Bespoke events fundraising manager jobs in leeds, west yorkshire
About Dreams Come True
We deliver moments of magic with lasting impact to children living in poverty who have a serious illness, disability, or life-limiting condition. We are the only wish granting charity focused solely on children living in social deprivation in the UK.
About the Role
Dreams Come True is seeking an ambitious, strategic and highly skilled Head of Fundraising to lead and expand its income generation and manage and drive a high performing team. This senior role prioritises the development and delivery of an ambitious major donor and individual giving strategy - cultivating, stewarding, and upgrading supporters, including high-net-worth individuals and regular donors. Reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with the Senior Leadership Team, you will diversify income streams, maximise philanthropic support, and ensure the charity's long-term sustainability whilst leading, managing, motivating and inspiring the team.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and implement a growth-oriented fundraising strategy, with a strong focus on major donor fundraising and individual giving (regular giving, donor journeys, legacy giving).
- Build a robust pipeline of major donors, personally managing relationships with high-value supporters, cultivating new prospects, and maximising lifetime value through tailored stewardship.
- Oversee the design and execution of engaging campaigns and supporter journeys for individual and legacy donors.
- Direct and support building other fundraising streams (trusts & foundations, events, digital, community), setting ambitious yet achievable income targets.
- Monitor, analyse, and report on fundraising performance, using data-driven insights to identify opportunities and refine approaches.
- Inspire, manage, and develop the fundraising team, fostering a culture of collaboration, high performance, and innovation.
- Ensure policy, governance and compliance with all relevant fundraising legislation and sector regulation.
- Represent the charity in external meetings, building networks and leveraging senior volunteers and Trustees to extend philanthropic reach.
- Translate complex beneficiary needs into compelling cases for support, proposals, and stewardship reports that resonate with donors and partners.
Person Specification
Essential:
- Demonstrated success in major donor fundraising, including personally securing substantial gifts (five and six figures); proven ability to build from scratch, cultivate and maintain relationships with high-net-worth individuals.
- Proven expertise in individual giving, including donor journeys, donor retention and engagement, and developing bespoke campaigns.
- Strong leadership skills, with a track record of building, motivating, and developing high-performing fundraising teams.
- Up-to-date understanding of the fundraising compliance environment (Fundraising Regulator's Code, GDPR, PECR).
- Outstanding communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, both written and verbal.
- Analytical mindset and the ability to use data to inform strategy, track performance, and drive growth.
- Creative approach to stewardship, recognising, thanking, and meaningfully involving supporters at all levels.
- Passion, resilience, and integrity aligned with the charity’s mission.
- A recognised fundraising qualification (e.g. Certificate/Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising or equivalent).
- Inspiring and experienced team leader.
Desirable:
- Experience with innovative donor engagement, digital tools, and CRM/database systems.
- Background in a similar scale or mission-driven UK charity.
How to Apply
Apply by submitting a CV and covering letter via CharityJob.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Every three minutes someone in the UK develops dementia: a progressive and complex condition that can be devastating for the whole family. One in two of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime, either by caring for someone with the condition, developing it ourselves, or both.
Dementia UK is the specialist dementia nursing charity that is there for the whole family. Our specialist nurses, known as Admiral Nurses, provide free, expert advice, support and understanding to help families care for their loved one. Every day, Admiral Nurses help families up and down the country to have the best life possible, for as long as possible.
Location: remote - home based with some travel around your region (East) and regular meetings in London
Annual leave: 33 days (plus eight bank holidays)
Benefits:
- enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, and shared parental pay
- family-friendly policies
- 8% employer pension contribution (Aviva)
- three x basic salary life assurance cover
- free health cashback plan (Medicash): employee cover plus up to four dependent children
- 24/7 virtual GP access (UK registered), plus access to Best Doctors
free, confidential employee assistance programme (Medicash) - access to a wellbeing app
- flexible working options including hybrid working, flexible working patterns such as part-time, compressed hours, and more*
- learning and development opportunities including bespoke training and access to LinkedIn Learning)
- commitment to employee health and wellbeing.
- we have a Menopause Friendly accreditation and are a Disability Confident employer
As a Community Fundraising Manager for Dementia UK, you will lead a team of regionally based fundraisers to grow income across community fundraising streams, with a strategic focus on high value supporter acquisition and engagement across regional corporates, organisations and individuals.
You will collaborate with the Head of Community Fundraising and Senior Relationship Fundraising Manager to deliver the community fundraising strategy and develop annual budgets.
You will be responsible for guiding your team to identify and secure community fundraising partnerships, building a strong pipeline of new business and developing exceptional supporter journeys. You will deliver exceptional stewardship for some of the team’s highest value supporters, that drives increased average gifts and long-term support.
Additionally, you will produce regular reports on marketing activities and stewardship performance, monitor financial and non-financial KPIs, and continuously leverage supporter insight data and external trend analysis to identify opportunities for income growth and operational improvements.
To succeed in this role, you will have a proven track record of delivering income across community fundraising streams, and an understanding of effective relationship fundraising techniques. You will be a strong motivator with experience in using a relationship database to support, inform and report on fundraising activity.
This role will predominately cover a defined region including North East England counties, East midlands, East Anglia, London and South East England, but you may on occasion be required to travel outside of this area to meet business need and attending mtgs and training in the London head office.
If this sounds like you, join us now and be part of a team dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of those affected by dementia.
We would love to hear from you! If you would like to find out more about the role, or have any queries, please get in touch with us.
Our culture
In addition to a competitive salary and a generous benefits package, we truly value our people. It’s important for us to create a working environment that looks after our workforce to support them in achieving their full potential. You will become part of a diverse and dedicated team who are supported to use and develop their skills. We recognise and value the key role you will play in delivering our strategic plans for the benefit of those living with dementia.
Our staff have a voice. Representatives from different roles and levels across the organisation positively contribute to and lead on our working groups around health and wellbeing, menopause, and equity, diversity and inclusion.
Dementia UK is proud to welcome everyone. We aim for a truly inclusive culture with talented, diverse teams that represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We celebrate difference and individuality and encourage everyone to join us and be their whole selves always.
Dementia UK is a Disability Confident Employer. If you’d like support to make an application, contact us.
This role will be subject to a Basic DBS check.
By applying to join Dementia UK, you acknowledge that in the event you are successful for the role, any offer and your ongoing employment will be conditional on you having or obtaining the right to work in the UK.
*Please note that any decision on flexible working is based on business needs
When you apply for a job at Dementia UK, we will collect certain information about you to process your application and assess your suitability for the role. Further details can be found in our privacy notice.
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Summary
The Charity Spark is looking to appoint a Strategic Fundraising Consultant to expand our fundraising support for clients across the UK. This pivotal role will be a strategic fundraising lead, working with a diverse portfolio of clients to develop and implement comprehensive fundraising strategies. You will advise on a range of income generation methods, including trust and foundation grants, legacy giving, major donor philanthropy, and corporate partnerships.
A key part of your role will be to provide strategic development, helping clients diversify their income streams and build sustainable fundraising programmes. This position is critical as we expand our team to meet growing demand. We are a tiny, collaborative team committed to ensuring brilliant outcomes for our clients and stability for our team.
The Charity Spark are a consultancy for the non-profit and charity sector. We work with clients from across the charity sector and help them do more good daily through excellent fundraising and transformative impact measurement. That is, we help them prove they do what they say they do and then use that proof to raise more money, so they can continue the work that they do.
We are committed to tackling inequalities and to making The Charity Spark an inclusive and diverse workspace. The Charity Spark’s purpose is core to every part of our business.
We’re keen to find the right people for the future of The Charity Spark, so we’d love to talk to you if you’re interested in us or this role, but want to know a bit more before applying.
Important Details. What you’ll get:
Salary: £40,000 - £45,000 FTE (3 days per week is £24,000-27,000 per year)
Hours: Up to 3 days per week. We keep core office hours of 8:30am-6pm however this role does not require the holder to work solely within these hours. We will work with you to find a working pattern which suits your needs and lifestyle as well as the needs of our business and clients.
Benefits: We will provide you with a laptop if required and equipment for you to work comfortably at home, as well as a monthly contribution towards your home broadband contract. We offer a company pension scheme and an employee assistance programme. We believe in the power of chocolate and tea!
Commission structure: Recognising the important role all our team play in client relationships, and in securing new contracts, TCS operates a commission structure which rewards staff who work on a successful client proposal.
Holiday: 22 days plus bank holidays (FTE contracts – pro rata for PT) and your birthday off.
Volunteering: We encourage our employees to volunteer so we will provide you an additional 2 days (FTE) a year volunteering leave.
Training and development: We want to invest in our staff team so we will provide you with an annual budget for training courses and books to enhance your skills.
Employment status: Fixed term contract of one year with permanent contract to be discussed.
Location: The Charity Spark is based in Winchester. This role is predominantly home-working with an expectation of regular co-working (around 2 days per quarter and typically in Winchester although location may vary).
Responsible to: Director
What you’ll be doing:
1. Fundraising
-
- Develop and Lead Fundraising Strategies: Create bespoke, multi-stream fundraising strategies for a range of clients. This includes capital appeals and other large-scale projects, helping clients raise significant funds for transformative goals.
- Income Diversification: Advise clients on how to diversify their fundraising portfolio, reducing reliance on any single income source and building resilience.
- Trust and Foundation Fundraising: While the role is broader, you will still oversee and deliver trust fundraising work, including researching funders, writing bids and proposals, and supporting clients to steward donors effectively. You will also mentor and upskill clients and their teams on best practices.
- Support the Director with developing strategic resources for fundraising including digital courses, blogs and downloadable resources for charities.
- Client Management and Support: Serve as a senior point of contact for clients, providing expert advice, hands-on support, and strategic guidance throughout their fundraising journey.
2. Business Development
· Deal with client enquiries in an efficient and timely manner.
· Support the Director with onboarding new clients.
· Liaise with clients to gain testimonials and write client case studies.
· Research opportunities for new business products and/or clients.
· Support with B Corp certification process and improve The Charity Spark’s impact as a company.
· Assist on the organisation of team events and away days, alongside the Director.
About you:
- Experienced Fundraising Leader: You have a proven track record of success with five or more years of experience in fundraising. You demonstrate the ability to develop and execute effective, multi-stream strategies. You can tell us about fundraising successes you have been an important part of.
- Strategic Thinker: You are adept at seeing the bigger picture, identifying growth opportunities, and creating long-term plans for organisations. You have an entrepreneurial spirit and a creative growth mindset.
- Diverse Fundraising Knowledge: You have demonstrable hands-on experience in at least one of the following areas: major gifts, legacy, and/or trust fundraising. Experience with capital appeals or with Christian charities/churches is highly desirable.
- Practical skillset: Target-driven, with experience of budget-setting, financial processes, monitoring and reporting outcomes across income streams. You have a practical understanding of fundraising and charity regulation and best practice regarding prospecting, stewardship, and reporting, together with IT and database skills including knowledge of CRMs.
- Excellent Communicator: You have a talent for using words powerfully, with excellent written communication and presentation skills. You can build strong relationships with clients and stakeholders, clearly communicating complex ideas and inspiring confidence.
- Proactive and Results-Oriented: You are target-driven and have a proven track record of meeting fundraising goals. You are able to balance competing priorities and work under pressure, with the ability to anticipate and formulate solutions to problems.
- Comfortable in a small team with an entrepreneurial spirit: we are a small growing business led by our founder. You will have a passion for working with a business with a strong social mission and looking for a positive purpose in the company you work for.
We want to encourage those with a disability or neurodiversity who may experience difficulties with some forms of communication to apply and tell us how we could help you be the best version of you in the workplace. Contact us to discuss how we can make the application process accessible for you.
You can contact us via our website for an informal chat about the role.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
We are delighted to be working in partnership with Christians Against Poverty (CAP). For nearly 30 years, CAP has been transforming lives, enabling churches to help end poverty through their communities and to encourage people to live with faith in Jesus and hope for the future. Through hundreds of dedicated staff members and incredible church partners across all four UK nations, people in desperate need discover life-changing freedom and hope every day. Since 1996, tens of thousands of families and individuals have broken free from debt and poverty through CAP's vital work.
We are seeking a passionate and experienced Philanthropy Lead.This is an exciting opportunity to play a crucial role in securing substantial financial support from high-net-worth individuals, trusts, and foundations. You'll be responsible for building deep, meaningful relationships with major donors and implementing strategic fundraising plans that directly contribute to CAP's vision of transformed lives, thriving churches, and an end to UK poverty.
In this influential role, you'll manage a designated caseload of high-value donors, conduct face-to-face meetings, develop compelling funding proposals, and create bespoke stewardship plans. You'll work collaboratively with internal stakeholders to identify engagement opportunities and represent CAP at high-level events and conferences. With ambitious targets to achieve - including contributing to a goal of 17.5% of overall revenue from major donors within 3 years - this role offers the chance to make a significant impact on some of the UK's most vulnerable communities.
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate:
- Proven track record of securing significant major gifts (5-6 figures) from high-net-worth individuals
- Minimum 3 years of experience in high-value fundraising
- Exceptional relationship-building, communication, and presentation skills
- Strong strategic planning, analytical and problem solving abilities
- Understanding of fundraising best practices and regulatory requirements
This is an incredible opportunity for a practicing Christian who wants to make a powerful, lasting impact. You'll join a passionate prayerful workplace committed to ending UK poverty, working within a supportive and fun culture that values you as a whole person.
For more information, please contact Nick Thomas, Recruitment Consultant, Charisma Charity Recruitment. Your application should be submitted through the Charisma website and include your CV and supporting statement.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion*, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law.
*In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, Part 1, Schedule 9, it is a genuine occupational requirement that the post holder is a practicing Christian and in agreement with the Christians Against Poverty Statement of Faith and Core Values.
Location: Remote with travel across the UK
Closing date for applications: Applications are being reviewed on receipt and interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis. When a suitable candidate is found the role will close, so please apply without delay to avoid disappointment.
A note from Charisma
Don’t feel like you meet all of the requirements? We’d still love to chat, we’re a people first recruitment partner. We specialise in charity recruitment with over 23 years’ experience working as a consultancy who support inspiring professionals find the perfect roles in transformational organisations