Senior major gifts manager jobs in Birmingham

We are looking for a skilled and energetic Fundraiser to lead revenue generation at this outstanding, award-winning, international charity. Working alongside the Director, there is exceptional scope for securing the support of high net-worth individuals, regular givers and Trusts and Foundations. This is a new post and you will have an important role in shaping the future of HYT.

Please see attached the full job description below.

Are you passionate about bringing art to everyone? Do you believe in the power of digital to engage people with the arts? We’re looking for an enthusiastic Philanthropy Manager to join our friendly and dedicated team.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries, particularly individuals who experience physical, mental or social barriers to accessing the arts.

About Art UK

Art UK is an art education charity and the online home for every public collection of art in the United Kingdom. It is making the UK’s national collection of art accessible to everyone online – for enjoyment, learning and research. Art UK brings together art from almost 3,500 British institutions in one of the UK's largest ever arts partnerships and showcases this art to a global audience of 5.5m users per annum. Approaching 60% of this audience is overseas.

Art UK provides significant support to museums and galleries in the UK, by providing them with a shared digital platform to showcase their art collections, reach new audiences, and generate income. Most of these collections would not be able to show their art online without Art UK. The Art UK platform is rich in story content, learning resources for teachers and students, and public engagement opportunities. A shared e-commerce infrastructure helps collections generate much needed commercial income. 

About You

As the Philanthropy Manager, you will be a confident and persuasive communicator, comfortable engaging with supporters and stakeholders at all levels. You will have a solid knowledge of philanthropic giving and a deep appreciation of the value of high-quality donor stewardship. Highly organised and detail-focused, you will enjoy working with data and be skilled at producing compelling content both on and offline. You will bring initiative, creativity and the ability to work independently, while also being a collaborative team player.

The Philanthropy Manager is a new donor-facing role, which will focus on expanding and strengthening a major donor portfolio to increase five and six figure income from individual donors and family trusts for Art UK. You will lead on managing and growing Art UK’s philanthropic giving programme, which includes the Patrons and supporter events programme and our major donor activity. Working within an ambitious team, you will have the support of a freelance Prospect Researcher to identify new prospects, and the Development Manager and CRM Officer to develop donor journeys and relationship management systems. You will report to the Head of Development, work closely with the CEO and Chair of the Philanthropy Board, and collaborate with colleagues across the organisation.

You will actively promote equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in all aspects of your work, reflecting your commitment to our organisational values and contributing to a positive workplace culture.

Key Responsibilities

- Build and maintain a robust prospect pipeline through identification, research, cultivation and relationship-building to secure five-figure gifts and long-term support

- Manage a portfolio of mid-level individual donors, converting one-off supporters into deeper donor relationships

- Manage and grow Art UK’s mid-level regular giving programme, strengthening donor relationships through face-to face meetings, events and personalised communication

- Develop donor development strategies, using CRM to analysis and identify higher gift prospects from existing donor pool and maximise giving potential

- Lead on major gifts for annual Big Give campaigns, identifying and securing keystone pledge donors, and leveraging networks to reach giving targets

- Create and implement, effectively and in a timely manner, development plans for each donor to retain and upgrade donors and document all activities in CRM Beacon

- Prepare and personalise correspondence and fundraising materials, including donor stewardship and reports, funding proposals and acknowledgement letters as appropriate

- Work closely with the Marketing team and other colleagues to showcase Art UK’s work and enhance donor engagement

- Organise and deliver events for major donors and prospects (with support from the Development team), including attending events where appropriate

- Support management of the American Friends of Art UK (launching 2026), including donor stewarding and events programming

- Support senior leadership and board members in the preparation and delivery of high-quality donor pitches to secure new philanthropic gifts

- Monitor progress against targets and maintain accurate reporting, including updates to Art UK’s Board of Trustees and the Philanthropy Board

- Ensure pledges and donations are processed efficiently and that donors are thanked promptly and personally

- Work closely with all members of the Development team to ensure prospecting and cultivation activity is aligned and complementary

- Ensure all philanthropic fundraising activity is conducted in line with legal, regulatory and ethical best practice e.g. GDPR and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising Code of Practice

Necessary Skills

- Essential: Experience managing a pipeline of philanthropic supporter prospects, including researching and devising bespoke cultivation plans

- Essential: Proven experience as a major donor fundraiser with a track record of securing five-figure gifts.

- Essential: Proven experience creating, implementing and evaluating philanthropic fundraising strategies

- Essential: Strong strategic thinking skills, with the ability to identify and shape innovative partnership opportunities

- Essential: Outstanding relationship-building and networking skills, including digital engagement

- Essential: In-depth understanding of the philanthropic fundraising environment

- Essential: First-class written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to engage with a wide range of stakeholders

- Essential: Experience analysing and using supporter data to inform campaigns

- Essential: Strong copywriting, proofing and editing skills

- Essential: Experience using CRM databases with a high level of accuracy

- Essential: Thorough knowledge of fundraising best practice and legislation

- Essential: Self-motivated, reliable and exceptionally organized

- Desirable: Experience planning and managing fundraising events

- Desirable: Experience in donor acquisition through online giving platforms, direct marketing by email and social media campaigns

- Desirable: Active interest in the visual arts and awareness of UK art collections

- Desirable: Experience working with a diverse range of audiences

- Desirable: Experience working on projects with a broad range of partners

- Desirable: Experience of US fundraising and philanthropic giving

Contract terms

- Full-time

- Permanent contract

- Salary £38,000 per annum

- Three-month probationary period

- One-month termination clause

- Work from home, within 2-hour travel time to central London (once monthly travel to London for evening events and meetings required)

Benefits

- 25 days annual leave plus regional Bank Holidays

- Paid Christmas closure period (Christmas Day to New Year’s Day)

- Flexible working hours

- Workplace pension scheme

- Training and development opportunities

- Mental health and wellbeing support

- Above statutory paid sick leave

- Enhanced paid parental leave

- Employee Assistance Programme

- Monthly wellbeing hour

- Trained Mental Health First Aider’s

- Regular staff socials, both virtual and in-person

- Eye tests paid for up to £35, glasses subsidised up to £30

Acorns Children’s Hospice provides specialist care and support for babies, children and young people who are life limited or life threatened. When time is short, every moment is precious. Acorns helps children and families fill the time they have together with love, fun and laughter to create lasting memories.

Palliative care for children aged 0-18 is delivered at Acorns’ hospices in Birmingham, Worcester, and Walsall, as well as in family homes or elsewhere in the community. Their holistic, tailored approach meets each child’s clinical, emotional, cultural, religious, and spiritual needs. Supporting over 750 children and nearly 1,000 families annually, Acorns is a vital lifeline for families across the West Midlands and Gloucestershire during unimaginably difficult times.

Over the past three years, Acorns’ leadership has enhanced collaboration and innovation across the charity and embedded an organisation-wide fundraising culture. Following a period of investment and structural change within Fundraising, Acorns is now seeking a Head of Donor Experience to shape and lead a centralised, donor-first function that underpins sustainable income growth.

With an integrated fundraising structure and an upcoming £5m appeal, Acorns is looking for a senior leader to review, refine and scale its end-to-end supporter experience.

The Head of Donor Experience is a senior leadership role responsible for leading a central support function covering donor journeys, supporter care, data and insight, digital fundraising and compliance, ensuring consistent, high-quality experiences across all income streams.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Fundraising, you will play an active role on the Fundraising Leadership Team, with shared accountability for strategic decision making, compliance and cross-directorate working. You will be responsible for embedding a donor-centred strategy that drives engagement, loyalty and long-term value, while championing a digital-first, data-driven approach to stewardship.

As Head of Donor Experience, you will:

• Lead and embed a cohesive donor experience strategy aligned to the wider Fundraising Strategy
• Design and implement a structured supporter journey framework, ensuring appropriate automation and personalisation across channels and income streams
• Review and refine thanking, banking, fulfilment and supporter care processes to improve efficiency and supporter satisfaction
• Oversee CRM development and optimisation, ensuring robust data governance and a clear single supporter view
• Lead insight generation and segmentation strategy to inform fundraising performance and income growth
• Drive innovation in digital stewardship, journey design and platform usage
• Establish and maintain a centralised compliance framework across fundraising activity
• Strengthen collaboration between Fundraising and Marketing to enable more coordinated, funnel-led campaigns
• Champion a data-driven, donor-centric culture across the Fundraising Directorate
• Line manage senior managers across Donor Experience, Data & Insight and Digital Fundraising, contributing as an active member of the Fundraising Senior Leadership Team

Essential skills and experience:

• Strong background in fundraising operations, supporter care, compliance or customer experience within a charity setting
• Proven track record of developing and delivering stewardship strategies that improve retention and long-term supporter value
• Experience managing and motivating teams to deliver operational excellence and performance improvement
• Experience designing and implementing strategy, annual plans and process improvements
• Strong working knowledge of CRM systems, data governance and supporter database management
• Confidence influencing senior internal stakeholders and driving cross-team collaboration
• Experience of reporting, performance analysis and using insight to inform decision-making
• Strong understanding of fundraising compliance, including GDPR and sector regulation

Employee benefits include:

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• 5 days holiday buyback scheme starting from April 2026
• 7.5% employer pension contribution
• Life assurance scheme (2 x annual salary)
• Retail discounts (including the Blue Light card)
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Access to expert financial health and wellbeing support

We are looking for a part time Global Trust Fundraiser to join a small team and play a critical role in securing funding from diverse sources to support the charity with their innovative development initiatives.

The ideal candidate would bring senior-level fundraising experience from a similar role at an NGO, organisation, or charity with an established network of executive relationships in major foundations.

This is a remote working role.

The charity
A passionate international development charity, dedicated to to collaborating world wide to make a lasting social impact.

The Role
Relationship Management
Oversee the complete grant lifecycle, from initial lead to application to reporting and closeout.
Build and maintain relationships with current and prospective donors, program officers, and other key stakeholders.

Applications & Fundraising Development
Lead the development of high-quality grant proposals, ensuring proposals are compelling, well-written, and tailored to meet the requirements and priorities of each donor.

Events and Networking and Representation
Effectively convey the charity mission, vision, and programs to potential donors, organising fundraising events while overseeing teams of volunteers and probono partners.

The Candidate
Senior-level fundraising experience from a similar role at an NGO, organisation, or charity.

Extensive existing network of senior executives with major global foundations and organisations.

Proven track record of identifying and closing deals for 6 - 7 figure gifts.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Our aim is to respond to all successful applications within 5 days. If you havent been contacted within 5 days your application has been unsuccessful, but we positively encourage you to apply for any other positions that you may see in the future.

We apologise that we cannot contact everybody in person but thank you in advance for your interest.

Third Solutions encourages applications from individuals of all ages & backgrounds. Appointment will be made on merit alone but candidates must be able to demonstrate their ability to work in the UK. Third Solutions acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment & an employment business for temporary recruitment as defined by the Conduct of Employment Agencies & Employment Business Regulations 2003.

Join a charity which helps families wherever and whenever they need us

Lia’s Wings is the only charity delivering life-saving aeromedical transfers by plane both within the UK and overseas. We make sure babies and children receive the vital treatment they need, no matter where they are. Alongside these urgent medical transfers, we provide tailored, wrap-around support for families to help them through a crisis, creating long-term improved health and well-being outcomes.

We are seeking a new Director of Fundraising to help us increase our income to support more families. 

The successful candidate will set the strategic direction for fundraising, lead the team to build strong and sustainable income streams and ensure the charity has the resources it needs to deliver and expand our vital services.This is a wonderful opportunity to help shape the future of our small but mighty charity. The successful candidate will bring proven fundraising leadership experience, strong relationship-building skills, and a genuine passion for providing life-changing support to babies and children.   

Key Responsibilities: 

• Develop and deliver a multi-year fundraising strategy aligned to organisational goals.
• Lead income development and diversification across corporate, major donor, trusts and foundations, community fundraising and events.
• Lead the development of compelling cases for support, proposals, and donor communications.
• Build a strong corporate partnerships programme, including aviation sector engagement and charity of the year partnerships.
• Identify and cultivate major donor prospects, working closely with the CEO where appropriate.
• Grow individual giving, including regular giving, appeals, and legacy development.
• Oversee the trusts and foundations pipeline, ensuring high quality applications and stewardship.
• Provide strategic insight to the CEO and Board on fundraising performance, opportunities, and risks.
• As a member of our Senior Management Team, contribute to organisational planning, budgeting, and impact.  reporting.

We are looking for someone with: 

• Proven track record of delivering significant income growth across multiple fundraising streams.
• Experience developing and implementing fundraising strategies.
• Strong leadership skills, with experience managing and developing teams.
• Demonstrable success in building relationships with high-value donors, corporates, or trusts.
• Experience working in a small or growing charity environment.

For further details, please see the attached job description. 

How to apply: 

To apply, please submit a CV and cover letter. Your cover letter (no more than 2 sides of A4) should demonstrate how you meet the person specification set out in the job description. 

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 27th February. 

Please note first round interviews will take place online Thursday 5th and Monday 9th March. A second (and final) round interview will take place in London on the morning of Wednesday 18th March.