.2019 - 08.2019
Annual Giving Graduate Assistant
The College of New Jersey
09.2018 - 05.2019
Masters - English
The College of New Jersey