Our Mission

Lions, Tigers & Bears (LTB) provides a safe haven for abused and abandoned exotic animals and serving as an educational forum to end the exotic animal trade. As a state and federally licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we are a NO KILL, NO BREED sanctuary enabling the animals in our care to live out their lives with dignity, in a caring and safe environment.

Our Story

Situated on 93 acres outside of Alpine, California, on the edge of the Cleveland National Forest, Lions Tigers & Bears is an animal sanctuary for rescued big cats, bears and other exotic animals. Nestled in a scenic landscape of majestic oak trees, meadows, and rolling hills, our sanctuary offers an idyllic, natural habitat for more than 60 animals who have been neglected and abused in captivity across the country.

Each year our rescue team travels several thousand miles to save abused, neglected and abandoned animals from around the country. We provide medical care and safe transport to an approved facility, or back to our ranch in Alpine, if we have habitat available. Open 52 weeks a year and with just 18 staff, we rely heavily on our corps of over 100 amazing volunteers to make it all happen.

Lions, Tigers & Bears is also a conservancy, preserving this pristine landscape for the public to experience and enjoy. Our focus is on education and action, with over 14,000 visitors participating in our programs and tours last year. As a young organization, we have major growth potential as we look to increase not only our number of annual visitors, but also our corporate events, weddings, retreats and other family gatherings hosted each year in this incredible natural environment. Please visit https://www.lionstigersandbears.org to learn more about our organization.

Position Summary

The Director of Events & Marketing is a newly created position and will be an essential member of our team, focused on building awareness of the sanctuary and the wide array of amazing events we can host. This position is responsible for the planning and execution of high-quality events, meetings, and special visits throughout the year. The Director of Events & Marketing will produce one large annual event (up to 500 guests and approximately 2 smaller engagement events each year. Serving as a frontline fundraiser, this position will engage new and existing individual donor prospects, corporations, and foundations to develop major gifts, event sponsorships, auction items, and other donations.

In addition to supporting our philanthropic events and fundraisers, this position will oversee all areas of business development and revenue diversification, enabling Lions, Tigers & Bears to generate critical income to support our nonprofit mission of caring for abused, neglected and abandoned exotic animals.

In this highly multifaceted role, the Director will serve as the link between the event host/client and our organization. This includes sales strategy, budgeting and forecasting, marketing, communications and operations for events such as fundraisers, school/educational groups, corporate events, weddings and family gatherings. The Director will conduct market research to identify prospective clients, implement marketing and branding strategies to build awareness of the new events venue, manage customer relationships, negotiate contracts, and oversee event planning and coordination. The Director’s ultimate goal is to ensure we deliver innovative and memorable events that contribute directly and indirectly to our mission.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Create and launch an events department for our organization, setting appropriate revenue targets and implementing operational procedures related to the new event venue.
• Achieve annual fundraising goals including unrestricted gifts, restricted gifts, annual campaigns, grants, memberships, and event sponsorships.
• Provide excellent customer service to sponsors, supporters and donor prospects.
• Develop and manage the plan for revenue line items for each fundraising event including but not limited to: sponsorships, reservations/tickets, auction items, and opportunity drawings.
• Manage annual revenue projections, expense budgets and post-event reconciliation for events.
• Develop relationships/network with catering and other hospitality services providers and consultants and professional meeting and events planners.
• Conduct market research to ensure the sanctuary remains competitive relative to other similar venues in the local market.
• Create a database for existing and prospective donors and clients.
• Oversee the design and production of all marketing collateral, promotions and advertising.
• Proactively sell the venue to new clients; prepare proposals, negotiate and manage contracts and maintain well-organized event records.
• Respond to sales enquiries and process bookings/reservations.
• Meet with clients and prospects; conduct tours of our facilities.
• Deliver accurate and timely information to clients, vendors, and meeting planners.
• Continuously focus on improving customer satisfaction to build customer loyalty and deliver an outstanding event experience.
• Liaise with clients from beginning to end to ensure events go smoothly; attend events as required/appropriate.
• Prepare regular updates to our Executive Director, including detailed event reports, including sales data worksheets, cost projections and other financial metrics.
• Undertake other duties as may be reasonably requested within the position’s scope.

Requisite Skills, Qualities & Attributes

• Customer focused:excellent relationship management and communication skills across all mediums (in-person, phone, email and virtual); demonstrates judgment, tact, and diplomacy at all times; polished and articulate; keeps the customer at the center of everything.
• Self-actualized:ability to work with minimal supervision, someone who is innately driven and goal-oriented and enjoys “figuring it out”.
• Creative:uses imagination and innovation to create compelling marketing and branding strategies and deliver memorable events that exceed expectations.
• Entrepreneurial:someone who is excited to build something from the ground up, who is naturally resilient and works through or around challenges.
• Accountable:ability to take full responsibility for every aspect of each event; highly reliable.
• Charismatic:a true “people person” who enjoys interacting with the public, as well as donors, volunteers, and other VIPs.
• Organized:incredible attention to detail, with the ability to manage several projects simultaneously; someone who naturally checks and rechecks their own work.
• Flexibility:able to commit to a varying schedule, including evenings and weekends as required; comfortable working in a casual, rural setting.
• Responsive:highly accessible and completes tasks quickly and efficiently.
• Hands-on:someone who enjoys being on the front line and making things happen.
• Proactive:constantly looking ahead, anticipating potential changes in scheduling and logistics, proposing new solutions and alternatives.
• Confident:brings a “can-do” attitude, remaining calm and focused under pressure, self-assured in their skills and abilities.
• Strategic:ability to see across the entire organization, with an appreciation for the interconnectedness of all the various people and functional areas; understands “the big picture”.
• Collaborative:ability to build professional relationships and work effectively with a very diverse range of people, both inside and outside the organization.
• Ethical: possess the highest ethical standards; ability to exercise discretion, professionalism, and uncompromising integrity

Required Experience, Skills, and Abilities

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in nonprofit philanthropy and event planning/event management, including fundraisers, galas, corporate meetings, trainings, luncheons, weddings, and other special occasions.
• Demonstrated administrative and project management experience.
• Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills.
• Goal-focused with effective short and long-range planning capabilities.
• Comfortable working with a diverse array of people and personalities.
• Superior organizational skills with acute attention to detail.
• Ability to balance multiple, and sometimes conflicting, priorities.
• Capable of working independently on projects from conception to completion.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• High degree of maturity and discretion: able to exercise good judgement in a variety of situations

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

• Must be able to lift 30lbs.
• May encounter inclement weather conditions while at the sanctuary, including extreme heat and cold depending on the seasons; may experience rough terrain.
• This job could require walking, stairs, and physical activity while conducting tours of the facility.
• Duties, roles, and hours can change and may include early mornings, late nights, weekends, and holidays to support special events.

For more information or to apply, please contact:

Sarah Thompson, Director
Sarah@blairsearchpartners.com
1855 First Ave., Suite 300 San Diego, CA 92101