Capital appeal manager jobs in Birmingham

Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900. With a clear vision to change the lives of the people of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain raised the funds required to build the University from citizens and corporations based locally and around the globe. Since then philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University. There have been a number of fundraising campaigns, including a £1m urgent capital appeal after the Second World War and a £1.4m campaign to fund the Vale ‘student village’ in the 1960s. In 2015 we closed the Circles of Influence Campaign, raising £193 million, making it the largest HE fundraising campaign outside Oxbridge and London.

The University has global reach, including several partnerships with other leading universities around the world, and is grounded in our local community, having opened the first fully comprehensive University secondary school in the country in 2015. We are an ambitious and successful research-intensive University (one of the top 100 research-led universities globally) and have produced 10 Nobel Prize winners, including three who received their awards in 2016. Academics here are exploring the impact of climate change, helping to address global health epidemics, and changing our understanding of Shakespeare. Our students come from nearly 150 countries and our flagship outreach programmes mean that almost 25% of our student population come from underrepresented backgrounds: one of the highest proportions in the UK.

DARO exists to support this academic and student community by engaging, inspiring, and celebrating alumni, individuals, and charitable funders who give their money, time, and networks to support the University’s strategic priorities. The Office, which is comprised of five teams, is focused on fundraising and volunteering from alumni, organisations and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research projects, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships, as well as providing a versatile programme of engagement opportunities for our global alumni community.

As an office, we are committed to sustainability and value green working practices. The environment is an integral part of our campaign and we encourage eco-friendly ways of working in order to have a positive impact on our campus and global surroundings.

Role Summary

The Donor Experience Officer role is your opportunity to join our excellent team at an exciting time. Stewardship and donor experience are vital activities to the success of any philanthropic campaign. Donors of time and money need to be thanked and understand what their support has achieved, and how integral their gifts have been to making a positive and meaningful difference to the student community and to academic research. In doing so, donors are encouraged to continue their giving, and to increase and diversify their support.

The Donor Experience Officer will work with the Donor Experience Manager and second Donor Experience Officer, in a team of three. The Donor Experience Officer will be expected to manage and support with the stewardship activity for a number of our supporters, including our regular donors, legacy pledgers, volunteers, charitable and corporate organisations and major donors. The successful candidate will work with our Communications and Events Teams to deliver appropriate, meaningful and effective activities that express gratitude and communicate impact. They will work closely with colleagues in the Philanthropy, Charitable Partnerships, Volunteering and Regular Giving teams to build programmes to steward these key donor communities and will work alongside the Data team to help manage donor data and segmentation.

The successful candidate will have outstanding communication skills with experience in writing for impact, in creating digital content, and an understanding of the needs and expectations of different audiences. They will be able to balance creativity and imagination with a structured, thoughtful and organised approach to their work. They will be creative and conscientious programme deliverers who value integrity and sincerity, and who will demonstrate these qualities through their work.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy.