Jeffrey Pope

Background

About Jeffrey Pope

I help people and their organizations envision what’s beyond the horizon and chart a course to get there. I’m a transformative leader, strategist and relationship builder working at the intersection of civics, entrepreneurial endeavor and community. My mission is to connect people through story. For nearly two decades, I’ve tested audience, business and philanthropic assumptions inside and outside non-profit journalism so we can defend the freedom of the press and sustain local news that is both news AND local, news that changes facts on ground and helps people fully participate in civic life. People on my teams share leadership in fostering an audience-first culture that makes our work relevant to the life of the community and people we serve. We take risks and learn from our mistakes. We trust and are trusted.To be at my best as an authentic leader, I cultivate the wisdom to follow and the courage to lead. I mentor leaders that adapt and innovate to solve challenging problems and that value partnerships and relationships to improve outcomes.I'm proud to have been part of teams that- Achieved #1 broadcast market rank while growing digital audience 50% and newsletter open-rate increases from 35% to 51%: social media engagement went up 117% over nine months- Grew in capacity to drive and manage engagement spikes in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene: 2K%(FB), 10K%(IG), and 3K%(email), as well as a jump from 30K to 1M page views. Fundraising jumped 100 X, YoY- Increased event engagement by patrons to over two years- Invested in equity & inclusion resulting in compensation parity in market, employee attraction/retention and staff diversity that matches the service area- Aligned vision and strategic plan with bench-marked business modeling to diversify revenue, control costs and drive top and bottom-line growth- Restructured and right-sized legacy cost centers, reallocating resources to audience growth, revenue generation and strengthening business operations resulting in realistic growth models- Grew annual operating revenue by 1.7K% and balance sheet by 6.9K% over 14 years by developing multiple philanthropic and non-philanthropic revenue streams- Oversaw campaigns and activities to acquire, steward and advance members/donors.