Donor research manager volunteer roles

Location: UK - Wide (meetings mainly in person, some virtual)
Contract Type: Volunteer
Term: 3 years (with potential renewal)
Campaign Closes:19th February 2026

Interviews: W/C 9th March & 16th March 2026 – Trustee/SLT interviews
                    W/C 16th March or 23th March 2026 – STARboard interviews
                  31st March 2026 (approximately) – Recommendation expected
                  6th May 2026 – Final Board approval

Join Our Board as a Trustee – Make-A-Wish UK
At Make‑A‑Wish UK, we create joy, hope and life‑changing moments for children facing critical illness. We are seeking an inspiring Chair of the Board to provide strategic leadership, champion our mission and ensure strong governance as we work towards our vision: a wish for every eligible child.

Why join us?

• Shape the strategic direction of a national charity transforming the lives of children with critical illness.
• Lead a purpose‑driven, inclusive board, ensuring diverse voices including young people influence decision‑making.
• Use your experience where it matters most, providing governance, stewardship and support to an ambitious executive team.
• Be part of a deeply rewarding mission, helping ensure every eligible child can experience the power of a wish.

If you are ready to make a lasting impact and lead with purpose, we would love to hear from you. 

For the full recruitment pack, and to apply for this role, please visit our website.

Requirments 

Essential Criteria

• Leadership Experience: Demonstrable experience of chairing boards, committees, or senior leadership teams, ideally within the charity or non-profit sector.
• Governance Knowledge: Strong understanding of charity governance, legal responsibilities of Trustees, and regulatory environment in the UK.
• Strategic Thinking: Proven ability to drive organisational strategies and build commitment to a collective vision.
• Communication Skills: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to facilitate balanced discussions and consensus.
• Commitment to Diversity: Commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of the charity’s work.
• Passion for Mission: a deep commitment to Make-A-Wish UK’s vision, values and behaviours.
• Integrity: Highest standards of integrity, probity, and professionalism

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of leading transformational change to significantly increase reach and scale in operations
• Strong personal networks that can benefit the charity
• Understanding of the challenges facing children with critical illnesses and their families

Personal Attributes 

• A child focused approach always
• A consultative, inclusive, and collaborative style of leadership with the ability to listen and engage effectively 
• Strong inter-personal and relationship building abilities, including empathy and sensitivity, especially when interacting with wish families and children
• Sound judgement and decision-making ability.
• Ability to commit time to the role, including travel and attending events out of office hours

Eligibility
The successful candidate must be eligible to act as a Trustee under UK charity law and willing to undertake an Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.

Responsibilities:

• Leadership and Governance: Provide strategic leadership to the Board, ensuring effective governance practices and compliance with statutory responsibilities.
• Board Meetings: Chair Board meetings, ensuring clear agendas, productive discussions, and timely decision-making.
• Strategic Direction: Work collaboratively with the Chief Executive and Trustees to set and review the charity’s strategic objectives and performance.
• Support and Supervision: Provide guidance and support to the Chief Executive, undertaking annual appraisals and ensuring their continued development as an effective leader.
• Board Development: Lead on Trustee recruitment, induction, and ongoing development, reviewing board effectiveness and taking actions for continuous improvement
• Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all the charity’s activities and ensuring that diverse voices, including those of young people and lived experience, are heard by the Board.
• Risk and Compliance: Oversee the charity’s risk management, ensuring that policies and procedures are robust and regularly reviewed.
• Financial Oversight: Ensure the Board fulfils its duties regarding financial stewardship, budgeting, and monitoring performance against objectives
• Advocacy: Champion the charity’s values and mission, advocating for Make-A-Wish UK within the sector and the wider community. Represent Make-A-Wish UK externally, fostering relationships with stakeholders, donors, and partners.

Dive into lasting impact: Fundraise for East London Waterworks Park to create and shape natural swimming ponds, ecological habitats and community gardens

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

If you would like to help us develop our digital fundraising and our online offer, would you like to join our fundraising and communications teams in creating and implementing a strategy? We would love to hear from anyone with experience of fundraising online or with enthusiasm and a desire to test things out and learn as you go along. Recently we raised over half a million pounds through our Crowdfunder. Now we are looking to create a sustainable medium term income stream online.

The Fundraising Circle currently meets fortnightly on a Thursday evening on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely. We understand that people may not have a lot of time to give, so we want to find volunteers who could give us one-off or ongoing strategic advice and support.

If you have experience in writing grants and funding applications, corporate fundraising, philanthropy, or any other aspect of fundraising, it would be great to hear from you. 

We are keen fundraisers but we are lacking professional in digital fundraising expertise and experience and we would love your help and input. We would welcome one-off advice on the phone or in person, as well as longer term volunteers. 

East London Waterworks Park is an exciting and ambitious project that offers many rewarding opportunities for our volunteers. You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds and forest schools. 

By leading fundraising projects that explore how diverse professionals (architects, ecologists, web developers, community researchers etc.) collaborate to shape community infrastructure, volunteers will directly contribute to the development of a park that truly reflects the needs and desires of the local community. 

Without funding we won’t be able to make it happen. Your input will help us craft experiences that inspire, educate, and engage our service users, stakeholders, funders, and the general public, ultimately driving support for the park's mission and ensuring its long-term sustainability. So you will be directly contributing to the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds.

Dive into lasting impact: Fundraise for East London Waterworks Park to create and shape natural swimming ponds, ecological habitats and community gardens

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

Do you have experience organising events, or would you like to get some? Our past fundraising activities have included pub quizzes, a photography competition and exhibition, sale of locally made jeans and more. If you’re buzzing with ideas of how to raise money or are keen to get stuck in and help to make some events happen, we would love to hear from you.

The Fundraising Circle currently meets fortnightly on a Thursday evening on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely. We understand that people may not have a lot of time to give, so we want to find volunteers who could give us one-off or ongoing strategic advice and support.

East London Waterworks Park is an exciting and ambitious project that offers many rewarding opportunities for our volunteers. You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds and forest schools. 

By leading fundraising projects that explore how diverse professionals (architects, ecologists, web developers, community researchers etc.) collaborate to shape community infrastructure, volunteers will directly contribute to the development of a park that truly reflects the needs and desires of the local community. 

Without funding we won’t be able to make it happen. Your input will help us craft experiences that inspire, educate, and engage our service users, stakeholders, funders, and the general public, ultimately driving support for the park's mission and ensuring its long-term sustainability. So you will be directly contributing to the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds.

Dive into lasting impact: Fundraise for East London Waterworks Park to create and shape natural swimming ponds, ecological habitats and community gardens

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

If you are a good writer and seller of ideas, would you like to join our mini-team of funding bid writers? We would especially love to hear from you if you have experience of writing funding applications, and we are happy to share the skills we have developed with you if you would like to learn.

The Fundraising Circle currently meets fortnightly on a Thursday evening on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely. We understand that people may not have a lot of time to give, so we want to find volunteers who could give us one-off or ongoing strategic advice and support.

If you have experience in writing grants and funding applications, corporate fundraising, philanthropy, or any other aspect of fundraising, it would be great to hear from you. 

We are keen fundraisers but we are lacking professional expertise and experience and we would love your help and input. We would welcome one-off advice on the phone or in person, as well as longer term volunteers. 

We would also love to hear from potential volunteers without experience but with transferable skills.

East London Waterworks Park is an exciting and ambitious project that offers many rewarding opportunities for our volunteers. You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds and forest schools. 

By leading fundraising projects that explore how diverse professionals (architects, ecologists, web developers, community researchers etc.) collaborate to shape community infrastructure, volunteers will directly contribute to the development of a park that truly reflects the needs and desires of the local community. 

Without funding we won’t be able to make it happen. Your input will help us craft experiences that inspire, educate, and engage our service users, stakeholders, funders, and the general public, ultimately driving support for the park's mission and ensuring its long-term sustainability. So you will be directly contributing to the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds.

Dive into lasting impact: Fundraise for East London Waterworks Park to create and shape natural swimming ponds, ecological habitats and community gardens

East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces. 

We are creating a fundraising strategy for our next phase of work: an exciting programme of community projects. If you have experience of planning or running fundraising campaigns, we would love to hear from you. Our community-led strategic process, as well as all of our work, is open for everyone to participate in.

The Fundraising Circle currently meets fortnightly on a Thursday evening on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely. We understand that people may not have a lot of time to give, so we want to find volunteers who could give us one-off or ongoing strategic advice and support.

If you have experience in writing grants and funding applications, corporate fundraising, philanthropy, or any other aspect of fundraising, it would be great to hear from you. 

We are keen fundraisers but we are lacking professional expertise and experience and we would love your help and input. We would welcome one-off advice on the phone or in person, as well as longer term volunteers. 

East London Waterworks Park is an exciting and ambitious project that offers many rewarding opportunities for our volunteers. You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds and forest schools. 

By leading fundraising projects that explore how diverse professionals (architects, ecologists, web developers, community researchers etc.) collaborate to shape community infrastructure, volunteers will directly contribute to the development of a park that truly reflects the needs and desires of the local community. 

Without funding we won’t be able to make it happen. Your input will help us craft experiences that inspire, educate, and engage our service users, stakeholders, funders, and the general public, ultimately driving support for the park's mission and ensuring its long-term sustainability. So you will be directly contributing to the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds.

Type: Volunteer
Commitment: 2 hours a week or 4 posts a month (can be done flexibly, prepared in advance) - with bi-weekly catch-ups
Reporting to: Operational Director
Location: Remote (UK)

We are looking to appoint 2 volunteers for this vacancy

 
What will you be doing?

You’ll create engaging, inspiring content for our Social Media accounts – just 1-2 posts a week – helping us grow our online presence, connect with our supporters, and communicate our values around sustainability, biodiversity, and inclusion. 

This is a flexible, part-time role requiring around 2 hours per week, or less if you can produce 4 monthly posts and leave them scheduled, ideal for someone looking to build their creative portfolio while supporting meaningful grassroots work.

What are we looking for?

Essential:

• Confident using Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn (personal or professional)
• Strong written communication and visual storytelling skills
• Creative flair and alignment with our charity’s mission and ethos
• Reliable and organised, able to contribute consistently each week
• Comfortable working independently and taking initiative
• Ability to work as part of a Team
• Able to use Canva to produce content

Desirable:

• Experience using Canva or similar design tools
• Familiarity with scheduling platforms like Meta Suite, Buffer, or Later
• Understanding of ethical and inclusive communication practices
• Interest in sustainability, holistic living, education, or nature

Candidates should have 3+ years of experience with: 
 

• Marketing Strategy
  Ability to plan purposeful content that aligns with our goals (e.g. awareness, engagement, partnerships).
• Social Media Marketing
  Confident using Facebook and Instagram; understands how to create engaging, platform-appropriate posts that speak to different audiences.
• Graphic Design
  Able to design clear, visually appealing posts using tools like Canva, with attention to accessibility and branding.

What difference will you make?

As our Social Media Content Creator, your work will directly support Willowbrook Farm Charity’s mission to inspire sustainable living and reconnect people with nature. By sharing our stories, values, and programmes online, you will:

• Grow our visibility – Helping more people discover our charity, our values, and our work with biodiversity, sustainable farming, and environmental education.
• Inspire and inform – Creating content that motivates individuals to live more sustainably and engage with nature, while highlighting inclusive and equitable access to green spaces.
• Support fundraising and outreach – Boosting awareness of our community projects and helping us reach potential donors, supporters, and participants.
• Celebrate diversity and belonging – Representing the wide range of people we welcome at Willowbrook, and promoting our inclusive approach to Earth stewardship.
• Build momentum during our rebuild phase – As we relaunch after a period of dormancy, your work will be instrumental in reigniting interest and engagement with our charity.

Your creativity will help turn values into action, and connect our small grassroots charity to a wider world, one post at a time.

Who will be working with you? Our Marketing Team:

· 2x Article writers (writing content for Blog and LinkedIn articles)

· 1 Brand and Development Manager

· 1 Graphic Designer Lead

· 1 Marketing Manager (coming soon)

·       2 Social Media Content Creators (this position)

· 1 Video Editor (coming soon)

How we work (and what you can expect when joining the team)

We don’t believe in KPIs or harsh targets; that’s not our style. We’re a values-led, cause-driven team that measures success by the quality of relationships we build, the opportunities we uncover together, and the impact we make for our beneficiaries. Numbers can be useful, but we don’t use quotas or pressure to motivate people. Instead, we focus on collaboration, learning, and genuine enthusiasm for finding the right people who align with our mission.

What this looks like in the marketing team

In practice, you’ll join a supportive creative team that shares story leads, swaps ideas, and helps each other refine drafts. We celebrate curiosity, voice, and progress, not just outcomes. We’ll agree on simple, shared goals and light check-ins so everyone knows where we’re heading, but we won’t impose arbitrary targets or dashboards. If a post doesn’t land or a campaign underperforms, we treat it as learning—not failure—and we improve it together. Yours and our wellbeing and growth matter to us as much as the content we publish. We understand that content engagement takes time and effort to develop.

How we create together

You’ll have space to research, think, and craft clear, accessible writing across channels (web, email, social, print or channels you have been assigned to). We work from short creative briefs, friendly peer reviews, and a living style guide, so you’re never writing in a vacuum. We co-create with programme colleagues and volunteers, turning real experiences into stories, explainers, and resources that help people connect with our mission.

Ethical, inclusive storytelling

We take ethical marketing seriously. We prioritise respectful, consent-based storytelling, plain language, and accessibility (e.g., clear structure, alt text, readable layouts). We’d rather publish fewer, stronger pieces that we’re proud of than chase volume for the sake of a metric. You’ll have time to fact-check and shape narratives that are honest, strengths-based, and aligned with our values.

Your voice, our mission

Bring your ideas! Pitch topics, test formats, and iterate. We’ll back you with constructive feedback, and opportunities to grow your craft while keeping our shared focus on meaningful content that supports the communities we serve.

If you’re motivated by purpose, teamwork, and thoughtful posts (rather than meeting a quota) you’ll feel right at home with us! But remember, because of this supportive and collaborative culture we maintain, we will honestly rely on you to fulfil your share of the work.

 Before you apply

We’re really grateful for every volunteer’s time and contribution. Please note we’re unable to provide professional references for volunteers who haven’t actively participated and engaged with our work for at least four months and/or delivered tangible outcomes*. Your work is valued even if your circumstances change and you’re not able to fulfil the time and hours we originally agreed. However, because professional references require a higher level of commitment, meaningful contribution, and long-term dedication, we can only provide them when we’ve worked together long enough and seen clear results from your involvement, to give future employers a fair, well-informed reference.

*By “tangible outcomes,” we mean clear contributions such as completing agreed tasks or projects, meeting deadlines, producing work we can review, or making measurable progress toward team goals. If a professional reference isn’t possible, we’re happy to confirm your volunteering dates and role instead.

We’re seeking committed new trustees to help guide a small but ambitious charity supporting children and young people with cerebral palsy, ensuring our funds deliver meaningful, life-changing impact.

Our Board is made up of a small, committed group of trustees who bring a mix of professional expertise and personal connection to our cause. Together, we oversee a grant-making charity that has a long heritage and a clear ambition: to increase our income and ensure we can support more children and young people with cerebral palsy in meaningful, practical ways.

Like many small charities, our challenge is balancing strong governance with growth. We are financially stable and well run, but we want to think more strategically about our future: how we prioritise funding, how we grow awareness and income, and how we ensure every grant we make delivers real, lasting benefit for families. The new trustee will play an active role in shaping these conversations and helping the Board move confidently from steady state to sustainable growth.

The role is hands-on and collaborative. Trustees are expected to attend four board meetings a year, contribute thoughtfully to discussion and decision-making, and engage between meetings when specific issues arise. Depending on interest and experience, the new trustee may also be invited to take a lead role in an area of work or join a small working group, for example around fundraising development, investment oversight, or grant assessment.

This is an opportunity to influence how limited charitable funds are used where they matter most. Trustees are directly involved in decisions that enable children to access therapy, specialist equipment, and support that may not otherwise be available. For someone who wants to make a tangible difference, this is a role where your contribution can be clearly seen in the lives of the children and families we support.

The Board values open discussion, shared responsibility, and a supportive culture, making this an especially rewarding role for someone who wants their time and judgement to have genuine impact.