Marketing & Events Manager

About Bernie's Book Bank: Reading is the single most important skill a child needs to succeed in  life. Yet too many children lack books, especially books of their own, in their homes. 

At Bernie's Book Bank, we're here to change that. Driven by the belief that better futures begin with  books, we hand-deliver free, high-quality books to children who need them most. We do this with  the help of thousands of volunteers who believe there's nothing more important than transforming  children's lives through book ownership. 

Since 2009, we have hand-delivered more than 32 million free, high-quality books across  Chicagoland, Greater Milwaukee, and now Florida's Suncoast. Our effective, scalable, and  sustainable model allows us to source, process, and distribute eight books a year to children from  birth through sixth grade, so they can build a home library of their very own and always have a book  within reach. 

Bernie's Book Bank Florida Suncoast is entering an exciting second phase of growth. Building on a  successful 2025 — book distributions across Manatee and Sarasota counties, the formation of our  Advisory Board, and multi-year funding secured to fuel our growth — we are establishing our first Suncoast facility in late 2026. This milestone lays the foundation to scale from thousands of  children served today toward the more than 340,000 qualifying children across the Suncoast in the  years ahead. 

POSITION SUMMARY

Bernie's Book Bank is looking for an enthusiastic, relationship-driven team player to serve as our  Marketing & Events Manager — a cornerstone role in the second phase of Suncoast growth.  Reporting to the Executive Director and working closely with the National Brand & Marketing team,  the Manager localizes and executes marketing and communications, brings our story to the  Suncoast community, and plans and delivers events that build local brand awareness and raise  funds. 

This is a role for someone who loves people and storytelling. The Manager will gather local content  and produce it across email and newsletter, social media, web, and print; represent Bernie's Book  Bank Florida Suncoast in local chambers of commerce and business alliances; and own events end to-end — logistics, vendors, creatives, committees, and sponsorship solicitation and fulfillment. The  Manager will support resource development as needed, including donor-facing communications  and campaigns and appeal support. Due to the startup nature of the chapter, the Manager also

handles a small, defined amount of local gift processing and reconciliation as needed until the local  team expands further to encompass these duties. 

The Manager must demonstrate passion for our mission to enable positive life experiences through  books and book ownership and inspire others to embrace it. While fulfilling these responsibilities,  the Manager is expected to maintain the integrity of Bernie's Book Bank's mission, culture, brand  standards, core values, and goals at all times. 

Our Suncoast footprint is regionally broad and still growing. Today we serve Manatee and Sarasota  counties, where our facility will open in late 2026, and our marketing and event work extends well  beyond them across a wide, multi-county region — with room to grow further as the chapter  expands. This is a mobile, in-community role: the Manager should expect to travel regularly by car  to all parts of the footprint to meet donors and partners, staff events, and coordinate committees  and vendors across the region. Comfort with significant driving is essential. 

Given the early stage of the chapter, this is intentionally a broad role. As the team and facility grow,  we expect marketing and event responsibilities to deepen and specialize, with dedicated  development and operations staff joining the chapter over time, and there is ample opportunity for  growth as we continue to expand our impact and our team, both locally and nationally. 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

• Localize and execute the national marketing strategy, building Suncoast brand recognition through authentic storytelling of our local impact.
• Grow the chapter's local presence across email and newsletter, social media, web and blog, and print — gathering local content and producing brand-compliant materials in partnership with the National Brand & Marketing team.
• Build and maintain GoFundMePro campaigns, events, and peer-to-peer fundraising pages, keeping content, imagery, and messaging current and brand-compliant.
• Represent Bernie's Book Bank Florida Suncoast in local chambers of commerce and business alliances — managing memberships, attending events, and turning those relationships into visibility and partnership opportunities.
• Maintain marketing lists and audience segments in Salesforce, running queries and mailing lists for campaigns, events, and appeals.
• Lead local public relations and media relationships — drafting and distributing press releases, pitching stories, coordinating interviews, and elevating awareness of the Bernie's Book Bank brand, our mission, and impact.
• Monitor and report monthly on the marketing measures below — list growth, campaign engagement metrics, social audience growth and engagement, and media mentions — and identify and execute strategies to move them. Prepare and document post-campaign analysis to apply year-over-year learnings and strategies.
• Recruit, steward, and activate affinity and advocacy groups as assigned and local volunteer brand ambassadors.

EVENTS

• Work with the Executive Director to shape the evolution of the Suncoast event calendar over time.
• Own all event management and logistics end-to-end, from concept through post-event follow-up; communicate status of all events weekly on the event tracker and report event progress to the Suncoast Advisory Board, National leadership, and other stakeholders as needed.
• Recruit and build event committees, steward committee members, and serve as their primary liaison — using committee involvement as a cultivation pipeline to the Advisory Board.
• Manage event vendors and creative production — venues, catering, rentals, and printed and digital collateral — in partnership with the National Brand & Marketing team.
• Develop pre-event budgets and review post-event results; own sponsorship solicitation, stewardship, fulfillment, and acknowledgment. Develop and execute strategies to increase revenue and decrease expenses year-over-year.
• Serve as liaison to the National Marketing team, which acts as an accelerator for event promotion and revenue generation.

OTHER DUTIES

• Process local gift entry, local invoice and credit card processing, and deposit preparation — recording gifts and pledges in Salesforce and GoFundMePro and providing accurate documentation — in partnership with the National Finance shared-services team.
• Support development as needed — donor communications, appeal and campaign support, and event follow-up.
• Partner with the National Finance shared-services team by providing the donor-facing details and context they need for accurate recording.
• Understand how gifts flow from Salesforce and GoFundMePro into national financial systems — enough to ensure proper gift entry, reconcile revenue reports if needed, and keep records clean.
• Support the Executive Director with local vendor coordination, community engagement, and book distributions as needed.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Success in this role is measured against annual targets set with the Executive Director, including:

• Number of signature events delivered annually
• Event P&L performance against revenue and expense goals
• Sponsorship revenue secured
• Email list growth rate
• Email engagement rates and campaign conversion rate
• GoFundMePro page conversion rate
• Social audience growth
• Monthly content creation output
• Media mentions secured
• Cost per acquired donor

REQUIREMENTS

• 3–5 years of experience in marketing and communications, event management, or a comparable relationship-driven role; nonprofit development, fundraising, or donor relations experience a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and communicate persuasively with donors, partners, volunteers, and the public — in person and remotely.
• Marketing and storytelling ability across digital, social, and print; direct marketing or public relations experience preferred. Experience with Canva and HubSpot a plus.
• Experience with donor management / CRM systems preferred. Salesforce and GoFundMePro a plus.
• Comfortable handling a small amount of gift entry and basic finance and data tasks accurately and reliably.
• Event planning and sponsorship experience required, including committee management, vendor coordination, and sponsorship solicitation and fulfillment.
• Comfortable working in a lean, entrepreneurial chapter backed by national shared-services support — self-motivated, organized, able to multitask and prioritize, detail-oriented, and a strong team player.
• Ability to learn computer systems and databases, including Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and event and marketing software.
• Strong project management skills, including managing multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, customer service, and interpersonal skills.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• A valid Florida driver's license and reliable personal transportation, with the willingness and ability to travel regularly by car throughout our regionally broad and growing Suncoast footprint, which extends well beyond the Manatee and Sarasota home base. Comfort with significant, regular driving is essential to this role.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Medical insurance via BCBS, with PPO and HMO options, starting day one
• Dental and vision insurance, starting day one
• Hybrid work environment
• Mileage reimbursement for work-related travel throughout the Suncoast footprint
• Employer-covered long-term disability insurance; short-term disability available
• 401(k) with match after one year
• 17 days of PTO per year
• 4 floating holidays per year
• 9 paid holidays per year
• A passionate team with long-term growth potential as we grow our local chapter and continue national expansion

WORKING CONDITIONS / PHYSICAL DEMANDS

While performing the duties of this job, the incumbent will typically work in an office and community environment and be required to sit, reach with arms and hands, talk, and hear. The role involves regular regional travel by car to meet donors and partners, staff events, and coordinate committees and vendors, and may require lifting up to 25 lbs for event setup. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential job duties.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Bernie's Book Bank is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Bernie's Book Bank is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process. Applicants who require an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process may contact HR at [email protected]

We may use artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools to assist with certain aspects of the recruitment and candidate review process. AI may be used to support the evaluation of job-related qualifications and application materials. AI will not be used in a manner that discriminates against applicants based on protected characteristics, and all final employment decisions will be made by qualified individuals.

If AI is used in the evaluation process for this position, applicants will be provided with additional notice regarding its use and applicable rights.