Senior philanthropy fundraiser jobs

Fundraising & Partnerships Manager

We are seeking a passionate and proactive fundraising professional to drive income growth, secure strategic partnerships and support a charity making a real difference in local communities.

Salary: £36,000-£41,000 per annum DOE
Location: Sussex / Hybrid
Hours: 30 or 37 hours per week. Applications for a 4-day week or compressed hours will be considered.
Closing Date: Rolling recruitment. Applications will be reviewed as received and the organisation reserves the right to close the vacancy early.

About the Role

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced fundraiser to lead and develop income generation activities across a range of fundraising streams. With a particular focus on corporate partnerships, you will play a key role in increasing sustainable income and building meaningful relationships with supporters, businesses and community stakeholders.

Working closely with senior colleagues, you will help shape and deliver fundraising plans, identify new opportunities for growth and develop partnerships that create long-term value for both the charity and its supporters.

Key responsibilities include:

• Developing and delivering fundraising initiatives that support organisational objectives.
• Building, managing and growing corporate partnerships and sponsorship opportunities.
• Researching, cultivating and securing new income opportunities across multiple fundraising streams.
• Developing compelling proposals, presentations and partnership agreements.
• Building strong relationships with corporate supporters, individual donors, community groups and volunteers.
• Monitoring fundraising performance, income targets and budgets.
• Maintaining accurate supporter data and producing reports to support decision-making.
• Representing the organisation at events, meetings and networking opportunities.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues to maximise fundraising opportunities and supporter engagement.

About You

You will be a motivated and relationship-focused fundraising professional with experience of generating income and creating successful partnerships. You will be confident communicating with a wide range of stakeholders and skilled at identifying opportunities that deliver tangible results.

You will ideally have:

• Experience in fundraising, partnerships, business development or account management.
• Strong networking and relationship-building skills.
• Experience developing bids, proposals or sponsorship opportunities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organisational and project management abilities.
• Experience working with CRM systems and analysing performance data.
• A collaborative approach and a genuine passion for making a positive social impact.

About the Organisation

Our client is a well-established charity committed to improving lives and supporting people facing significant challenges within their communities. Through a range of specialist services and initiatives, the organisation works to create lasting positive change and deliver meaningful outcomes for those who need support most.

The organisation is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and offers a supportive working environment where employees are encouraged to contribute ideas, collaborate and develop their careers.

Other roles you may have experience of could include: Fundraising Manager, Corporate Partnerships Manager, Partnerships Manager, Business Development Manager, Corporate Fundraiser, Community Fundraising Manager, Philanthropy Manager, Income Generation Manager, Charity Partnerships Manager, Development Manager, Relationship Manager, Sponsorship Manager, Corporate Relations Manager, Strategic Partnerships Manager or External Relations Manager.

Please note this role is advertised by the recruitment agency acting for the client – Not For Profit People.

Social Media and Marketing Executive
Responsible to: Digital Marketing Manager
Contract Type: Permanent, full time
Salary: C£27,000 a year, dependent on experience
Location: Edinburgh / Hybrid

About Social Bite:
Social Bite is a charity and social enterprise with a vision of a society where no one should have to be homeless. For over a decade, we’ve brought people, partners and communities together to challenge the status quo and pioneer solutions that create lasting change.

From supporting people to find a safe place to call home, to empowering people into employment, to providing free, fresh food to people experiencing homelessness or food poverty, our work is rooted in dignity, kindness and impact. Across flagship campaigns, fundraising events and community led action, everything we do reflects our values of kindness, collaboration, dignity and impact, and our belief that lasting change is possible when people come together with purpose.

We’re proud of our warm, inclusive and supportive culture, where people feel trusted, valued and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work, with a strong focus on wellbeing, balance and collaboration.

The role:

We are seeking a Social Media and Marketing Executive to join our team and support our mission to end homelessness. This role involves developing and executing campaigns that engage and inspire action. The successful candidate will be passionate about content creation and possess the skills to enhance our brand visibility and fundraising efforts.

What you’ll be doing:

Working as part of our dynamic Fundraising and Marketing team, you’ll work closely with the Head of Marketing and Communications, the Senior Communications Manager and the Digital Marketing Manager to build the Social Bite brand. Your skills and enthusiasm will help drive footfall to our social enterprise coffee shops, raise awareness around homelessness, and amplify our fundraising initiatives. No two days are the same in this fast-paced role that covers the whole marketing mix.

Powerful storytelling: we need to create content that shines a spotlight on our key impact projects, like our Jobs First employment programme and our free food services. You’ll play an integral role in increasing awareness and engagement with our two new Social Bite Villages.

Maximise our digital presence: grow our online following through engaging social media content (especially videos), digital advertising, newsletters, and a website redevelopment project.

Large-scale campaigns: support the marketing and communications activities surrounding fundraising initiatives like our UK-wide Festival of Kindness Christmas campaign which aims to deliver 300,000 gifts, meals and essential items to people who are vulnerable and experiencing homelessness through the winter. This includes a large-scale online fundraising campaign across multiple channels. Offline, you’ll gather content at sites like our Trees of Kindness across Scotland, Birmingham and London, where supporters can bring gifts and make donations.

Champion our social enterprise: promote our coffee shops and commercial initiatives in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London by working closely with our operational management colleagues to brainstorm innovative ideas, craft point-of-sale, design promotional materials, and increase in-store brand impact.

Event management: plan and deliver events big and small, from producing assets for charity stalls at corporate fairs, to marketing our Impact Conferences and black-tie fundraising dinners.

Why join us?

Impact: your work will empower people experiencing homelessness to transform their own lives through our key pillars of providing homes, jobs, food and support.

Culture: you’llbe part of a supportive and dynamic team in an entrepreneurial organisation that values your unique take on how to achieve our goals.

Growth: opportunities to work on exciting projects and learn, grow, and shine in a role that’s as rewarding as it is challenging.

Perks: competitive salary, flexible working hours, and benefits including:

o Generous annual leave entitlement (plus public holidays)

o Hybrid and flexible working

o Pension scheme

o Free food at Social Bite Coffee Shops

o Reward Hub (discounted gym, restaurants, shop partnerships)

o Health benefits cash plan

o GP24 access

o Death in Service

o Employee Assistance Programme

o Access to in-house counselling

o Monthly ‘Values Superstars’ rewards, recognising commitment to embodying Social Bite’s values

o A welcoming, inclusive and dog friendly office

Application process: please send a CV and cover message. Your cover message should give us a sense of who you and help us understand why you’re a good fit for this role. It could be a letter (up to 500 words), a video or voice note (up to four minutes), a presentation or infographic (of comparable length). Please also include up to three links to pieces of Social Media content that you have created.

Interview process:
Interview questions will be sent to you in advance to allow you to prepare.

Ahead of the second-round interview we’ll also ask short-listed candidates to complete an exercise, like a brief presentation or creating a short piece of content, for us to discuss on the day.

1. First round interview with Head of Marketing and Communications and Senior Marketing Manager.
2. Second round interview with Head of Marketing and Communications, Senior Communications Manager and Director of Philanthropy and Marketing.

The Talent Set is delighted to be working with an international development charity to recruit a Major Donor Manager.

This is an exciting time to join the organisation as it embarks on an ambitious new phase of growth. With a renewed focus on philanthropy, an expanding supporter base and ambitious plans for the next five years, the charity is investing in building deeper, long-term relationships with its major donors.

The Major Donor Manager will take ownership of a portfolio of loyal and committed supporters, managing relationships with individuals giving at the five-figure level and above. This is a highly relational fundraising role, ideal for someone who enjoys building meaningful connections, understanding what motivates donors and creating inspiring opportunities for transformational giving.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver the charity's major donor programme, managing a portfolio of HNWIs giving at the 5-figure+ level.
• Identify, qualify and cultivate new major donor prospects, managing a pipeline through proactive prospecting and existing wealth screening data.
• Develop and implement tailored cultivation and stewardship plans that deepen donor engagement and inspire long-term support.
• Prepare compelling funding proposals, personalised impact reports and donor communications.
• Build strong relationships with colleagues and senior stakeholders to identify opportunities for donor engagement and maximise philanthropic income.

Person Specification

• Proven experience in a philanthropy or major donor fundraising role, managing and securing gifts from HNWIs at the 4 or 5-figure level.
• Demonstrable success managing the full donor journey, from prospect research and pipeline development through to cultivation, solicitation and long-term stewardship.
• Excellent relationship management and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to engage, influence and inspire supporters and stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong written communication skills, with experience producing funding proposals, donor reports and tailored communications.
• Organised and proactive, with the ability to manage priorities while maintaining attention to detail.
• A collaborative, self-motivated and relationship-focused fundraiser.

What’s on Offer

Salary: £42,000 - £45,000

Hybrid, Stevenage – 2 days a week

Full-time, permanent

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your CV demonstrating your suitability for this role by clicking the 'apply now' button (please do not apply via email). We aim to get back to all successful candidates within 48 working hours.

Commitment to Diversity

The Talent Set are committed to diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, ensuring equal opportunities for all applicants regardless of race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability, or age. We actively encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds and are always happy to make reasonable adjustments to ensure a fair recruitment process.

For nearly 20 years, Lively Minds has been proving that parents are the sleeping giants of early childhood development. With strong evidence and a national scale proof point in Ghana, we have shown that parent powered approaches delivered through government systems can transform children's lives at scale.

We are now at a pivotal moment. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum, and we need the funding, profile and influence to match our ambition. This is a rare opportunity to lead income generation and external voice for an award winning NGO entering an exciting new phase of growth. You will lead our fundraising strategy and direct engagement with Funders ensuring that we maximise all funding opportunities as we continue our strategic evolution. You will also shape a compelling external narrative that will help position Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments strengthening their early childhood development systems.

If you are an exceptional fundraiser and communicator who is equally comfortable in a strategic conversation and writing a winning proposal, we would love to hear from you.

Read the full advert and apply below. Closing date: 3rd September 2026.

About Lively Minds

Lively Minds is an award-winning NGO with nearly 20 years of experience designing, testing and scaling early childhood development (ECD) solutions across the Global South. Our core idea is simple but radical: parents are the sleeping giants of ECD. Governments and donors have long overlooked parents, assuming that poverty and low literacy make them unable or unwilling to support their childrenʼs development. We have spent two decades proving otherwise. With RCT-backed evidence and a national-scale proof point in Ghana, we have demonstrated that parent-powered approaches, delivered through government systems, can achieve meaningful child development outcomes at scale.

Our 2026–2028 strategy marks a pivotal shift. Having demonstrated what is possible, we are now helping pioneer an innovative model of country-led sustainable scale. Rather than delivering programmes ourselves, we provide lean, time-limited technical advisory support to governments to help them integrate parent-powered ECD into their own systems, budgets and institutions. We are currently working with the governments of Ghana, Uganda, Oromia state (Ethiopia) and The Gambia in 2026, growing to six or more country engagements by 2028. Our ambition is to catalyse a sector-wide shift, positioning Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments seeking to strengthen their ECD systems.

Our scale strategy rests on three interdependent pillars: fixed-term Technical Advisory partnerships with governments; the development of a modular radio model simple and affordable enough for governments to adopt and fund independently; and an advocacy and sector influence agenda designed to make parent-powered ECD the norm globally.

Purpose of the Role

Lively Minds is at a critical inflection point. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum. We now need the funding, profile and sector influence to match our ambition. The Director of Fundraising and Communications is a priority hire, created to provide the dedicated, experienced leadership that this moment demands.

The Director will own and drive Lively Mindsʼ income generation, building new funder relationships, managing and deepening existing ones, and ensuring the organisation has the pipeline, discipline and quality of engagement to meet and exceed its fundraising targets. Working in close partnership with the Founding CEO, who retains ownership of a small number of long-standing strategic relationships, the Director will take primary responsibility for securing the funding that makes the 2026–2028 strategy deliverable, and that opens the door to greater scale beyond it. We need to raise approximately £3.4m over the next 3 years to deliver our strategy. But our ambition is to exceed that target so we can support additional governments.

Alongside fundraising, the Director will provide strategic leadership to Lively Mindsʼ communications and advocacy work, ensuring that the organisationʼs external voice is compelling and that we are building credibility in the spaces where funding decisions are made. The Director will lead and provide strategic coherence to a small but outward-facing team, including Head of Partnerships and Advocacy Lead who are active on the international stage. Lively Minds is committed to thought-leadership and active external engagement, but equally committed to ensuring that communications resource is deployed with discipline and rigour. The Director will set a clear strategic filter for where the organisation shows up, what it publishes and who it engages: prioritising focus and quality over volume, and always asking whether external activity is building the relationships and reputation that ultimately drive income and/or systems change.

Lively Minds is a dispersed, remote organisation. The Directorʼs team the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer - are internationally distributed. The ability to lead, develop and maintain high standards across a dispersed team is essential. The role requires regular travel to international conferences and events.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Income Generation

• Own and deliver the multi-year fundraising strategy with clear priorities, targets, income streams and a disciplined pipeline to support the 2026–2028 strategy and future scale
• Steward existing funder relationships, turning strong partnerships into long-term supporters, advocates and connectors to new funding opportunities.
• Lead the shift towards Big Bet and catalytic funding, personally cultivating and negotiating high-value, multi-year partnerships and positioning Lively Minds for system-level scale
• Maintain a high standard of fundraising quality, pipeline management and forecasting, while coaching the team to produce compelling, sophisticated fundraising materials
•  Build and continuously strengthen a diverse funding pipeline, identifying emerging opportunities, new funding markets and strategic partnerships that reduce concentration risk and support long-term financial sustainability

Communications, Brand & Advocacy

• Own and deliver Lively Mindsʼ communications and marketing strategy, balancing visibility and sector influence with the need to strengthen fundraising and systems-change objectives
• Partner closely with the CEO to shape and steward a coherent external narrative, brand and messaging framework across all audiences and channels
• Oversee high-quality core communications and fundraising materials, including cases for support, pitch decks, website content, proposals and donor reports
• Provide strategic communications expertise to Advocacy, Partnerships and MEL, ensuring evidence and learning are translated into compelling narratives and consistent external messaging
• Lead efforts to strengthen Lively Mindsʼ profile and thought leadership in the ECD sector, identifying opportunities for strategic media, events, publications and external platforms that reinforce its positioning and influence

Organizational Leadership&TeamDevelopment

• Contribute actively to SMT and organisational strategy, bringing funder intelligence, external perspective and communications expertise to strategic decision-making.
• Work closely with Finance and MEL to align fundraising targets, forecasting, budgets and evidence, ensuring proposals are credible, accurately costed and evidence-led
• Act as the organisationʼs communications subject matter expert, providing guidance and challenge to ensure high-quality, consistent external communications
• Lead and develop the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer, fostering a team culture of quality, accountability, strategic clarity and continuous improvement
• Build strong cross-organisational collaboration, ensuring teams understand how fundraising, communications, advocacy and evidence work together to advance Lively Mindsʼ strategic priorities

Person Specification

Essential Experience & Skills

• 10+ years of significant senior-level fundraising experience within international development, education, philanthropy or a comparable sector
• Proven track record of securing major grants from foundations, institutional donors and high-net-worth individuals, alongside demonstrated experience securing or meaningfully progressing large-scale, catalytic funding from Big Bet philanthropy programmes such as the Audacious Project, Skoll Foundation or comparable funders. A strong understanding of what these funders look for and how to position an organisation compellingly within their processes is essential
• Exceptional fundraising writing skills, with the ability to personally develop compelling cases for support, funding proposals, award applications and pitch decks tailored to sophisticated impact funders. This is a hands-on role requiring both strong writing capability and the ability to coach others to consistently produce high-quality fundraising content
• Experienced in developing and owning a marketing and communications strategy, with a strong understanding of how to balance organisational visibility, thought leadership and sector influence with coherence, strategic focus and income generation
• Demonstrated ability to work closely with a Founding CEO to shape and steward the organisationʼs external narrative and brand. Comfortable working in a founder-led environment, providing expertise and constructive challenge while ensuring the organisation maintains a clear, consistent and coherent external voice

Desirable Experience

• Experienced fundraising for a technical advisory, systems change or government-facing organisation
• Knowledge of the ECD, education or early childhood sector and its funding landscape
• Familiarity with the Big Bang Philanthropy network or equivalent impact-focused funder communities
• Experience working alongside advocacy and partnerships teams, providing communications expertise and strategic coherence to their external activity
• Familiarity with the funding landscape for organisations operating in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Experience working remotely across multiple countries and effectively collaborating with cross-cultural teams

Behaviours & Ways of Working

• A doer, equally comfortable in strategic conversations and writing a funding proposal
• Sets a high bar for quality and clarity in all external communications and holds it consistently
• Builds a strong, trust-based partnership with the Founding CEO, provides honest challenge and operates effectively within a founder-led dynamic without losing their own voice or judgement
• Collaborative and cross-organisational. Invests in strong relationships with programme, MEL and finance colleagues, understanding that the best fundraising is grounded in organisational reality
• Calm and focused under pressure - able to manage competing priorities and maintain quality when the stakes are high

What We Offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• 25 days annual leave
• Health insurance
• Pension contribution
• Generous learning and development budget
• Flexible, remote working

Application Instruction

Interested candidates are encouraged to read the Job Description carefully before applying to ensure they understand the role and meet the required criteria.

To apply, please complete the pre-screening questions and submit your updated CV

PLEASE NOTE - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Timeline

Closing Date: 3rd September 2026

Our Stance

Lively Minds operates a strict Safeguarding Policy and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable people. As part of our recruitment process, the suitability of successful candidates will be verified through appropriate background checks including professional references and police checks.

Lively Minds is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to providing equal opportunities throughout our recruitment process. We want this commitment to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives.

We are committed to ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on merit, skills, experience and suitability for the role, and that all candidates are treated fairly and with respect throughout the recruitment process.