Head of Fundraising (High Value Specialist)

Education should be the means to break the link between demographics and destiny. Yet every week 109 children in England – equivalent to three full classrooms – are asked to leave their schools and never come back, with disastrous personal and societal consequences. The Difference, a young education charity, was founded to change the story on this lost learning. It exists to build the status and expertise of teachers working with vulnerable children, particularly those who are excluded from mainstream schools.

By 2030, The Difference want rates of exclusion and absence to be falling nationally and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, including those who may be vulnerable.

The organisation was born out of a year of research into school exclusions with think-tank IPPR. This research identified a lack of inclusion expertise in schools and proposed a new leadership development programme to fill this gap. In 2018, The Difference founder Kiran hired the team who took this idea from concept to reality, beginning work with our first schools.

The Difference is now a 22-strong team delivering multiple school leadership programmes, alongside a growing research and policy arm. The team is supported by our Youth Advisory Board, made up of young people who have experienced exclusion and who provide their expertise and insights on how school inclusion work should be done. This work is needed more than ever. Effects of COVID-19, coupled with the spiralling cost of living, have substantially increased levels of vulnerability. Schools serving excluded pupils face under-funding. The Difference has had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to capture this, share learning with schools and policy-makers, and grow our capacity to lower exclusions across England.

Our first permanent Head of Fundraising will drive the growth and sustainability of our fundraising function. Having proved the impact on exclusions via our programmes, you will help us generate the income to scale this success across the country. We need an expert fundraiser to support this journey. Join us.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive the delivery of a new fundraising strategy for The Difference, motivating and involving key members of the team, particularly the Development and Impact Manager.
• Build and manage a dynamic portfolio of around 20-30 major individual prospects and donors with capacity to give £50k+, working with key stakeholders to solicit and close asks.
• Grow overall fundraised income from £1.25m to £1.9m annually in next 3 years.
• Write and submit funding proposals to major donors, trusts and foundations, and corporate supporters.
• Support the creation of engaging content from our impact data and case studies, for The Difference’s website and social media that could lead to online fundraising, including feeding into writing press releases as required.
• Build relationships with major trusts/foundations, donors or companies to secure 5 and 6 figure income
• Plan and deliver fundraising outreach to build out our list of fundraising pipeline.

Person Specification

• High-value fundraising expertise – major donor fundraising is essential, with one or both of corporate and trusts experience desirable
• A strategic thinker, able to develop, implement and adapt a fundraising strategy
• Expert at influencing and relationship-led in approach
• Entrepreneurial in approach
• Organised and an expert project manager
• Clear and concise in communication style
• Ability to represent The Difference and articulate its values with confidence

Benefits

• 6% employer pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave
• Enhanced sick leave and compassionate leave
• Enhanced maternity & adoption pay