Chief fundraising officer jobs

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) is the UK’s leading celebration of Arab arts and cultures. We are a small team that delivers huge impact - rooted in Liverpool’s communities yet connected to artists and audiences across the world. Our work is grounded in representation, collaboration, and exchange, bringing Arab creativity and perspectives to the heart of the UK’s cultural landscape.

As Chief Executive Officer, you will lead this unique organisation through a pivotal period of transition and renewal. Working closely with the Board, staff team, freelance workers, artists, communities and partners, you will provide strategic, financial, artistic and cultural leadership - ensuring that LAAF continues to thrive in an increasingly complex political, social, and financial climate. This is a deeply rewarding role that calls for someone who is rigorous, transparent, and community-minded; someone who understands both the practical challenges of running an arts organisation and a live festival, year-round events and engagement projects, and the responsibility of representing communities whose stories matter.

The ideal candidate will be ready to immerse themselves in the relationships and networks that keep LAAF alive, and to lead with creativity, care, and conviction.

Join VICTA's team and be part of our award-winning work empowering children and young adults who are blind or partially sighted. We help young people question limiting presumptions they might have, helping them to view themselves and their potential in a new way.
 
We seek an experienced fundraiser who is looking for their next challenge or wants more responsibility to develop and deliver a robust, high-quality mass participation events strategy and plan. Drawing on your experience and the strengths of the charity, you will be responsible for our flagship fundraising event, the TCS London Marathon and shape the future of our mass participation portfolio including bespoke challenges.

Our ideal candidate will have excellent planning and project management, relationship building and influencing skills. Your strong leadership skills and change management experience will be essential as you navigate and embed new challenges and ways of working within an ambitious and growing team. You’ll bring big picture perspective and use your communicating and influencing skills to ensure our key stakeholders help us deliver and grow. Embracing insight, testing, evaluation, and continuous optimisation you will make sure all our engagement is audience centred. If you are an ambitious, highly organised and passionate Senior Fundraising Manager, this is the role for you. 
 
We provide a positive work culture where learning and development is actively supported and promoted. The ideal candidate will be a problem solver, diligent, have a good sense of humour and happy to lead from the front. The position offers hybrid working with a minimum of three days in our Milton Keynes office.

To apply, please send a CV and covering letter. A full job specification is available on request. 

Benefits

• Hybrid working possible (minimum three days in office)
• Critical Illness Cover
• 23 days holiday rising to 28 (plus public holidays)

About Sophie Hayes Foundation

Sophie Hayes Foundation is a small but mighty charity supporting women survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking as they rebuild their independent lives, free from re exploitation for the long-term.

We provide an employability programme which enables survivors to rediscover their skills, build their confidence and sense of purpose, develop workplace skills, and open up opportunities for work placements or volunteering. We also offer a conversational English course, a digital skills programme, and run a survivor network CREW (Creative Resilient Empowered Women).

We do all we can to meet survivors where they are in a complex system, flexing and adapting to need as it arises. We also do not accept a system which fails survivors, leaving them at risk of re-exploitation, and engage in policy and advocacy campaigns based on our lived and learnt experience.

In the words of our participants, “The Programme changed my life’s trajectory. We explored our purpose and discussed the idea of work and career as a central part. Sophie Hayes Foundation should not underestimate how much it plays a big role in people's lives.”

About the Role

We can’t do any of this work without brilliant and concerted fundraising efforts. SHF is independent and relies on funds from grant-making bodies, individuals, and businesses in our supporter community.

This role will be at the forefront of the realisation of SHF’s bold strategic ambitions. You will work alongside our small and dynamic executive team to unlock growth, develop new approaches and communicate our impact.

You will build a lead small, effective and positive fundraising and communications team.

You will develop deep and meaningful relationships with the individuals and organisations while support SHF’s work – and new supporters we have not met yet.

You will be hands on, getting stuck into grant applications, prospecting, communicating, and developing new engagement programmes.

We know small charity fundraising is no mean feat – you will get all the support and engagement you need from the SHF team and Board to do you very best work, in a hugely meaningful context.

You will have the opportunity to get involved in any and all parts of the organisation’s work, including policy advocacy, lived and learnt experience co-design, research and service delivery.

If you are an energetic, positive, collaborative and experienced fundraiser, we can’t wait to hear from you! You can find out more about the mission and values of Sophie Hayes Foundation our website: 

Objectives

FUNDRAISING

• Leadership of successful portfolio of grant funding, including stewardship of existing funders, and growth to new ones through high quality applications and proactive identification of opportunities.
• Development and implementation of income generation and diversification strategies, most particularly through major donors programme and corporate partnerships.
• Working alongside Executive team to develop programmes enabling new sources of funding to be opened up.
• Building close relationship with existing supporters and using network to significantly expand network and prospects, through supporter engagement journeys.
• Ensuring all fundraising activity is in line with the required legislative frameworks and complies with best practice.
• Funding to be opened up
• Building close relationship with existing supporters and using network to significantly expand network and prospects, through supporter engagement journeys.
• Ensuring all fundraising activity is in line with the required legislative frameworks and complies with best practice.

COMMUNICATIONS

• Developing the charity’s existing communications efforts into a coordinated, coherent, and impactful strategy, across all communications channels and traditional and social media.
• Developing and implement opportunities to raise the charity’s profile and engagement.
• Working alongside team members to develop and publicise the charity’s policy and advocacy activities, creating and leading innovative communications campaigns.
• Overseeing the production of all branded materials.
• Overseeing the charity’s duty of care to participants who share their stories, ensuring we approach this with due care and sensitivity, working with the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

MANAGEMENT 

• Managing and monitoring all parts of income generation and communications, especially high-quality impact reporting.
• Managing fundraising budget – setting budgets, reporting against them, managing funds, reporting to Board risk & finance committee on fundraising.
• Building a highly effective small team of 2-3 people – outcome-focused and empathetic line management of team members.
• Contributing as key member of Senior Executive Team to organisational strategy and decision-making.
• Acting as a senior leader and figurehead within the charity for all parts of development and fundraising.
• Working closely alongside the Board to unlock potential for income generation and communications.
• Undertaking any other duties as directed by the CEO which may be required. Experience & Skills
• Significant success and experience of impactful charitable fundraising from a diverse range of income streams, especially grants, major donors, and corporates. Or comparable experience of business development in another sector.
• Experience of communications campaigns, PR and marketing.
• Convincing and engaging written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to build excellent collaborative working relationships across a wide range of people; colleagues, external partners and funders.
• Highly organised. Ability to prioritise workloads, project manage and deliver to deadlines, often with competing priorities.
• A knowledge of the Modern Slavery sector & trauma-informed practices is desired but not essential, but a commitment to the vision, purpose, and values of Sophie Hayes Foundation is important.
• Effective line management skills and ability to deliver alongside and through small team.
• Positive, creative, entrepreneurial, and solutions-focused.
• Proactive, dynamic, able to work effectively independently. 

In this exciting and challenging new role, you will be working with colleagues, local partners, communities and businesses to develop and implement the Fundraising strategy for Age UK Milton Keynes.  You will source and manage income from a variety of funding streams, including trusts and foundations, corporates and community fundraising, including legacies.  We are looking for an experienced, creative and ambitious fundraiser.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Research, develop and implement multiyear fundraising strategy and annual plans in order to meet income targets.

• Attendance at events, speaking on panels and pitching to organisations.

• To provide appropriate support to partners and donors by building strong relationships with an exceptional level of customer care so they feel valued and continue to support the charity for many years.

• To ensure efficient use of resources, at all times, to enable further growth in activity and income to achieve targets.

• Develop and create, with support from colleagues and volunteers, PR content for social media and website.

• Ensure accurate data is collected and analysed, and that this is kept accurate, confidential and secure in line with legal requirements and AUKMK’s policies.

• Ensure all the legal requirements for events and community fundraising are in place and adhere to the Fundraising Regulators Code of Fundraising Practice and charity law requirements.

• Always Work within the values and policies of AUKMK.

Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham works to improve the quality of life and enhance the status and influence of older people. From now on, we intend to diversify our income, particularly from unrestricted sources, to sustain and develop our work. The role works closely with the CEO to develop the fundraising strategy and reporting to the Fundraising Subcommittee.

An experienced and talented Fundraising Manager who can develop and execute an effective fundraising strategy to deliver growth across a wide range of existing and new income streams.

You will have the proven ability to research and develop winning fundraising applications, negotiate sponsorship deals and develop and maintain positive relationships with donors. A natural multi-tasker, you will have the flexibility to manage a varied workload, juggling responsibility for meeting bid deadlines, ensuring delivery of fundraising events, reporting to funders and managing key corporate accounts. With attention to detail and excellent written and verbal presentation, you will also have the negotiation and project management skills to co-ordinate the production of complex bids and budgets.

Fundraising Leadership Structure
Overall leadership, accountability, and ownership of fundraising strategy and outcomes sit with the Chief Executive. The Fundraising Manager provides strategic, operational, and relationship‑driven support within this CEO‑led framework, ensuring delivery of high‑quality fundraising activity, insight, and stewardship.

Big C is proud to support people affected by cancer across Norfolk — and the generosity of our supporters makes that possible.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and driven Community Fundraiser to join our Fundraising, Marketing and Communications Team. This is a hands-on, varied and relationship-led role where you’ll build meaningful connections, deliver engaging fundraising initiatives.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with fundraising experience who wants to contribute directly to the charity’s income and see the real impact of their work within the community.

About the role

Reporting to the Events and Engagement Manager, you’ll coordinate and deliver a range of community fundraising initiatives that contribute directly to Big C’s income targets.

A key focus of this role is responsibility for developing and growing our Regular Giving and Legacies income streams. You’ll nurture supporter relationships, promoting long-term giving and legacy pledge opportunities to help ensure these vital areas of income continue to grow.

Alongside this, engage with local groups and organisations helping to deliver activities that inspire individuals and communities to get involved. You’ll act as a visible ambassador for Big C, representing the charity at events and cheque presentations. This is a proactive role that combines relationship-building, income generation and coordination — ideal for someone who enjoys being out in the community while keeping everything organised behind the scenes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and deliver community fundraising initiatives that directly contribute to agreed income targets
• Take ownership of Big C’s Regular Giving and Legacies fundraising activity, driving engagement and income growth
• Build and maintain strong relationships with supporters, local organisations and community groups
• Identify new fundraising opportunities and support the development of agreed campaigns and activities
• Provide tailored support to third-party fundraisers to help maximise their fundraising potential

If viewing this vacancy from our website, you can download the full job description here: Community Fundraiser.

An accessible version of the job description for visually impaired applicants is available here: Community Fundraiser - accessible version.

About Big C

Big C is one of East Anglia’s largest cancer charities, having raised £50 million in 45 years. Each year, our supporters help us raise around £3 million to support people affected by cancer in our community.

We provide holistic care through Cancer Support Centres and Hubs, as well as online and telephone support via our Virtual Support Centre. Income comes from donations, local businesses, grants, legacies, and 11 charity shops across the region.

Committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion, Big C was recently awarded Gold Accreditation in the Best Employers Eastern Region 2025 and offers a supportive environment that values wellbeing and work/life balance.

Why Big C?

We’re proud to be a Best Employer (Gold, Eastern Region 2025) and offer a supportive, inclusive working environment that values wellbeing, development, and work-life balance.

Our benefits include:

• 33 days holiday (FTE, including bank holidays)
• 5% employer pension contribution
• Company sick pay and life assurance
• Health Cash Plan and Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Opportunities for professional development

If you share these values and want to make a real difference, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply Now

Big C are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults, young adults and children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

When applying, please complete the online application fully. Information to support your application can be in your attached covering letter or where indicated in the application. 

If you have questions about this role, would prefer to apply another way, or require information in an accessible format, please get in touch.

Please note that this vacancy may close earlier once sufficient applications received. Interviews will take place as soon as possible.

The Key Information

• Location: London based, requiring two days per week at Society Building, 8 All Saints Street, London N1.
• Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week.
• Salary: £85,000 per annum.
• Contract: Permanent.
• Interview process: Two stages totalling around 2 hours.
• Reporting to: Chief Commercial Officer.

About the Role

Commercial leadership powered by purpose

This is a career-defining opportunity to lead and grow strategic partnerships that generate meaningful income and long-term social impact.

As Associate Director of Fundraising and Partnerships, you’ll shape and deliver a bold income growth strategy built on high-value corporate alliances, sponsorship and grant funding. You’ll position our organisation as a partner of choice – creating mutual value for businesses, funders and the voluntary sector.

Sitting on the senior leadership team, you’ll combine commercial acumen with mission-driven leadership, ensuring income generation directly strengthens our long-term impact and sustainability.

Why this role matters

Sustainable income underpins everything we do.

In this role, you’ll:

• secure high-value corporate and funding partnerships that accelerate mission impact
• diversify income streams to strengthen long-term financial resilience
• lead commercial negotiations and strategic bidding at senior level
• shape market-facing propositions that align commercial success with social purpose
• contribute directly to organisational strategy as a member of the senior leadership team.

This is a unique opportunity to combine commercial leadership with purpose – building partnerships that genuinely make a difference.

Why Join Us?

With members at the heart of everything we do, we champion the charities and volunteers who make a daily difference to our communities across England. Join us and help us make communities stronger and support us making a bigger difference!

Some of NCVO’s great benefits include:

• 25 days’ annual leave (pro-rata for part-time staff), increasing based on years of service
• five days’ volunteering leave (pro rata for part-time staff)
• enhanced pay for maternity/adoption leave
• generous employer pension contribution of up to 8.5% of salary.

Find out more about the benefits of working at NCVO on our website.

Job Title: Head of Fundraising & Membership
Reporting to: Director of Development & External Relations 
Responsible for: Line-management of two staff (Development Manager and Stakeholder Relations Officer)
Based: Our Head Office is based in Kensington, London SW7, but we have an agile working policy enabling people to work at another UK location up to 4 days/week. Requests for permanent remote working will be considered and we welcome applications from people based in other parts of the UK.
Terms: Full-time (35 hours per week), Permanent. Requests for part-time or flexible working will be considered
Salary: £46,811 - £57,416 per annum

About Us

The British Science Association (BSA) was founded in 1831 and is a registered charity.

We are creating a future where science is more relevant, representative, and connected to society.

We have ambitious goals to put people at the heart of science.

About the Role

The Head of Fundraising & Membership will be an experienced professional fundraiser responsible for developing and delivering a comprehensive fundraising and membership strategy to grow and diversify sustainable income for the British Science Association across its portfolio of programmes.

A central part of the role will be leading development and delivery of the membership and fundraising strategy for EDIS (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health), a national membership coalition hosted by the British Science Association (BSA) delivered in partnership with the Francis Crick Institute and funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Working closely with the Director of Development & External Relations, Chief Executive and other colleagues across the organisation, the postholder will lead fundraising and business development activity, strengthen BSA supporter engagement, and EDIS organisational member engagement, and help shape resilient income models that support the BSA’s mission to ensure that all of society is included in science.

Key responsibilities

Develop and deliver the BSA’s fundraising strategy

• Develop the BSA’s fundraising strategy, working with key stakeholders, and create an accompanying implementation plan, KPIs and milestones.
• Monitor and report on the delivery of the fundraising strategy to the Senior Management Team and Board.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation to support the delivery of the fundraising strategy.

Develop and grow membership of EDIS (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Science and Health)

• Develop and deliver the EDIS membership strategy, including an implementation plan with clear KPIs and milestones
• Work closely with the Head of EDIS and wider EDIS team to develop a compelling and sustainable membership offer and pricing structure (from year 3 of the programme) for current and prospective organisational members .
• Develop and deliver a membership growth plan, and work closely with the EDIS team to oversee member communications, engagement campaigns and retention strategies.
• Work with the Head of EDIS and other colleagues to develop additional earned income streams that complement membership (such as sponsorship or paid-for training).

Lead, support and champion the Development team

• Foster a strong, collaborative team culture for the BSA Development team, reflecting the values of the BSA and of EDIS, and inspiring the team to develop and contribute to the fundraising strategy and the BSA’s and EDIS’ mission and vision.
• Work collaboratively with teams across the BSA, encouraging all teams to support the organisation’s fundraising and income generation activities, as appropriate.
• Deputise for the Director of Development & External Relations, when needed.

Lead on our fundraising activities and donor engagement

• Lead and provide oversight on high-quality applications and bids to corporates, trusts and foundations, statutory sources and other funders, working closely with Development team members and other colleagues.
• Lead the development of high-value strategic partnerships, including multi-year and/or multi-programme partnerships, aligning funder priorities with organisational impact.
• Lead on the BSA’s donor stewardship plans, ensuring timely and effective reporting to funders as well as a strong supporter experience.
• Ensure there is a comprehensive pipeline of funding bids with a clear prospecting plan for the BSA.
• Work closely with the Head of Education and wider team to develop and deliver fundraising approaches that complement earned income for the BSA’s flagship CREST Awards programme.
• Work closely with the Director of Development & External Relations, CEO, Trustees and other colleagues to help build strong relationships with prospective donors and high-profile stakeholders, by providing timely briefings for donor meetings to support senior level engagement.

Develop our processes and systems to allow for effective fundraising and membership

• Lead on our fundraising Customer Relationship Management (CRM), ensuring that fundraising and membership relationships are captured, updated and shared in a timely and consistent way across the organisation.
• Develop compelling cases for support and fundraising collateral, working closely with programmes, communications, policy and other teams across the BSA.
• Ensure that our fundraising complies with the highest fundraising standards, as set out by the Fundraising Regulator, Chartered Institute of Fundraising, Charity Commission of England & Wales, and other relevant bodies.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record in fundraising, including securing significant grants and/or contracts, managing a complex fundraising pipeline and stewarding funders during a partnership and experience in developing and implementing successful supporter/member engagement strategies.

The closing date for applications is Monday 13 April at 12 noon.
First round interviews are due to take place in the week commencing Monday 27 April 2026, with second round interviews taking place on Monday 11 May and Tuesday 12 May 2026.

You will be informed as soon as possible after the application deadline whether you have been selected for interview.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

As part of the British Science Association’s commitment to being a Disability Confident employer, all disabled applicants who meet the ‘essential criteria’ for this vacancy will be offered an interview under our guaranteed interview scheme.

No agencies please.

Are you an experienced fundraiser, skilled in crafting persuasive appeals and telling moving stories of impact and change? We have a fabulous opportunity for you to use your creative and organisational skills to make a difference to families in South London and East Surrey.

Our programmes include individual family support, domestic abuse recovery and a range of parenting and group work programmes to enable families to thrive.

The core of your role will be in generating funds from trusts, foundations and grant making trusts.

• Identify and research prospective funders aligned with Welcare’s priorities.
• Develop tailored, high-quality grant applications, expressions of interest, and monitoring reports.
• Manage a rolling pipeline of small, medium, and large grant opportunities.
• Lead on multi-year and restricted funding applications where appropriate.
• Ensure accurate tracking of deadlines and submissions using eTapestry (Blackbaud’s CRM/Supporter Management System)
• Work closely with CEO, Head of Practice and Business Manager to gather data, case studies, and outcomes.

• Translate impact data into compelling narratives aligned with funder priorities.
• Support development of monitoring and evaluation frameworks to strengthen future bids.

Salary:  £41,771 FTE (pro-rata £25,062)

Fully remote working

Generous Annual Leave allowance

Longlisted candidates will be required to complete a full application form prior to interview.

Application closing date: 6 April 2026

Interview date: rolling interview

Is this position right for you?
We’re seeking a Fundraising Officer to support the growth of all our programmes, services, and campaigns. Primarily working on a new area of trusts and foundations fundraising, including researching prospects. You will be responsible for making grant applications and updating funders, as well as providing overall support to the wider fundraising team at Humanists UK.

Are you an early-career fundraiser with some experience of working in the trusts and foundations sector, either for a charity or as a funder? Are you looking for your next big move and a new role that you can really get your teeth into? Do you want to grow your skillset while taking ownership of exciting projects? If so, this could be the role for you.

What you'll be doing

You'll be part of the Advancing Humanism Directorate. You'll work with our Head of Fundraising, Jess, as well as working closely with our Director of Advancing Humanism, Liam, and other members of the Communications and Marketing team.

The fundraising team is responsible for income generation including donors, campaigns, grants, and exploring new ways we can sustain and grow our fundraising. This includes planning and leading giving campaigns; donor and funder stewardship (working with the Chief Executive’s Office); developing and maintaining an income pipeline; and identifying new opportunities to diversify our income streams.

Key Tasks & Activities

Implementing and further developing Humanists UK’s grants, trusts, and foundations fundraising strategy, with key tasks including:

• Researching new funding prospects

• Maintaining and growing our funding pipeline.

• Supporting colleagues across the organisation to develop, bid for, and report on appropriate projects for funding

• Writing clear and compelling funding bids, proposals, and appeals, and produce timely, high-quality reports for funders

• Maintaining accurate records of applications, reporting schedules, project milestones, and grant income using the charity’s CRM system.

• Working with the finance team to make sure grants are administered efficiently and all income is accurately recorded

• Monitoring progress against targets, providing regular updates and income reports to the Head of Fundraising

• Supporting continuous improvement by maintaining effective systems for tracking and evaluating trust fundraising activity

• Keeping informed about developments and sector trends in fundraising

As a successful candidate

You will have strong organisational skills and be confident managing a varied workload, balancing application and reporting deadlines with funder stewardship and pipeline development needs.

You will also be a proactive and supportive team player and a self-starter. We are a small team who manage our own work, but value coming together to share ideas, support one another, and take creative risks.

You will be part of a small energetic and committed team supporting the delivery of Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s philanthropy and income generation ambitions. Working collaboratively with colleagues, you will help grow and steward support from individuals, corporate, charitable and statutory donors, with a lead responsibility for a defined portfolio of relationships and initiatives.

Fundraising and relationship building happen across the charity, and you will manage your own portfolio of donors and partners and work with the Chief Executive and wider team to co-ordinate activity, share insight and maximise opportunities for place based philanthropy in Northamptonshire.

You will need confidence, excellent communication skills and the ability to plan and deliver projects as part of a highly collaborative team. You will be comfortable cultivating, stewarding and sometimes soliciting charitable donations yourself, as well as creating opportunities for the Chief Executive to engage with donors and prospective supporters.

Are you a skilled relationship-builder with corporate fundraising experience? Do you love spending time in the outdoors and want to help young people from Somerset? Join the Youth Adventure Trust's small but mighty team and use your skills to help transform the lives of vulnerable young people.

The Role

Having launched our Youth Adventure Programmes in Somerset in 2024, we are now looking for somebody who wants to take the next step in their fundraising career to build on the foundations of the last two years and significantly increase our presence in the county. 

As our Regional Corporate Fundraiser,  you'll be the driving force behind our local business partnerships, working with both large companies operating in the region and smaller local businesses looking to support their communities. 

Your role will encompass:

• Relationship building: Identifying and securing new corporate partnerships while providing high-quality stewardship to our existing Somerset-based supporters.

• Community Engagement: Championing our work in Somerset by giving engaging talks to community groups and networking with local businesses.

• Event delivery: Playing a key role in delivering local fundraising challenge events, the bi-annual Somerset Adventure Dinner and developing new opportunities to unite the Somerset business community behind our mission.

You'll work closely with the Corporate Partnership Manager and the Director of Fundraising and Communications to ensure each proposal is bespoke and every corporate partner understands the impact of their support on local young people.  You must live in Somerset, have a good local awareness and be willing to travel around the county and beyond to nurture long-lasting, strategic relationships.

About You

We are looking for a people-person, who is self-motivated and highly organised. You are as comfortable in the board room engaging business leaders as  you are standing on a mountain side in your waterproofs! You will be:

• Experienced: A proven track record in building successful corporate partnerships and achieving income targets;

• A relationship fundraiser: building long-lasting meaningful relationships should be at the heart of every single corporate partnership;

• An inspiring communicator:  You will be telling our story in a variety of different ways to inspire support and grow our networks;

• Self-motivated:  You are comfortable working from home but eager to be ‘out and about’ in the business community;

• Pro-active and creative: No corporate partnership is the same, so you will be proactive in understanding a corporate partner’s motivation and coming up with creative ideas to build successful relationships;

• Local: You must live in or near Somerset to maximise local networking opportunities, attend regular in-person meetings and events  and confidently talk about local issues facing both businesses and the young people we support through our programmes;

• Outdoorsy: A genuine love for the outdoors, comfortable in wellies and waterproofs with an understanding of 'the power of the outdoors'.

The Charity

At the Youth Adventure Trust, we use outdoor adventure to empower vulnerable young people from Swindon, Wiltshire and Somerset to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future. We work with them to build resilience, develop confidence and learn skills that will last a lifetime, helping them to face the challenges in their lives. Dedicated support, guidance and mentoring from our staff and volunteers ensures young people receive the maximum benefit from our long-term intervention. Our aim is to make a lasting improvement to the lives of vulnerable young people. All our services are provided completely free of charge to the young people who are nominated by schools and other youth organisations to take part.

We’re proud to offer our programmes completely free of charge to participants which means the fundraising team is crucial. With ambitious plans to help more young people from Somerset over the coming years, our Regional Corporate Fundraiser role is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference for local young people.  Whilst you will have the flexibility of a 21-hours-per-week role, this could increase as more corporate partnerships are secured. You’ll be part of a small fundraising team with a big heart, with plenty of opportunities to visit our programmes and see the tangible impact of your work. 

Safer Recruitment

The Youth Adventure Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and requires all employees to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.

Job Title: Business Development Manager (Fundraising & Earned Income)

Responsible to: Chief Executive

Location: Hybrid (with some in-person work as required)

Fulltime Salary: £42k pro rata (£25,200 for 3 days a week), dependent on experience 

Contract: Part-time (3 days a week), Permanent (subject to funding)

Role Purpose

The Business Development Manager will lead income generation for Sounddelivery Media, securing funding through grants, partnerships, and earned income from services offered to the SDM network and external clients. The role is critical to SDM’s sustainability and long-term growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver SDM’s business development and income generation strategy.

• Develop earned-income opportunities, including consultancy, training, production, and services for the SDM network and beyond.

• Build and manage relationships with funders, commissioners, partners, and clients.

• Lead on writing high-quality funding applications, proposals, and pitches.

• Work with senior staff to develop budgets, pricing, and cost recovery models.

• Track income pipelines and report on progress and performance.

• Support organisational sustainability planning and strategic growth.

• Develop and implement effective strategies to utilise digital platforms in income generation and stakeholder immersive experiences. Including the effective use of online shopping and social media platforms.

• Work with the CEO to develop and deliver Sounddelivery Media’s ambitious income generation strategy, securing both our annual operating budget.

• Accountable for all fundraising and voluntary income generation, expanding further into major Corporate Partnerships, Philanthropy, Trusts & Foundations, Statutory Bodies, Grant makers, Major Gifts, Government Contracts, Supporter Engagement etc

• Prepare operational budgets for all income generation activities.

• Set clear, ambitious, measurable targets for income generating activity, making effective use of benchmarking and industry standards.

Person Specification

Experience (Essential):

• Proven experience in fundraising, business development, or income generation within the charity or social enterprise sector.

• Strong track record of securing grant funding and/or earned income.

• Excellent proposal and bid-writing skills.

• Strong financial literacy and experience developing budgets.

• Confident relationship builder with excellent communication skills.

Experience (Desirable):

• Experience of developing services for networks or membership organisations.

• Knowledge of the media, creative, or cultural sectors.

• Experience working with Corporate Partnerships, Philanthropy, Trusts & Foundations, Statutory Bodies, Grant makers, Major Gifts, Government Contracts, Supporter Engagement etc

• Proven experience delivering significant growth and working to sustain the income of organisations turnover up to £1 million.

• Experience of financial literacy, analysis and forecasting skills.

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to work on own initiative with minimum supervision

• Ability to carry out tasks in a meticulous and methodical manner and pay close attention to detail

Flexibility & Commitment

• An open and flexible attitude, willing to work as part of a team

• Honesty and integrity to maintain confidential information and data and handle money

If you seek a fresh and rewarding challenge, look no further than Open Country! Seeking to help disabled people to access and enjoy the countryside, we embrace a wide range of fundraising methods, so this role could be adapted to suit either full-time or part-time work. We are also able to cater for your particular skill set, though core duties would likely include: 

• Researching and writing grant applications to charitable trusts, grant-making bodies and other funders.
• Developing and delivering new and imaginative community fundraising activities.
• Encouraging appropriate corporate sponsorship and fundraising.
• Developing and delivering Open Country fundraising events and third-party events.

This is a hands-on, dynamic role requiring creativity, insight and panache, coupled with great communication and relationship-building skills.

You will work collaboratively with our Finance and Fundraising Manager at our Head Office in Harrogate, though an element of home working can be considered.

Appointment to this post is subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service check.