Major gifts manager jobs
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About us
Legacies account for over two thirds of the RNLI’s annual income today and will continue to be a vital fundraising stream for many years to come. Our stewardship offering is evolving. Creating meaningful and personal connections with those who choose to support us with a gift in their Will is what can set us apart from others.
In this role, working alongside your peer, you’ll be responsible for leading and inspiring our Engagement team, with a particular focus on how we steward and grow high-value legacy relationships. You will line manage up to five individuals who deliver both stewardship and awareness activity across their regions, ensuring our supporters receive a seamless and personalised experience and our volunteers are equipped to talk about gifts in Wills.
You’ll collaborate closely with colleagues across Legacy Marketing & Administration, Philanthropy and Regional Engagement teams to ensure we take a more proactive, insight-led approach to identifying and supporting high-value pledgers. Working with your peer, you will shape the culture and direction of the team, ensuring focus, consistency and delivery across a range of key projects.
Your role
As a Senior Legacy Engagement Manager – Stewardship and Blended Giving, you will focus on:
- Inspiring and managing the team, working in partnership with the other Senior Legacy Engagement Manager, to deliver a world-class stewardship programme for legacy supporter
- Leading the development of a more structured, insight-led stewardship approach, ensuring clarity on when a personalised, relationship-led approach adds the most value
- Supporting and guiding Legacy Engagement Managers to prioritise and build relationships with supporters most likely to leave significant gifts
- Driving a more proactive approach to identifying and engaging high-value legacy supporters, moving beyond passive acquisition routes
- Playing a key role in developing our Blended Giving approach, working closely with the Philanthropy team to connect legacy and major giving opportunities
- Collaborating with colleagues across the organisation to deliver a seamless, supporter-centric experience that secures and grows long-term income
- Using insight and data to continuously evaluate and improve our stewardship approach, identifying opportunities to enhance supporter experience and value
- Contributing to the wider legacy strategy, helping evolve our approach to meet new opportunities and challenges
About you
As an experienced fundraising or engagement leader, you’ll be comfortable building meaningful relationships with supporters, working collaboratively across teams and inspiring others to deliver excellent stewardship.
To be considered for this role, you’ll need to have:
- Strong leadership experience, including managing and motivating a geographically dispersed team and driving performance
- Demonstrable experience in managing high-value relationships, including stewardship of major donors or legacy pledgers
- Experience of developing and delivering personalised engagement approaches that drive long-term value
- Proven ability to use insight and data to inform decision-making and prioritisation
- Experience of working across teams to deliver integrated approaches, ideally including exposure to both legacy and major giving
- Ability to influence a wide range of stakeholders and drive change in a complex organisation
- Strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate strategy into clear, practical delivery
- A valid driving licence
For more information and to apply, please visit our jobs page.
Closing date: 14 June 2026.
Interview date: w/c 22 June 2026 (on Teams).
The RNLI is committed to safeguarding; protecting a person’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment and have a zero-tolerance approach. The suitability of all prospective employees and volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment. This will include relevant criminal record checks being carried out dependent on the eligibility of the role. (England & Wales; DBS check, Scotland; Disclosure Scotland PVG, Northern Ireland; Access NI, Republic of Ireland; Garda Vetting; International, International Child Protection Certificate process).
Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service. We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone. In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable), and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One.
Hybrid / High Wycombe HP13 (minimum of one day per week on site)
£36,000 - £38,000 + £312 working-from-home allowance
We’re looking for a talented Individual Giving Manager to join the Fundraising & Communications Cluster at Embrace.
The Fundraising & Communications Cluster comprises expertise in fundraising, marketing, communication, trading (web shop), supporter engagement and retention. Working collaboratively, we serve our supporters by providing authentic and engaging communications inspiring active social witness, engagement and giving to charity.
The Fundraising & Communications Cluster strengthens Embrace’s communication, education, and fundraising efforts to drive growth, so that more people engage with our content, more donors are attracted to support, and the UK church is more deeply engaged with the cause - enabling us to fund more work in the region and generate a deeper understanding of Christian service in the Middle East.
As Individual Giving Manager, you’ll help us grow sustainable income by keeping individual supporters inspired, informed and engaged - so they give again, stay longer, and deepen their support.
You will deliver an excellent supporter journey experience, project managing engaging and compelling direct and digital individual giving activity (including – but not limited to – appeals, regular giving conversion & upgrade, lapsed reactivation) and incorporating legacies marketing, raising more than £1m voluntary income each year.
What success looks like:
- Higher Life-Time Value (LTV): more second gifts, upgrades and cross channel giving; stronger legacy pipeline.
- Lower churn: reduced lapse rates for cash and regular givers.
- Better donor experience: faster thank yous, clearer impact reporting, higher satisfaction with fewer complaints/optouts.
- Sustainable mix: growth in regular giving and mid-value segments; predictable, repeatable income.
Key Responsibilities:
Supporter Experience & Journeys
- Map and continually improve journeys: welcome → second gift; regular giving nurture/upgrade; mid-value; legacy prospecting; lapsed reactivation; complaint recovery.
- Set cadence and channel mix (email, mail, phone, SMS, social, events, digital) for consistent, donor‑first communications in appropriate channels and accessible formats.
- Donor first approach: clear, inclusive language; accessible formats; low‑friction giving/retention flows and personalisation e.g. name, last gift, interests, location, project etc.
- Collaborate with Content & Communications colleagues to deliver content that shares the impact of support i.e. what donors make possible and Embrace’s brand story.
Segmentation, Testing & Insight
- Track Regular Giving net growth; diagnose attrition drivers and fix root causes; maintain acceptable Return on Investment (ROIs).
- Lead supporter segmentation (by behaviour & interest) and A/B testing (offer, timing, upgrade prompts).
- Adopt an evidence-based, test and learn‑ approach; analyse appeals, campaign performance and share insights to drive decisions.
- Work with colleagues to build insight dashboard and understanding of retention.
Mid‑Value & Legacy Development
- Steward mid‑value donors with tailored journeys; warm handovers to and from Major Giving Manager.
- Develop and test legacy propositions and routes to market to grow enquiries and pledges.
Acquisition & Cross‑Sell
- Project manage individual giving product development and testing; identify new audiences and routes to market.
- Collaborate with Web Shop team and the Digital Marketing Campaigns Manager to optimise Alternative Gifts and cross-sell opportunities focusing on a digital first approach.
Cross-Team Collaboration
- Work closely with the Supporter Experience Team to ensure that supporter journeys are being optimised and feedback from supporters is being captured and acted upon.
- Commission and work with the CRM and Systems Manager to develop clear and understandable dashboards, ensuring that the insights are used to develop plans and measure performance.
- Closely liaise with the Legacy administration team, working with them to ensure the packs and information are up to date and legacy marketing information complies with the latest Institute of Legacy Management standards.
- Develop an understanding of the Partner projects and Advocacy agenda, ensure all supporter briefings are aligned to agreed messaging.
Organisation-wide Contribution
- Model Embrace’s values of trust, respect, integrity, and compassion.
- Uphold safeguarding responsibilities and compliance with GDPR and charity regulations.
- Actively support cross-team collaboration and organisational goals. Maintain CRM hygiene.
Qualifications, Experience & Knowledge:
- Educated to degree standard or equivalent (E.g. practical experience within fundraising).
- Member of Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
- Proven individual giving or CRM led retention experience in a charity, membership or subscription context.
- Hands‑on journey design and automation.
- Strong data literacy: segmentation, dashboards (CRM/Excel), test and learn.
- Excellent written communication—able to brief compelling, impacted content and clear supporter updates.
- Practical project management; calm under pressure; collaborative and solutions focused.
- Working knowledge of GDPR/PECR and best practice supporter care.
- Experience stewarding mid-value supporters and legacy pipelines.
- Experience with payment recovery tools and card update flows.
- Familiarity with UK charity sector metrics and fundraising codes of practice.
Personal qualities:
- Donor-first mindset, inclusive and empathetic.
- Curious, evidence driven, and comfortable iterating.
- High integrity, discretion and good judgment.
- Highly motivated and results driven.
- Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities.
- Passionate about the work of Embrace, with the ability to enthuse and engage others.
- A natural collaborator who enjoys working as part a team to deliver organisation wide objectives.
Tools & systems:
- CRM Dashboards & analysis.
- Payments: Direct Debit management, card‑updater/failed‑payment recovery.
- Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint, Planner), project boards.
If this sounds like you, please apply on our vacancies page.
Closing date: 5.00pm on Monday, 15th June 2026.
Embrace the Middle East is an equal opportunity employer. In line with our recruitment policy, we are committed to attracting and selecting staff solely based on merit- skills, qualifications, and ability to perform- regardless of age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic background. Our recruitment process is structured, transparent, and designed to eliminate bias, ensuring that every candidate receives fair treatment and consideration. All job opportunities are advertised openly, and selection decisions are based on clear, pre-defined criteria and objective assessment methods. We stand by the values of dignity, fairness, and inclusion in all our communications and activities.
Yeldall Manor is a Christian residential treatment centre near Reading for men struggling with addiction to drugs or alcohol. We are seeking someone strategic and relational to strengthen and develop all aspects of fundraising for Yeldall Manor, and to lead a new marketing and fundraising campaign. The appointee will join our senior leadership team and shape the next chapter of our development as we are at a pivotal moment of opportunity, with an ambitious vision to build our Christ-centred identity and practice, pursue excellence and impact, and expand our reach.
We are looking for someone who will:
- Lead supporter acquisition activities and build the portfolio of individuals, churches, trusts, corporates and other organisations supporting the work of Yeldall Manor.
- Build deep, mission-aligned partnerships with donors and stakeholders.
- Lead and implement an effective marketing and communications strategy to help position Yeldall Manor within the top tier of UK residential rehab centres.
- Lead and execute a high-impact fundraising strategy across major gifts, individual giving, churches, trusts & foundations, corporates, and legacies.
- Work closely with the CEO and the Senior Leadership Team to align income generation with Yeldall Manor’s strategic vision and programme outputs.
- Lead the development of funding applications for trusts & foundations.
- Provide leadership and nurture staff working on supporter acquisition, fundraising and marketing activities, empowering them to deliver with excellence.
- Inspire a culture of philanthropy throughout the organisation, rooted in strong values and relational excellence
You will be working alongside the existing Administration and Supporter Relations Manager, and other staff assisting with marketing and administration, based mainly at Yeldall Manor, which means you will have daily contact with those men whom you are helping. They inspire and motivate us just as much as we seek to encourage and support them.
Please see the Job Description for full details and submit a covering letter along with your CV showing how you meet the requirements of the Person Specification. As this is a strategic post within an actively Christian setting, applications should be from committed Christians. Schedule 9, Part 1:3(a) of the Equality Act 2010 applies.
For an informal conversation about the role, please contact CEO, Maarten Fontein or Administration Manager, Sue Hedger - contact details available on our website, which is currently under development.
Yeldall wants all those affected by addiction to heal, transform and thrive.
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The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.