Jobs in durham

Head of Fundraising 

Location: Remote (occasional UK in-person meetups)

Contract type: Permanent, full-time or part-time (minimum 4 days/week); UK adjacent hours

Salary: £55,000–£75,000 per annum (commensurate with experience)

Benefits: 35 days holiday + national holidays; 14 days medical leave; 3% employer pension contribution; open to flexible working

Reporting to/supported by: CEO

How to apply: Submit your cover letter and CV via CharityJob. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we may close the advert early if we find the right candidate.

About Iswe

Iswe is a global non-profit advancing participatory democracy and systems-level political change. Our mission is to help citizens, especially those in underrepresented regions, shape solutions to global challenges — from climate justice to health equity. Our initiatives include the Global Citizens’ Assembly (GCA) and Assemblis, a digital platform for community-led democratic processes.

We’re entering an exciting phase of growth and are looking for a strategic and entrepreneurial fundraiser to take our income generation to the next level.

About the role

We are seeking a Head of Fundraising to develop and drive Iswe’s income generation strategy and grow a high-performing fundraising team.

This role is ideal for someone experienced and confident enough to lead the function with minimal oversight, but still eager to be hands-on. You will bring a good understanding of the climate, democracy, and systems change funding landscape, ideally along with existing funder relationships. You’ll be creative and entrepreneurial, with the ability to craft compelling cases for support, develop new income streams, and build the operational systems required to raise and manage funds effectively.

Your goal will be to secure £10 million over the next 3–5 years, and position Iswe for long-term financial sustainability.

You will report to the CEO and will manage a Senior Fundraising Officer, with the opportunity to expand the team over time (e.g. an individual giving lead and a high-net-worth donor lead).

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and deliver an ambitious fundraising strategy aligned with Iswe’s organisational goals, including project-specific income generation and unrestricted funding. 

• Identify and pursue diverse fundraising opportunities, with a focus on: 

  • Grant fundraising

  • Institutional partnerships

  • Innovative pooled funding mechanisms

  • Individual giving and public campaigns

  • High-net-worth individuals

  • Revenue-generating partnerships and services

• Provide regular reporting and strategic insights, including risks, opportunities, and performance against targets.

• Work with the CEO to transition key donor relationships smoothly and represent Iswe externally at high-level events and convenings (e.g. COP, Bonn, Davos, New York Climate Week).

Fundraising Execution

• Lead the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of funders, donors, and strategic partners.

• Write and oversee the development of high-quality grant proposals, donor reports, and communications.

• Coordinate funding strategies for individual projects, and support project teams to embed fundraising into their planning and delivery.

• Develop digital strategies and campaigns to support public fundraising and individual giving.

• Build systems to attract and steward high net worth individuals, including prospecting, relationship management, and donor communications.

• Explore and advance business revenue streams such as consultancy offers, corporate sponsorships, or platform-based services.

Team Leadership

• Line-manage a Senior Fundraising Officer, supporting their professional development and accountability.

• Recruit, onboard and manage future team members as needed (e.g. an Individual Giving Manager and High Net Worth Fundraising Lead).

• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and bottom-up leadership within the fundraising team and across the organisation.

Operational Excellence

• Design and implement systems for tracking fundraising performance and measuring ROI.
• Develop internal processes for grant management and donor engagement.
• Ensure compliance with fundraising ethics, legal standards, and data protection regulations.
• Build the fundraising literacy and capability of project and leadership teams across the organisation.

Person Specification

Essential

• Substantial fundraising experience (minimum 5+ years), with a proven track record of raising six to seven-figure income across grantmaking, institutional funders, or major donors.

• Strong strategic thinking, planning, and execution skills — with the ability to own a multi-year fundraising roadmap and deliver results with minimal supervision.

• Demonstrated experience in developing and delivering fundraising strategies across multiple income streams (e.g. grants, high net worth individuals, public fundraising, or partnerships).

• Excellent writing and communication skills, including the ability to craft compelling funding proposals and reports.

• Working knowledge of individual giving strategies, including use of digital tools for donor acquisition and retention.

• Working knowledge of GDPR.

• Understanding of how to build systems and culture to support high net worth individual engagement and income generation.

• Experience speaking and writing knowledgeably about deliberative democracy and multilateralism.

• Strong understanding of the global fundraising landscape in climate, democracy, and systems change — and ideally some well-established funder relationships.

• Ability to build strong internal and external relationships and to work across multiple teams and time zones.

• A collaborative, self-reflective leadership style — grounded in awareness of your own leadership strengths and blind spots, and committed to building the agency of others.

• Experience working effectively in a remote environment and enthusiasm for this mode of working.
   

Desirable

• Experience developing pooled funding models or engaging with multilateral funding initiatives.

• Experience monetising services or designing other forms of business income.

• Experience working in or with small, fast-moving nonprofits or startups.

What We Offer

• A rare opportunity to shape and lead the fundraising function of a globally relevant organisation at a pivotal moment in its growth.

• A flexible, learning-focused work environment rooted in collaboration, experimentation, and shared ownership.

• A mission-driven team working on some of the most urgent challenges of our time, in partnership with communities around the world.

A note on representation

We know that building a team representative of wider society fosters creativity and innovation. We welcome people of all backgrounds, identities and experiences and are committed to being a place where all belong. We therefore particularly welcome applications from candidates who are disabled, Black, Asian or from other minority ethnic backgrounds, who identify within the LGBTQIA+ community, or identify as from a lower or disadvantaged socioeconomic background as these groups are currently under-represented on our staff team.