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POST: Head of Fundraising and Partnerships

LOCATION: Derby (Hybrid)

RESPONSIBLE TO: Chief Executive

RESPONSIBLE FOR: Fundraising and Communications Team

HOURS:  Full time (37.5 hours per week) including occasional evening & weekend work 

SALARY: £42,394 - £51,579 depending on experience

CONTRACT: Permanent 

We are seeking a talented and motivated Head of Fundraising and Partnerships to lead the next phase of Upbeat Communities’ income generation, helping us grow and diversify our income and strengthen our long-term financial sustainability.

Working closely with the CEO and Senior Leadership Team, you will develop and deliver our fundraising strategy, securing income across trusts and foundations, statutory funding, corporate partnerships, individual giving and major donors. You will build strong relationships with funders and stakeholders.

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, turning opportunities into sustainable income and enabling Upbeat Communities to grow the reach and impact of its work with refugee and asylum-seeking communities in and around Derby.

As a values-driven organisation, our values underpin everything we do and how we work with others. Our values are:

• Authentic Relationships: We are inclusive, honest, and trustworthy, enabling us to build meaningful connections.
• Compassion in Action: We welcome and engage people with kindness, empathy and generosity.
• Innovation for Impact: We are always learning, seeking out creative, evidence-based solutions to achieve lasting change.
• Empowerment: We inspire everyone we work with to recognise and utilise their own unique strengths, helping them to flourish.

Role Specific Competencies

• A strategic fundraiser with a strong track record of growing and diversifying income, including securing significant, high-value and/or multi-year funding.
• Develop and deliver an ambitious fundraising strategy that grows and diversifies voluntary income, with clear annual income targets and KPIs agreed with the CEO.
• Strong knowledge and experience of trusts, foundations, statutory and grant fundraising, alongside experience of developing other income streams such as individual and major giving, corporate partnerships and community fundraising.
• An excellent relationship-builder and proactive networker, with the ability to influence, negotiate and develop strategic partnerships with funders, donors, businesses, faith groups, statutory partners and other stakeholders.
• Proven ability to operate at both strategic and delivery levels, providing leadership while contributing directly to priority fundraising opportunities when required.
• Experience of leading, motivating and developing people, and building effective collaboration across an organisation.
• Strong financial and analytical skills, including budgeting, forecasting, pipeline management, performance measurement and return on investment.
• An understanding of audience segmentation and targeting in digital campaigns, and how these can be used to maximise engagement and fundraising outcomes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to develop compelling cases for support and communicate effectively with funders, partners, senior leaders and Trustees.
• Strong planning and prioritisation skills, alongside sound knowledge of GDPR, fundraising regulation and the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Leadership and Organisational Contribution

• Provide inclusive, ambitious and supportive leadership to the Fundraising team, including bid writer and communications lead, creating a culture of high performance, collaboration, learning and accountability.
• Actively contribute as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, supporting organisational strategy, leadership and decision-making beyond fundraising.
• Provide clear and timely reporting to the CEO and Board of Trustees on income performance, pipeline, forecasts, opportunities and risks.
• Provides strategic leadership across the organisation, working jointly with the Chief Executive and Trustees to embed the charity’s ethos and values.

Strategy and Income Generation

• Working closely with the CEO, lead the development and hands-on delivery of Upbeat Communities’ three-year income generation strategy, aligned with organisational priorities and financial plans.
• Hold overall accountability for delivering income growth and diversification across trusts and foundations, statutory funding, individual and philanthropic giving, corporate partnerships, major donors and community fundraising.
• Lead and deliver trusts, foundations and statutory fundraising, identifying and cultivating funders and personally developing high-value and strategically important bids and proposals, alongside the Bid Writer.
• Provide direction and support to the part-time Bid Writer, ensuring capacity is focused on agreed priorities and the strongest funding opportunities.
• Build and grow individual and philanthropic giving, including regular giving, appeals, donor acquisition and stewardship, and personally cultivate relationships with major donors and prospective supporters.
• Lead the development of community fundraising, building on existing supporter relationships and successful activity while identifying and implementing opportunities for sustainable growth.
• Develop and secure corporate partnerships, proactively building relationships with businesses and creating opportunities for corporate giving, sponsorship, employee engagement and longer-term strategic partnerships.

Relationships and External Partnerships

• Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with existing and prospective funders, donors and partners across the statutory, voluntary, community, faith and private sectors.
• Represent Upbeat Communities externally, proactively developing networks, raising the organisation’s profile and creating new partnership and income opportunities.
• Develop relationships beyond transactional funding arrangements, identifying opportunities for longer-term strategic partnership, learning, influence and wider networks.
• Ensure that the voice, experience and dignity of refugees and people seeking sanctuary are meaningfully and ethically reflected in fundraising and donor communications.

Performance, Systems and Development

• Ensure effective use of CRM, fundraising data and systems to support relationship management, supporter stewardship, pipeline management, forecasting and reporting.
• Work closely with the Head of Delivery and wider team to develop compelling, evidence-led funding propositions that reflect participant need, operational reality and the impact of Upbeat Communities’ work.
• Continually review the external funding environment, identifying emerging opportunities, risks and areas in which Upbeat Communities can strengthen or diversify its income.