Trusts and foundations executive jobs in Birmingham

050 Partnerships Manager

Reporting to: Fundraising Lead
Hours: Full Time (35 hours per week)
Key Relationships: Products Manager, Stewardship Manager, Fundraising Lead, Director of Development, CEO, COO, Trustees, External Partners
Location: Remote Working, with national travel requirements for meetings, events and collaboration.

Overall Purpose

The Partnerships and Philanthropy Manager will both raise money to support the sustainability of NHS Charities Together and contribute to supporting NHS Charities to increase their income.
The focus of the role is on developing and leading partnerships with corporates and philanthropy.

Overall Objectives

• To generate income across a portfolio of corporate partnerships and charitable trusts and foundations
• To support NHS charities to raise income from partnerships
• Work flexibly as part of a Development Team, supporting the range of fundraising and income generation that the team targets.

Key Responsibilities

The main duties and responsibilities of the role holder are as outlined below:

Partnership Development & Delivery

• Manage the range of existing partnerships across corporate and philanthropic audiences, creating and implementing bespoke solicitation and stewardship plans, generating income for the organisation or NHS Charities
• Translate our work into compelling and bespoke cases for support, making relevant and appropriate asks and soliciting multi-year strategic partnerships
• Identifyand develop new partnership opportunities whichbenefitour organisation or NHS Charities
• Develop opportunities for and deliver sponsorship income for our activity and events

Collaboration & Sector Support

• Work collaboratively with member NHS Charities to understand their fundraising needs, challenges, and opportunities.
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders across the sector, supporting them to understand the most appropriate role for partnership-based fundraising
• Share learning and best practice from partnership relationships to inform future developments and sector growth.
• Contribute to supporting NHS Charities to raise their income, providing advice and guidance 1:1 and through supporting the delivery of member events
• Where required support the delivery of paid for consulting support to NHS charities on fundraising
• Keep abreast of trends in fundraising within and beyond the health sector.

Leadership & Financial Management

• Establish clear objectives, KPIs, and evaluation frameworks for all partnerships
• Monitor the performance and financial return of our partnerships work, producing regular reports and insights to inform decision-making.
• Provide effective line management to team members, ensuring they have clear objectives, professional development, and deliver high performance.
• Manage budgets as required, monitoring income and expenditure to ensure targets and forecasts are met, and reporting any variances promptly.
• Produce regular performance and income reports and insights to inform strategy and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the effective running of the team, and participate in relevant training and team meetings.
• Ensure donor records are kept up to date on the fundraising database, and ensure our CRM records of key relationships are maintained
• Ensure all appropriate due diligence is undertaken and necessary gift agreements are in place.
• Ensure that all fundraising activity complies with the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice and relevant legislation.

Cross-Team Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Liaise with teams across the organisation to collaborate on member facing activity and ensuring our product offers fit with our member segmentation approaches.
• Support the team on other fundraising activity, for example around events, or in the cultivation and recruitment of individual donors

Competencies

Teamwork – ‘One charity’, working within and across teams

• Collaborates across teams, ensuring our activity is aligned with our wider support of members.

Building trust and respect – listen, feedback and learn

• Models our values through their work, seeking to support colleagues and understand their perspectives.
• Proactive, and adaptable to support the wider work of the organisation as required.

Responsibility – owning your part in our success

• Demonstrates commitment to delivering exceptional partnerships.
• Takes responsibility for developing and leading successful relationships which generate income.

Professionalism – creating an environment to achieve success

• Takes a learning approach to ensure we continually improve.
• Upholds the highest standards of integrity, ethics, and transparency, ensuring we always work within the Fundraising Code.

Stakeholder focus – understanding the needs of our key stakeholders and audiences

• Passionate about supporting NHS charities and helping them to increase their income.
• Seeks to understand the needs of NHS charities, shaping our support to maximise our impact in supporting them to raise income.
• Ensures our own fundraising does not compete with members.

Acumen – Sound decision-making

• Adapts and shapes partnerships based on learning to deliver success.
• Identifies and shapes member support around what is most effective.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Fundraising Qualification, Chartered Institute of Fundraising, or equivalent
• Significant experience of fundraising, and the role and theory of fundraising through partnerships and/or philanthropic relationships
• Experience of securing significant partnerships of at least 5 figures from corporate partners, individuals or family foundations and managing relationships with major supporters
• Knowledge of the current philanthropy and High Net Worth Individual and/or corporate landscape and insight into future trends
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders.
• Creative thinker with a commercial mindset
• Collaborative working style with excellent stakeholder management skills
• Experience managing and developing team members.
• Influencing skills, with experience of working across teams or partner organisations.
• Experience of database management and using a fundraising CRM system
• An excellent communicator, in person and in written work
• Experience working within an NHS charity or large health-related fundraising environment.
• Experience in building credibility with senior external stakeholders and managing relationships with diplomacy
• Experience managing external relationships with suppliers

Other duties

• Visibly live NHS Charities Togethers values, including our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Carrying out the duties of postin accordance withNHS Charities Togethers policies and procedures on Health and Safety and take responsibility for ensuring personal health and safety.
• Working flexibly, prioritising workload, and working effectively as part of a team. Demonstrating an ability to work calmly and effectively when under pressure of tight deadlines, to deliver work on time and to a high standard.
• Adhere to relevant legislation, best practice, policies, and processes including, but not limited to charity law, the fundraising regulator, GDPR and professional codes and standards.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of duties. The need for flexibility is required, and the post holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee’s skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed.

For nearly 20 years, Lively Minds has been proving that parents are the sleeping giants of early childhood development. With strong evidence and a national scale proof point in Ghana, we have shown that parent powered approaches delivered through government systems can transform children's lives at scale.

We are now at a pivotal moment. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum, and we need the funding, profile and influence to match our ambition. This is a rare opportunity to lead income generation and external voice for an award winning NGO entering an exciting new phase of growth. You will lead our fundraising strategy and direct engagement with Funders ensuring that we maximise all funding opportunities as we continue our strategic evolution. You will also shape a compelling external narrative that will help position Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments strengthening their early childhood development systems.

If you are an exceptional fundraiser and communicator who is equally comfortable in a strategic conversation and writing a winning proposal, we would love to hear from you.

Read the full advert and apply below. Closing date: 3rd September 2026.

About Lively Minds

Lively Minds is an award-winning NGO with nearly 20 years of experience designing, testing and scaling early childhood development (ECD) solutions across the Global South. Our core idea is simple but radical: parents are the sleeping giants of ECD. Governments and donors have long overlooked parents, assuming that poverty and low literacy make them unable or unwilling to support their childrenʼs development. We have spent two decades proving otherwise. With RCT-backed evidence and a national-scale proof point in Ghana, we have demonstrated that parent-powered approaches, delivered through government systems, can achieve meaningful child development outcomes at scale.

Our 2026–2028 strategy marks a pivotal shift. Having demonstrated what is possible, we are now helping pioneer an innovative model of country-led sustainable scale. Rather than delivering programmes ourselves, we provide lean, time-limited technical advisory support to governments to help them integrate parent-powered ECD into their own systems, budgets and institutions. We are currently working with the governments of Ghana, Uganda, Oromia state (Ethiopia) and The Gambia in 2026, growing to six or more country engagements by 2028. Our ambition is to catalyse a sector-wide shift, positioning Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments seeking to strengthen their ECD systems.

Our scale strategy rests on three interdependent pillars: fixed-term Technical Advisory partnerships with governments; the development of a modular radio model simple and affordable enough for governments to adopt and fund independently; and an advocacy and sector influence agenda designed to make parent-powered ECD the norm globally.

Purpose of the Role

Lively Minds is at a critical inflection point. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum. We now need the funding, profile and sector influence to match our ambition. The Director of Fundraising and Communications is a priority hire, created to provide the dedicated, experienced leadership that this moment demands.

The Director will own and drive Lively Mindsʼ income generation, building new funder relationships, managing and deepening existing ones, and ensuring the organisation has the pipeline, discipline and quality of engagement to meet and exceed its fundraising targets. Working in close partnership with the Founding CEO, who retains ownership of a small number of long-standing strategic relationships, the Director will take primary responsibility for securing the funding that makes the 2026–2028 strategy deliverable, and that opens the door to greater scale beyond it. We need to raise approximately £3.4m over the next 3 years to deliver our strategy. But our ambition is to exceed that target so we can support additional governments.

Alongside fundraising, the Director will provide strategic leadership to Lively Mindsʼ communications and advocacy work, ensuring that the organisationʼs external voice is compelling and that we are building credibility in the spaces where funding decisions are made. The Director will lead and provide strategic coherence to a small but outward-facing team, including Head of Partnerships and Advocacy Lead who are active on the international stage. Lively Minds is committed to thought-leadership and active external engagement, but equally committed to ensuring that communications resource is deployed with discipline and rigour. The Director will set a clear strategic filter for where the organisation shows up, what it publishes and who it engages: prioritising focus and quality over volume, and always asking whether external activity is building the relationships and reputation that ultimately drive income and/or systems change.

Lively Minds is a dispersed, remote organisation. The Directorʼs team the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer - are internationally distributed. The ability to lead, develop and maintain high standards across a dispersed team is essential. The role requires regular travel to international conferences and events.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Income Generation

• Own and deliver the multi-year fundraising strategy with clear priorities, targets, income streams and a disciplined pipeline to support the 2026–2028 strategy and future scale
• Steward existing funder relationships, turning strong partnerships into long-term supporters, advocates and connectors to new funding opportunities.
• Lead the shift towards Big Bet and catalytic funding, personally cultivating and negotiating high-value, multi-year partnerships and positioning Lively Minds for system-level scale
• Maintain a high standard of fundraising quality, pipeline management and forecasting, while coaching the team to produce compelling, sophisticated fundraising materials
•  Build and continuously strengthen a diverse funding pipeline, identifying emerging opportunities, new funding markets and strategic partnerships that reduce concentration risk and support long-term financial sustainability

Communications, Brand & Advocacy

• Own and deliver Lively Mindsʼ communications and marketing strategy, balancing visibility and sector influence with the need to strengthen fundraising and systems-change objectives
• Partner closely with the CEO to shape and steward a coherent external narrative, brand and messaging framework across all audiences and channels
• Oversee high-quality core communications and fundraising materials, including cases for support, pitch decks, website content, proposals and donor reports
• Provide strategic communications expertise to Advocacy, Partnerships and MEL, ensuring evidence and learning are translated into compelling narratives and consistent external messaging
• Lead efforts to strengthen Lively Mindsʼ profile and thought leadership in the ECD sector, identifying opportunities for strategic media, events, publications and external platforms that reinforce its positioning and influence

Organizational Leadership&TeamDevelopment

 

• Contribute actively to SMT and organisational strategy, bringing funder intelligence, external perspective and communications expertise to strategic decision-making.
• Work closely with Finance and MEL to align fundraising targets, forecasting, budgets and evidence, ensuring proposals are credible, accurately costed and evidence-led
• Act as the organisationʼs communications subject matter expert, providing guidance and challenge to ensure high-quality, consistent external communications
• Lead and develop the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer, fostering a team culture of quality, accountability, strategic clarity and continuous improvement
• Build strong cross-organisational collaboration, ensuring teams understand how fundraising, communications, advocacy and evidence work together to advance Lively Mindsʼ strategic priorities

Person Specification

Essential Experience & Skills

• 10+ years of significant senior-level fundraising experience within international development, education, philanthropy or a comparable sector
• Proven track record of securing major grants from foundations, institutional donors and high-net-worth individuals, alongside demonstrated experience securing or meaningfully progressing large-scale, catalytic funding from Big Bet philanthropy programmes such as the Audacious Project, Skoll Foundation or comparable funders. A strong understanding of what these funders look for and how to position an organisation compellingly within their processes is essential
• Exceptional fundraising writing skills, with the ability to personally develop compelling cases for support, funding proposals, award applications and pitch decks tailored to sophisticated impact funders. This is a hands-on role requiring both strong writing capability and the ability to coach others to consistently produce high-quality fundraising content
• Experienced in developing and owning a marketing and communications strategy, with a strong understanding of how to balance organisational visibility, thought leadership and sector influence with coherence, strategic focus and income generation
• Demonstrated ability to work closely with a Founding CEO to shape and steward the organisationʼs external narrative and brand. Comfortable working in a founder-led environment, providing expertise and constructive challenge while ensuring the organisation maintains a clear, consistent and coherent external voice

Desirable Experience

• Experienced fundraising for a technical advisory, systems change or government-facing organisation
• Knowledge of the ECD, education or early childhood sector and its funding landscape
• Familiarity with the Big Bang Philanthropy network or equivalent impact-focused funder communities
• Experience working alongside advocacy and partnerships teams, providing communications expertise and strategic coherence to their external activity
• Familiarity with the funding landscape for organisations operating in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Experience working remotely across multiple countries and effectively collaborating with cross-cultural teams

Behaviours & Ways of Working

• A doer, equally comfortable in strategic conversations and writing a funding proposal
• Sets a high bar for quality and clarity in all external communications and holds it consistently
• Builds a strong, trust-based partnership with the Founding CEO, provides honest challenge and operates effectively within a founder-led dynamic without losing their own voice or judgement
• Collaborative and cross-organisational. Invests in strong relationships with programme, MEL and finance colleagues, understanding that the best fundraising is grounded in organisational reality
• Calm and focused under pressure - able to manage competing priorities and maintain quality when the stakes are high

What We Offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• 25 days annual leave
• Health insurance
• Pension contribution
• Generous learning and development budget
• Flexible, remote working

Application Instruction

Interested candidates are encouraged to read the Job Description carefully before applying to ensure they understand the role and meet the required criteria.

To apply, please complete the pre-screening questions and submit your updated CV

PLEASE NOTE - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Timeline

Closing Date: 3rd September 2026

Our Stance

Lively Minds operates a strict Safeguarding Policy and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable people. As part of our recruitment process, the suitability of successful candidates will be verified through appropriate background checks including professional references and police checks.

Lively Minds is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to providing equal opportunities throughout our recruitment process. We want this commitment to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives.

We are committed to ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on merit, skills, experience and suitability for the role, and that all candidates are treated fairly and with respect throughout the recruitment process.

Community Fundraiser – East Midlands

Are you ready to take on a new challenge with a leading charity making a real difference in brain tumour research?

Brain Tumour Research is an exciting, innovative, and ambitious charity. We are passionate about finding a cure for brain tumours through the establishment of dedicated Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence around the UK.

After a successful 2025, we’re building on our momentum and looking ahead with ambition. As our work continues to expand, so does our impact. We are now looking for passionate people to join us on the next stage of our journey!

It is a fantastic time to be joining us and we are keen to share this with likeminded and talented individuals. We currently have an opening for a Community Fundraiser – East Midlands, to join our Income Generation and Development team.

• Do you want to make a difference in one of the most innovative and exciting medical research fundraising charities in the UK?
• Are you able to provide friendly and professional support to fundraisers and supporters?   
• Do you have experience in supporting events or community activities?
• Do you live in our East Midlands region (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire or Rutland)?

Have you answered Yes to these questions?

Does this sound like the opportunity to really take the next step in your career?

Excited to learn more about this position? Then please take a read through our recruitment pack attached below. 

If you have the skills and ambition that we are looking for we are excited to receive your application.  We are really looking forward to welcoming a new member to our team!

We are asking for a CV as the first step but applicants may be asked to provide a targeted covering letter as part of the selection process.  Interviews will be conducted during the application window as appropriate, and will consist of a first interview via MS Teams, progressing, if successful to a face to face second interview, held at our offices in Milton Keynes.

We reserve the right to close the application window early and advise candidates to apply in good time to avoid disappointment.

Closing Date: 06th September 2026

We are looking for people who share our passion for finding a cure for brain tumours and who have the skills and experience to make a difference. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and ages. We believe that diversity enriches our organisation and helps us achieve our mission. We are committed to providing an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone can be themselves and contribute to our vision.

We can’t fix issues like poverty, inequality, health and climate change alone. We are fully conscious of the scale of the challenge that faces the country and the urgent need to respond. That’s why the School for Social Entrepreneurs exists, to empower and equip people with entrepreneurial ideas and solutions to grow the social economy. The social economy is a movement of organisations and enterprises that prioritise people and planet. Together, we are committed to tackling the greatest social and environmental challenges of our time.This is a new and exciting role at a significant time of growth for the School for Social Entrepreneurs. In the coming year. we are developing new programmes, working with leaders who are developing small community led social and environmental projects as well as leading larger charities and social businesses developing social investment and housing solutions.

We’re not a traditional funder. Our grants tend to be small, but they punch above their weight, helping social and environmental entrepreneurs take the next step to grow their organisations. Our grants run alongside learning programmes, challenging and supporting leaders. We’re innovative in how we do this, through both traditional and enterprise grants. We lead on Match Trading™, a grant that challenges leaders to grow their trading income, and we are working on further grants innovations.

You will work with our Grants Team, Project Co-ordinators and Assessment Lead to develop and support grant management across a range of programmes. Your role will be to lead on specific programmes, including supporting assessment, onboarding and grant management. You will ensure that grantees are fully supported to manage their grants and ensure that grant management is compliant, auditable, efficient, and timely. You will support the development of grant policies and processes, writing grant paperwork and documentation, overseeing payments, and reporting to the wider Programmes Team and others about our work.

You don’t need to have managed grants before, but you do need to have a good understanding of a wide range enterprises and charities, gained through experience of training, business consultancy or development support. You will have a good understanding of business models, legal structures and financial systems that social and environmental organisations and community run and owned businesses may use. You will need to understand social enterprise finances, be able to read accounts, budgets, cashflows and have a good knowledge of social enterprise income streams.

We need someone who understands how hard it is to start up and grow social and environmental enterprises and can support people from diverse backgrounds in managing their grant, finances and growing their business.

Are you up for the challenge?

Interviews: Friday 18th and Friday 25th September (online)

Context of role:
The Outreach Officer plays a key role in raising awareness of services, strengthening community
partnerships and supporting the delivery of high-quality bereavement support activities across the
region. The postholder will engage with local networks, coordinate events, and support volunteers while ensuring effective monitoring, reporting and continuous improvement.
This role sits initially within Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, but will expand to support phase 3 of the expansion which will include the West Midlands, Warwickshire and
Staffordshire. 

Key responsibilities:
Support Service:
1. Event Coordination and Delivery
1.1: Coordinate and deliver regular community engagement activities, including; coffee mornings and
support events.
1.2: Organise and facilitate regular wellbeing and social activities, such as; walks or group sessions.
1.3: Represent the organisation at regional events, including supporting fundraising and CYP teams
when required.
1.4: Co-lead on bookings and coordination of Ty Uchaf, our respite house.
2. Awareness, Training and Engagement
2.1: Lead on regional awareness training delivery for non-emergency services and community-based
organisations.
2.2: Deliver additional 2wish training programmes as required, including Children & Young People
(CYP) and Bereavement in workplace support training.
2.3: Lead awareness and advocacy activities with local ‘support champions’, including professionals
within non-emergency services.
3. Partnership and Network Development
3.1: Actively engage with local bereavement networks through attendance at meetings, hosting
information stands and building strong professional relationships across the region.
3.2: Develop and maintain effective links with community partners to expand reach and awareness of
services.
4. Volunteer Support
4.1: Act as a key local contact for volunteers.
4.2: Support the recruitment, training and retention of volunteers in collaboration with the wider
team.
5. Administration, Monitoring and Reporting
5.1: Maintain and take ownership of relevant systems and spreadsheets, including those used for:
52: Event planning and delivery
5.3: Marketing and communications
5.4: Contact and engagement tracking
5.5: Professional and family engagement records
5.6: Accurately record interactions with stakeholders, including; families, professionals, champions
and referral partners.
5.7: Monitor and manage posts/content on Facebook family accounts.
6. Quality Assurance and Improvement
6.1: Support quality audits and contribute to continuous improvement processes.
6.2: Collect and review feedback from events and training sessions to inform future development.2.0 General:
1.1: To be responsible for organising own work agenda, time management and administration
1.2: To keep clear and up to date records on database of activities with families and any ensuing
action
1.3: To promote the on-going work and continued support that 2wish can offer
1.4: To work as part of a team providing support to suddenly bereaved families
1.5: To work alongside support team and maintain a seamless approach to service delivery
1.6: To maintain a high degree of confidentiality in accordance with the charity’s policies
1.7: To show respect and sensitivity for the cultural and religious beliefs of families
1.8: To undertake learning opportunities and seek them out for the team
1.9: To adhere to all company policies and procedures including Safeguarding, Confidentiality,
Health and Safety and Lone Working; and to be proactive in implementing new safe working
practices as appropriate
1.10: To attend weekend and evening community events in support of the charity as necessary
1.11: Participate as and when required in team meetings and one-to-one meetings, and
undertake, as appropriate, courses/training/other developmental activities, which is relevant to
the role
1.12: To contribute to the evaluation and monitoring processes to ensure effectiveness of
services and activities provided
1.13: Contribute on the social media platforms maintained by 2wish
It is the nature of the work that tasks and responsibilities are in many circumstances
unpredictable and varied. All employees are therefore expected to work in a flexible way and
tasks, which are not specifically covered in their job description may have to be undertaken.
This role is subject to a DBS check.