Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager
First Give is a national charity that empowers young people to make a positive difference to the causes they care about. We do this by partnering with secondary schools across England and Wales, delivering a fully resourced programme that inspires an entire year group to connect with local charities and take meaningful social action — from fundraising and volunteering to campaigning and raising awareness.
Each programme culminates in a celebratory School Final, where student teams present their projects to an audience of peers, teachers, and guests. The winning class is awarded a £1,000 First Give grant for their chosen charity — but every participating student contributes to their community and gains skills, confidence, and a deeper understanding of social issues. We currently partner with over 200 schools each year, helping thousands of young people become active, engaged citizens
Our values inform what we do at First Give. We are:
- Altruistic
- Inspiring
- Empowering
- Collaborative
- Professional
This is an exciting time for First Give, as we have recently launched our three-year strategy and our ambition to activate the generosity of a million young people by 2034. In order to meet the requirements of the organisation for this ambitious growth a new 3 year fundraising strategy has been developed which includes expanding and diversifying our fundraising streams into Corporate and HNWI. We have also recently launched recruitment for a Fundraising Campaign Board Chair. The Campaign, A Route to A Million, aims to raise an additional £1.5 million over the next 3 years.
Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager
We are seeking a dynamic, strategic and relationship-driven Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager to lead on growing and stewarding First Give’s portfolio of high-value funders. This role will focus on securing income from High Net Worth Individuals and developing corporate partnerships – from first engagement to account management and delivery.
You will play a pivotal role in shaping First Give’s income growth, working closely with our Deputy Director. This role will also support key engagement activities, including hosting donors at student-led Final events and facilitating employee volunteering at schools.
This is an exciting opportunity for a confident fundraiser and communicator with experience managing and deepening relationships with both individuals and corporates – someone who thrives on strategy, storytelling, and social impact.
Key Responsibilities - please refer to attached job description for full details
Corporate Partnerships
- Work with the Deputy Director and members of the Campaign Board to develop a proactive pipeline of corporate partners, focusing on strategic alignment, mutual benefit and long-term value
- Lead on developing tailored pitches, proposal decks and partner materials
- Support the delivery of corporate partnerships, including recognition, benefits, volunteering engagement and impact reporting
Donor Engagement and Stewardship
- Work with the Deputy Director and Campaign Board to identify and cultivate new HNWI prospects
- Collaborate with members of First Give’s Fundraising Campaign Board to generate and support with requests for funding to HNWI and Corporates
- Develop and implement a HNWI outreach strategy, including managing a cultivation pipeline and tracking engagement milestones
- Coordinate and deliver engaging stewardship activities and materials, including tailored updates, reports, and thank-you communications
Person Specification
Essential Experience and Skills
- Demonstrable success in securing significant income from Corporates and HNWI
- Strong experience managing relationships with institutional donors, from cultivation to reporting
- Excellent written communication skills – able to craft compelling, strategic proposals and reports
- Understanding of corporate fundraising and partnership delivery, including employee engagement and volunteering
- Confident and personable – able to represent First Give at events and in donor meetings
- Experience engaging senior stakeholders or board members
- Strong pipeline management and ability to prioritise and coordinate multiple prospects and reporting requirements
Personal Attributes
- Passionate about First Give’s mission to empower young people through social action, with a strategic and entrepreneurial mindset for income generation
- Strong relationship builder with excellent interpersonal skills; thrives in collaborative, mission-driven environments
- Self-motivated, well-organised, and driven to meet ambitious targets
Desirable Experience
- Experience in a similar role within a charity supporting young people, education, or community development
- Familiarity with corporate social responsibility and ESG trends in corporate fundraising.
- Experience supporting or mentoring fundraising team members
- Experience developing donor engagement materials and reports with a focus on impact storytelling
Why work for First Give?
First Give provides many benefits and prides itself on how it treats its staff. Our benefits include:
- Three additional days between Christmas and New Year given to staff gratis. An additional day off for your birthday in addition to your annual leave allowance. Annual leave allowance increases year on year after 3 years with First Give, to a maximum of 30 days per year
- Contributory pension scheme
- Access to Health Assured (health and wellbeing) Employee Assistance Programme
- As you will use your personal mobile for work, First Give provides a phone allowance to contribute towards your mobile costs
- Training and professional development budget, with regular training offered through the Pears Foundation
- Up to three volunteering days per year
- Multiple team socials throughout the year
Contract: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week (9-5.30pm). Fixed term 12 months – with a view to extending to permanent
Location: Hybrid - The successful candidate will be expected to work from our London office or attend in-person meetings and host donors at school Final events up to two days per week. The remainder of the week can typically be worked remotely, with some flexibility as required.
The students we work with come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and so do we. We want to ensure that we are recruiting, retaining and promoting a diverse mix of colleagues. We want to foster a diverse and inclusive culture, to empower our teams to achieve our vision drawing on the broadest possible range of experiences. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates from minoritised groups currently underrepresented, particularly black and minority ethnic and disabled candidates.
Creating opportunities where young people are inspired and empowered to give their time, money or skills to charities and causes that they care about

The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.