Senior philanthropy manager jobs in nottingham
We’re Hiring: Mass Participation Events Manager
UK (Remote) | Full-time | £35,000
Closing date: 9am Monday 1 December 2025
Cerebra is the national charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with neurological conditions and their families. We provide vital research, support, and practical solutions that empower families facing complex challenges.
With an annual income of £3 million, we have ambitious plans to double our income by 2027, ensuring we can extend our impact, reach more families, and drive real change. To achieve this, we are investing in fundraising innovation, income generating ventures, and strategic partnerships, alongside enhancing our brand to increase our national recognition.
Our work is underpinned by our values ensuring that everything we do aligns with our mission to create a better world for children with neurological conditions.
Job Title:
Mass Participation Events Manager
Department/Responsibility for:
Mass participation events and schools fundraising programmes
Gross income budget of £295k for 2026
Recruitment and line management of further members of the team
Reports To:
Corporate & Philanthropy Manager
Purpose of the Role:
This is an exciting opportunity to join an evolving and growing fundraising team with a new, ambitious strategy for income generation that the whole charity, senior management and Trustees are right behind.
The role itself is new as Cerebra looks to invest in and significantly grow and develop a new mass participation events programme (which includes schools fundraising products). You’ll work closely with the Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications who has a strong background in events and community fundraising.
You will lead the development of virtual/digital fundraising events, challenge/3rd party events, in-person owned events, DIY events and our relationships with schools. In time, you will build and foster relationships with other community organisations. You will be responsible for growing the team as the programme expands. Innovation and product development are key areas of work.
You will play key role in the Fundraising Marketing & Communications directorate and developing our fundraising, audience and supporter engagement strategy.
This is a challenging but well-supported role, where you can make a large, career-defining impact on Cerebra and the children and families that we serve.
Overall budgetary responsibility is approximately £295k of income for 2026, with considerable scope and ambition for improvement.
Key Areas of Responsibility:
1. New events programme
- Develop a multi-year events programme incorporating virtual/digital events, challenge/3rd party events, in-person own events and DIY.
- Project manage the delivery of the events in the programme to raise £295k in 2026.
- Develop multi-channel marketing plans for recruitment, focusing on key audiences.
- Develop multi-channel supporter journeys and top-class supporter experience to deepen engagement and increase income.
- Monitor, evaluate and report on income, expenditure, and supporter acquisition across the events programme and make decisions about where to invest time and resources, accordingly.
- Develop necessary assets, such as fundraising packs. Digital platforms, digital rewards and supporter groups.
- Work with the Corporate & Philanthropy Manager to offer events fundraising to corporate partners.
2. Innovation and product development
- Use data and insights to understand audiences and to innovate and develop new events from prototype and MVP onwards.
- Proactively research and identify opportunities to grow the portfolio, monitoring the market and sector trends and how they could be implemented at Cerebra.
- Constantly seek to iterate and improve events in all areas including marketing, supporter experience, delivery and fundraising.
- Create business cases and plans for each new event.
- Own and grow Cerebra’s own mass participation flagship event “Relay Your Way”.
3. Schools and community groups
- Develop a plan and products to engage schools with Cerebra fundraising.
- Work with the Marketing & Communications team to develop materials to support schools fundraising.
- Work with the Marketing & Communications and Contact Centre teams to recruit schools to take part in fundraising for Cerebra.
- Monitor and evaluate to scale successful schools fundraising products.
- Take learnings from schools fundraising to apply to other groups and organisations.
4. Culture & relationships
- Work to continue the development of a strong, person-centred, empathetic, supportive and inclusive culture at Cerebra.
- Build on excellent relationships between different teams and directorates for each teams’s and Cerebra’s overall strategic goals and objectives.
- Collaborate across departments to align partner activity with service delivery and communications.
- Contribute to strategic, organisational and cultural development.
- Champion innovation, growth mindset and learning from failure.
- Manage relationships with external stakeholders, partners and suppliers to ensure the best outcomes for Cerebra.
5. Budgeting, monitoring and forecasting
- Working with the team and Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications to set income and expenditure budgets for Events and Community.
- Monitoring and reporting on income and expenditure and KPIs throughout the year.
- Providing quarterly income and expenditure re-forecasts.
- Ensuring all relevant information is recorded in line with charity, fundraising and data legislation and best practice.
6. Line Management
- Carry out recruitment within the team in line with Cerebra’s practices and values.
- Provide effective, remote line management, support and performance management to direct reports to help them maximise their potential and effectiveness.
- Provide practical and person-centred coaching support to direct reports.
- Ensure there is a continual focus on learning and development and wellbeing.
We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits, including 29 days holiday (plus bank holidays), pension match up to 6%, £300 home-working allowance, company sick pay, organisational membership of Fundraising Everywhere learning and development platform and the opportunity to work for a cause that truly matters.
To apply, send your CV and a short cover letter (max 800 words) outlining why you’re a great fit.
Interviews:
- Online (Teams): Week commencing 8th December 2025
Join us in creating a better world for children with neurological conditions. Let’s do something extraordinary—together.
We are an equal opportunities employer. If there is anything you need to support you to take part in an interview please let us know.
In line with our commitment to safeguarding, a full DBS check will be required of the successful candidate.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
BACKGROUND
Magic Breakfast’s mission is to end child morning hunger in the UK now and for good. The latest research suggests that 2.7 million children are at risk of hunger, meaning one in five children don’t have enough to eat. When a child is too hungry to learn, they struggle to concentrate, absorb information, and manage their emotions, causing them to fall behind in their studies.
Magic Breakfast provides a nutritious breakfast to over 300,000 children and young people every school day. We work with schools in areas of high disadvantage, helping staff target children most in need without barrier or stigma.
We are now at an exciting point in our journey as we launch Nourishing Futures, our long-term strategy, which will scale our impact and redefine breakfast spaces not only as places to eat, but as places to thrive.
To support the delivery of this strategy, we are evolving our Business Development function with the creation of a new role – Head of Business Development. This role will enable continue growth and investment from public funding sources, whilst ensuring that we are able and positioned to capitalise on the growing number of commercial opportunities. It will also lead a move towards more innovative and blended income models across England, Wales and Scotland.
Key responsibilities:
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Lead the Business Development function as an innovation hub, proactively horizonscanningfor opportunities across public funding, commercial activity, and philanthropicgiving. Ensure the team can respond with agility and flex resources to pursue the moststrategic and sizeable opportunities, including blended income streams and complex,multi-strand bids or partnerships that span commissioning, corporate, and philanthropy.
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Coach, lead and support the Business Development team (BD Manager England &Wales, BD Manager Scotland, BD Executive), setting clear objectives, KPIs, and expectations for income growth and performance and ensuring a values-driven culture.
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Work collaboratively across the fundraising leadership team to ensure it operates as a cohesive, high-performing unit that acts with agility to plan, pivot and make strategic decisions that maximise opportunities and drive growth.
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Ensure compliance with procurement processes, contracts, GDPR, safeguarding, and relevant charity law, embedding ethical business development across the function and taking responsibilities for operationalising of and adherence to all of Magic Breakfast’s policies and processes.
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Drive growth in public funding by securing contracts with local authorities, devolved governments, health and education commissioners, multi-academy trusts, and other public bodies.
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Oversee the preparation of high-quality tenders, bids, and proposals, ensuring they are evidence-based, competitive, and strategically aligned.
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Identify and pursue complex, multi-strand funding opportunities that bring together commissioned income, philanthropy, and corporate support.
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Apply a strong understanding of Magic Breakfast’s goals, strategies, and business plan to inform Business Development activity, ensuring all initiatives are aligned with organisational priorities and contribute to long-term objectives.
- Conduct annual planning and budgeting in partnership with the Director of Fundraising & Development, setting, measuring, and reporting against agreed KPIs.
Please see job description for reponsibilities.
WHAT WE OFFER
At Magic Breakfast we value our employees and work hard to develop offer a supportive, respectful culture which enables everyone to bring their whole self to work.
APPLICATION PROCCESS
Should you wish to discuss the role before applying please email our People and Culture Team, recruitment @ magicbreakfast. com
Shortlisting - w/c 1st December
Interview 1 - 8th December
Interview 2 - 15th December
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can manage application levels whilst maintaining a positive candidate experience. Unfortunately, once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Hours: 37 hours a week (Monday to Friday)
Advertised Salary: £33,677 + benefits.
Base Location: Home-working role. Hub location will be discussed at interview stage.
We are currently recruiting for a Trusts & Grants Executive to join our team. This is an exciting role within the Philanthropy & Partnerships team which will help the Trust to deliver significant growth in income. This role supports the Senior Partnerships Manager in strategic growth and income generation, focusing on expanding relationships with trusts, foundations, and other grant-making bodies.
A key part of the role will involve identifying and maintaining a personal portfolio of small to medium trusts, overseeing grant processes including reporting, and ensuring compliance with funding procedures to enhance the team’s efficiency and accountability.
This role will be offered on a remote working basis, with a requirement to attend our main hub spaces for team working and collaborative meetings. Hubs we can assign to you include Leeds, Ellesmere Port, Burnley, Newark, Birmingham, Hatton, Milton Keynes, Gloucester & London. The regularity & flexibility of travel will be discussed further at interview stage.
What we offer
In addition to your salary of £33,677, you will benefit from a competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, great holiday entitlement and numerous other employee benefits, including several salary sacrifice benefits such as;
- Competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, where we will double your contribution to a maximum of 10%.
- 25 days paid holiday (plus paid Bank Holidays), increasing with years of service to up to 30 days after 5 years, plus holiday purchase scheme.
- Home working status with ‘hub’ facilities available should you need the flexibility to work outside of home.
- Free access to specialist counselling on a range of issues, e.g. health, financial, well-being and domestic matters.
- Access to a range of employee benefits including store discounts, boating holiday discounts and holiday purchase scheme.
- 2 days paid volunteering leave per annum, allowing you to volunteer for a local community project etc.
- Free fishing facilities across our canal network.
Please follow the link to view the full job description/apply for this vacancy via the Canal & River Trust portal.