Regional fundraiser home based jobs in Birmingham
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Are you a skilled relationship-builder with corporate fundraising experience? Do you love spending time in the outdoors and want to help young people from Somerset? Join the Youth Adventure Trust's small but mighty team and use your skills to help transform the lives of vulnerable young people.
The Role
Having launched our Youth Adventure Programmes in Somerset in 2024, we are now looking for somebody who wants to take the next step in their fundraising career to build on the foundations of the last two years and significantly increase our presence in the county.
As our Regional Corporate Fundraiser, you'll be the driving force behind our local business partnerships, working with both large companies operating in the region and smaller local businesses looking to support their communities.
Your role will encompass:
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Relationship building: Identifying and securing new corporate partnerships while providing high-quality stewardship to our existing Somerset-based supporters.
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Community Engagement: Championing our work in Somerset by giving engaging talks to community groups and networking with local businesses.
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Event delivery: Playing a key role in delivering local fundraising challenge events, the bi-annual Somerset Adventure Dinner and developing new opportunities to unite the Somerset business community behind our mission.
You'll work closely with the Corporate Partnership Manager and the Director of Fundraising and Communications to ensure each proposal is bespoke and every corporate partner understands the impact of their support on local young people. You must live in Somerset, have a good local awareness and be willing to travel around the county and beyond to nurture long-lasting, strategic relationships.
About You
We are looking for a people-person, who is self-motivated and highly organised. You are as comfortable in the board room engaging business leaders as you are standing on a mountain side in your waterproofs! You will be:
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Experienced: A proven track record in building successful corporate partnerships and achieving income targets;
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A relationship fundraiser: building long-lasting meaningful relationships should be at the heart of every single corporate partnership;
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An inspiring communicator: You will be telling our story in a variety of different ways to inspire support and grow our networks;
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Self-motivated: You are comfortable working from home but eager to be ‘out and about’ in the business community;
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Pro-active and creative: No corporate partnership is the same, so you will be proactive in understanding a corporate partner’s motivation and coming up with creative ideas to build successful relationships;
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Local: You must live in or near Somerset to maximise local networking opportunities, attend regular in-person meetings and events and confidently talk about local issues facing both businesses and the young people we support through our programmes;
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Outdoorsy: A genuine love for the outdoors, comfortable in wellies and waterproofs with an understanding of 'the power of the outdoors'.
The Charity
At the Youth Adventure Trust, we use outdoor adventure to empower vulnerable young people from Swindon, Wiltshire and Somerset to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future. We work with them to build resilience, develop confidence and learn skills that will last a lifetime, helping them to face the challenges in their lives. Dedicated support, guidance and mentoring from our staff and volunteers ensures young people receive the maximum benefit from our long-term intervention. Our aim is to make a lasting improvement to the lives of vulnerable young people. All our services are provided completely free of charge to the young people who are nominated by schools and other youth organisations to take part.
We’re proud to offer our programmes completely free of charge to participants which means the fundraising team is crucial. With ambitious plans to help more young people from Somerset over the coming years, our Regional Corporate Fundraiser role is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference for local young people. Whilst you will have the flexibility of a 21-hours-per-week role, this could increase as more corporate partnerships are secured. You’ll be part of a small fundraising team with a big heart, with plenty of opportunities to visit our programmes and see the tangible impact of your work.
Safer Recruitment
The Youth Adventure Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and requires all employees to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.
We use outdoor adventure and one-to-one support to empower young people to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
This is a home-based role, working Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Applications are welcome from candidates based outside Belfast, provided they are resident in Northern Ireland and able to commute to the Belfast office if required.
The External Affairs Manager plays a pivotal role in empowering people with sight loss to live the life they choose. This position leads the development of policy and campaigns within the country, aligning with Guide Dogs’ strategic objectives. Working collaboratively with the central policy, public affairs, and campaigns team, as well as the country leadership team, the role builds strategic partnerships with government bodies, local authorities, societies, and other key organisations. This ensures Guide Dogs remains informed and influential on all policy initiatives affecting the organisation and its stakeholders.
The post holder will be responsible for the day‑to‑day leadership, management and oversight of a team.
The post-holder is responsible for shaping policy positions, drafting responses to consultations from councils, combined authorities, and devolved governments, and driving impactful campaigns at a regional level. A key focus is increasing the involvement of blind and partially sighted people in advocacy and campaigning.
Additionally, the role leads the implementation of Guide Dogs’ regional marketing and communications strategy across the Devolved Nations. This includes raising brand awareness, engaging diverse audiences—service users, families, volunteers, donors, and the public—and delivering integrated communications plans that strengthen Guide Dogs’ presence and impact.
Key Responsibilities
Policy Development
- Lead the creation of country-specific policy and position papers, ensuring alignment with organisational strategy.
- Prepare responses to consultation papers from devolved administrations, local government, and regional bodies.
- Represent Guide Dogs on committees, working groups, and forums, staying informed on policy issues impacting the organisation and its service users.
Public Affairs
- Build and influence relationships with key stakeholders, including elected representatives and senior officials.
- Represent Guide Dogs at Government Scrutiny Committees and cross-party groups.
- Act as the primary liaison with local government and statutory agencies.
Campaigns & Influence
- Strategically lead and coordinate campaigns at a country level, ensuring alignment with devolved policy priorities.
- Develop and deliver campaigns addressing local needs of the visually impaired community.
- Foster partnerships within the Third Sector to build consensus and amplify Guide Dogs’ strategic aims.
Leadership & People Management
- Provide strong leadership to local staff and volunteers, promoting best practice and knowledge-sharing.
- Oversee recruitment, performance management, and compliance with safeguarding policies.
- Ensure high levels of engagement through effective communication and leadership.
Financial Accountability
- Support fundraising initiatives and monitor operational budgets to ensure efficiency and compliance.
Diversity & Inclusion
- Champion Guide Dogs’ diversity agenda, ensuring services are inclusive and accessible.
- Work with external partners to create a more inclusive environment for people with sight loss.
How to apply
Further details on the full role are attached below. When you are ready to apply, submit an online application form via this page.
If you would like to have an informal conversation about the role before applying, or require any accessibility support to apply, our friendly recruitment team is ready and waiting to help.
As part of your application ensure you provide evidence and examples of how your skills & experience meet the criteria as set out in the attached job description. You will also be asked to complete a few job-specific questions as part of this application process, so please be prepared to write your answers to these questions.
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
Guide Dogs welcomes applications from all sections of the community and actively encourages diversity to maximise achievements, creativity and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or nationality.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we are proud, whenever possible, to offer an interview to all candidates that meet our selection criteria, and who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident interview commitment. For more details, visit our careers site.
If you are successful you will need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK via our digital ID checking supplier; in addition, we cannot offer visa sponsorship at this time.
Safeguarding
Guide Dogs is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk of harm with whom we work. We expect all our employees and volunteers to fully share this commitment.
At Guide Dogs, we believe in fair and equitable hiring practices. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify an applicant from consideration for a position. Each case will be evaluated individually, taking into account the nature of the offense, its relevance to the role, and the time that has passed since the incident. We encourage all candidates to disclose relevant information, and we assure you that it will be handled confidentially and fairly.
Guide Dogs follow Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding the vulnerable people we work with. As part of this, we require a full work history with any gaps accounted for & a minimum of 2 professional referee details fully covering the past 5 years. If you are applying for a disclosure role, please note that you will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and sign up to the DBS update service.
For high volumes of applications, we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than advertised.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.