Philanthropy Events Executive

High-value fundraising events. £40 million raised. One clear purpose.

Philanthropy Events Executive

£28,000 - £30,000 (+ )

Reports to: Events & Partnerships Senior Manager (High Value Fundraising Events)

Department: Strategy & Philanthropy

Contract: 12 month fixed-term contract

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office).

*This role will involve occasionally travelling to visit stakeholders, suppliers, event locations outside of 9am-5pm hours (c.6 times per year). We know that flexibility is important and we pride ourselves on the level of flexibility we offer. As a part of our commitment to work-life balance, you will receive time off in lieu (TOIL) for attending these events.

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 21 March 2025 23:55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: One competency-based interview with an exercise

Interview date: From the week commencing 31 March 2025

How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won't be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That's why we're looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

Cancer Research UK's Philanthropy team help the charity to engage with the biggest philanthropists and partners from across the world to build transformative new approaches to cancer research. They deliver campaigns such as , the largest philanthropy campaign undertaken by a UK charity which has raised a monumental and is now over halfway towards reaching its £400m target. This role will be part of Philanthropy's High Value Fundraising Events team who raised an incredible £40m towards our life-saving research in 2023/24.

As a Philanthropy Events Executive, you will play an impactful role in delivering both engagement and fundraising events, but with more of a focus on the fundraising side. This will involve supporting Event Managers by providing administrative and delivery support, and managing relationships with internal stakeholders, third-party partners, suppliers, auction prize donors, philanthropic supporters, and committees. By the end of your contract, your legacy will be to have helped the team reach our ambitious fundraising target and delivered an unrivalled supporter experience across some of our most high-profile events with strong links to the world of celebrity.

If you have experience delivering events with strong relationship building, organisational and project management skills, we'd love for you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

• Project managing and delivering several events in the annual portfolio, ensuring events are professionally and efficiently delivered to a high standard, within budget, and to the expected contribution. This will include:

  • Event marketing, guest list management, sponsorship acquisition, volunteer management, booking entertainment, liaising with key suppliers, and event fundraising.

• Creating engaging and impactful marketing materials, ensuring event collateral is produced in partnership with third parties and in line with Cancer Research UK branding procedures.

• Creating and managing innovative event income streams (e.g., raffles, auctions, fundraising games), ensuring that all on-the-night fundraising opportunities are maximised to deliver to targeted contribution levels.

• Managing key supplier relationships to ensure that the best value is driven for the charity without compromising on quality. This includes:

  • Making events as cost effective as possible by seeking gift in kind support to keep costs to run the event as low as possible.

• Planning and delivering post-event thank-you strategies and banking.

• Managing event budgets and finances, ensuring all income is allocated, tracked, and correctly coded to show the true financial value of each event.

• Managing day-to-day relationships with supporters and stakeholders in your portfolio to maximise their contribution and retain their support.

• Supporting the Events & Partnerships Managers with additional events as required.

• Managing contact with partners and committee members for key events and relationships. This includes:

  • Handling queries, updates, and requests for support.

  • Stewarding contacts to a high standard to drive retention and satisfaction.

• Collaborating with the Events & Partnerships Senior Manager and the P&C team to identify new high-value prospects, ensuring they are appropriately transitioned to drive additional value by engaging with event attendees after events.

• Being accountable for the income and expenditure of events, informing managers of potential risks and identifying opportunities to mitigate these. This includes:

  • Ensuring timely payments of suppliers to maintain supplier relationships.

  • Co-managing event banking processes, ensuring all income and expenditure is tracked.

• Maintaining supporter records on Siebel to agreed standards, ensuring each supporters' journey is recorded.

What skills will I need?

• Event management and delivery experience (we're open to applicants from a range of backgrounds, such as: philanthropy, events, hospitality, entertainment, client/ account management, sales etc).

• Has built credible, collaborative, and engaging internal and external stakeholder and supplier relationships with strong influencing and negotiating skills, and clear verbal and written communication.

• Proven ability to nurture customer/ supporter relationships while delivering an efficient, high quality and personable level of account management.

• Strong prioritisation and organisation skills with experience delivering multiple projects at once while delivering to deadlines

• Excellent administrative and IT skills with strong attention to detail.

• Pragmatic problem-solving skills with the ability to think on your feet and remain calm and professional under pressure.

• Proactively responds to new opportunities and challenges, always striving to achieve the best out of partnerships and projects.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We're looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you're interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we'd still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our .

Additional Information

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