Volunteer Trusts And Grants Fundraiser Jobs in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

Make a big impact with a dynamic small charity transforming lives in Africa. Join us to help ensure we reach everyone with water, sanitation & hygiene, leaving no one behind.

Since 2004, Village Water has been dedicated to transforming lives in Africa by providing vital support in hygiene promotion, sanitation facilities, and safe water (WASH) in rural communities of Zambia and Mozambique. 

Working together with local partners, we strive to reach the most marginalised populations in rural villages, schools, and health centres, creating positive impacts on their health and empowering them with opportunities.

As a small yet dynamic team, we pride ourselves on our personal touch and can-do approach. We need a creative and industrious person with excellent communication skills and ability to build strong relationships with trusts, community groups and individual supporters.

Key information:  

Location: Remote working. (UK only) Must be able to attend a minimum of 5 mandatory meetings per year (includes overnight stay for 2-day meetings) at our office in Shrewsbury and occasional meetings elsewhere. 

Contract: Permanent. Full time 37.5 hours a week.  

Salary: Between £33,000 – £35,000 a year depending on experience. 

Benefits and entitlements:  Matched pension contributions - 7% of salary after probationary period, 5 weeks' annual leave plus bank holidays and discretionary Christmas shut down.  

Reporting to:  Head of Fundraising, Village Water.  

Job Purpose  

To develop and manage your own portfolio of existing trusts, community and individual donors, and research and prioritise new opportunities ensuring high quality stewardship to secure ongoing support. This role will focus on producing high-quality applications and reports to funders and by providing excellent account management and cross-team collaboration.     

Responsibilities  

Trust Fundraising  

• Develop, manage, and maintain a trust fundraising portfolio with a clear, scheduled pipeline of funding applications, coordinating opportunities and team resources to meet targets. 

• Cultivate strong working relationships with current and new trust and foundations, proactively seeking meetings. 

• Collaborate with colleagues to create compelling proposals and reports. 

• Work with monitoring and finance colleagues to inform impact and budgetary needs, ensuring timely reporting to donors in line with their grant conditions. 

• Build resilient, long-term relationships with identified supporters, keeping them well-informed about events, campaigns, projects, and the charity itself, to foster a strong sense of belonging to Village Water. 

• Use multiple research methods and communication channels to build and manage a prospective donor pipeline. 

• Research and write applications to grant-making trusts, targeting an amount in line with Village Water's annual budget, with an emphasis on securing unrestricted funds where possible. 

• Maintain legacy communications and promote legacy options to our long-standing supporters. 

• Ensure all information on your portfolio of donors is well stewarded, recorded, and actioned in Village Water's database. 

• Develop ad-hoc events and campaigns both in person and via Zoom, recruiting and managing volunteers where necessary. 

• Send personalised thank-you communications and updates to individual supporters, manage ongoing engagement with regular donors, and oversee the distribution of physical milestone cards to celebrate significant achievements. 

• Support fundraising team with social media content ideas that highlight our activities and showcases the impact. 

General   

• Work collaboratively with staff, volunteers, external suppliers, and local partners to advance organisational goals. 

• Attend networking events and build relationships that benefit Village Water. 

• Participate in and report during weekly team meetings and, when necessary, at Trustee meetings. 

• Provide assistance for other fundraising initiatives as needed, promoting a collaborative work environment and supporting the overall fundraising efforts of the organisation. 

• Ensure compliance with the organisation's safeguarding policies by completing all required training. 

Skills and experience: 

• Demonstrable success in securing grants, including awards between £20-£100k. 

• Confident and effective communicator with excellent presentation skills, able to engage with a range of supporters in groups, individually, face-to-face, and remotely. 

• Proven experience in writing compelling cases for support and supporter updates that inspire and persuade donors. 

• Ability to develop, analyse, and interpret budgets and financial information. 

• Strong database skills, including experience in fundraising performance analysis. 

Equality and Diversity 

Village Water is dedicated to promoting a workplace that embraces inclusivity, values diversity, and honours the unique contributions of its employees and partners. It ensures equal treatment for all individuals and encourages everyone to reach their full potential. 

Village Water is an advocate for disability inclusion, so if you require alternative application methods, please get in touch with us for further assistance. 

Lead a small team raising the resources and engaging with audiences to support the delivery of wide ranging services helping refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants to settle and thrive locally. You will deliver income and support by managing your own small team and collaborating with the rest of the organisation to tell stories, share information, build understanding and deliver the income needed to run the organisation. We pride ourselves on quick and dynamic responses to new arrivals and changing needs and want a manger who will relish their part in this.

With a current turnover of £1.5-£2 million, from a good mix of trusts, foundations, individuals, contracts, partnerships, community, there is a constant need to manage amd renew relationships. There is also potential to develop new or underdeveloped areas of collaboration and income.

The manager will have proven all round experience and a track record of delivering income from multiple and varied sources. They will need to work from the Oxford office at least two days a week to build relations with other teams. Beyond that location and working hours are flexible. 

Want to work with a team that does something worthwhile? We are proud to work together to Beat Macular Disease – and this has been recognised by The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 list.

Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, with around 300 people diagnosed every day. The Macular Society is the only charity determined to beat the fear and isolation of macular disease with world class research, and the best advice and support.

To support people affected by macular disease now, the Macular Society provides a range of support, information and services. Our research programme is focused on finding new treatments and a cure to Beat Macular Disease forever.

The Trusts & Philanthropy Fundraising Manager role is a vital part of this vision and your excellent writing skills and relationship building will help us achieve our ambitions.

Working closely within our friendly and results driven Trusts and Philanthropy team, you will manage your own portfolio of charitable trusts and support the developing major donor and statutory funding relationships as required. You will be helping us Beat Macular Disease by talking with funders and writing bespoke funding applications for support services, medical research and core costs. Diligently recording all relationship information and communications on our database.

We are looking for someone who:

· Knows their Stuff when it comes to excellent written communication skills to produce content that is inspiring, concise and informative, someone who can…

· Make It Happen by working proactively under their own initiative, and finally someone who…

· Shows They Care in the way they speak with our funders and the way they work and support colleagues across our teams.

Does this sound like you?  If so, we would love to hear from you and chat about this role in more detail.

As part of the interview process, you will be required to complete a written assessment.

In return, we provide a great working culture – we do something worthwhile and are proud to work together to Beat Macular Disease – as recognised by our inclusion in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 list. 

We offer flexible working options, 26 days annual leave, rising to 27 after one years’ service, the ability to buy or sell annual leave, supportive family policies, and 6% pension contribution.

We are passionate about treating people fairly and as equals, doing so is instinctive to us. We know that to Beat Macular Disease for all we have work to do. That’s why we are keen to hear from people of all backgrounds who have the skills and experience we are looking for. We particularly encourage applications from people from under-represented groups, to help ensure what we do and how we do it is inclusive – for everyone.

About Design for Good

Design for Good (DfG) builds, trains and focuses a passionate global creative community to design direct and lasting impact for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. On a breadth and scale only possible through cross-company collaboration.

Your role

We are seeking a Senior Fundraising Leader to secure funding from diverse sources to support our program and initiatives. The ideal candidate has senior-level fundraising experience at an NGO, organisation, or charity, a strong and established network of executive relationships in major foundations, and a proven track record of identifying and closing deals in the range of 1-5 million USD. The fundraising leader will develop relationships with potential donors, identify fundraising opportunities, and manage the grant application process.

We seek someone who aligns with the DfG mission, has a passion for fundraising and can strategise and deliver new initiatives. The fundraiser will collaborate with program staff, and senior management to develop leads, compelling proposals and reports. The working environment is informal, team-oriented, and encourages individual input and development. Thereby supporting the execution of DfG’s impact driven program to improve life through design. This position reports to the Managing Director of Design for Good.

Key Responsibilities

· Relationship Management: Build and nurture relationships with current and prospective donors, program officers, and key stakeholders, serving as the main point of contact for grant inquiries, reporting, and communications. 

· Research: Identify and explore funding opportunities from individuals, corporations, foundations, and other potential donors whose interests align with our programs. Regularly monitor donor databases and other sources for announcements and opportunities.

· Applications & Fundraising Development: Lead the creation of high-quality grant proposals and letters of inquiry in collaboration with program staff, ensuring they are compelling, well-structured, and tailored to donor priorities. 

· Compliance and Reporting: Ensure all grants meet donor regulations, reporting requirements, and deadlines. Prepare and submit timely, accurate reports highlighting achievements, challenges, and financial impact.

· Monitoring and Evaluation: Track the success of fundraising efforts, monitor progress toward revenue goals, and use data analysis to identify trends and inform strategy, providing regular updates and insights.

· Events, Networking, and Representation: Organize fundraising events and oversee volunteer and partner teams. Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to foster collaboration and boost resource mobilization.

Key requirements

• Passion for DfG's mission to improve life through design
• Proven relationship-building and pipeline management skills
• Exceptional communication skills in English (additional languages welcome)
• Ability to work independently, and motivate colleagues and partners
• Strong attention to detail, organisation and adherence to deadlines.
• Comfortable working remotely with colleagues worldwide

Preferred skills and qualifications

• Senior-level fundraising experience at an NGO, organisation, or charity.
• Strong network with major foundations and global organisations
• Proven track record of identifying and closing deals in the range of 1-5 million USD
• Fundraising certification or equivalent qualification
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, business, public relations, or a related field
• Experience in international culture, creativity, or sustainability fields

Compensation
Salary and performance-based payment is dependent on skill set, experience and education

We’re looking for a talented and motivated Fundraising and Communications Manager who can effectively convey the life-changing impact of our work, motivate our community to support our work, and ensure that the educational resources we provide reach those who need them most.

What we do

We’re IPWSO, the international umbrella body for Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) associations around the world.

• We build communities between people with Prader-Willi syndrome, their families and the professionals who support them to share knowledge and expertise and improve outcomes for people with Prader-Willi syndrome and their families everywhere.
• We want everyone with Prader-Willi syndrome to get equal access to diagnosis and treatment no matter where in the world they live and to ensure better, more consistent outcomes for people with the syndrome and their families.
• We work to ensure research into the condition works for everyone and reflects the diverse experiences and environments of those living with the syndrome around the world today.
• Our membership comprises PWS associations in 47 countries and we support individual families and professionals in over 70 other countries.
• We have a staff team of four who work in conjunction with dedicated volunteers from around the world.

Key Fundraising Responsibilities

• Develop communications content that will invigorate our existing donors and inspire new ones leading to increased giving by individuals to IPWSO.
• Focusing in particular on our website and social media channels, communicate our achievements, impacts and needs with a view to influencing IPWSO’s online supporters to make donations and engage in fundraising initiatives.
• Provide outstanding donor care to encourage a high level of retention and repeat donations.
• Work with IPWSO’s Fundraising Committee on a variety of fundraising initiatives, which may include a new collaborative global fundraiser to be rolled out in 2025.
• Act as the organisational lead for IPWSO’s CRM (Donorfy) and utilise it to improve the donor journey.
• Develop a robust pipeline of case studies for use in our fundraising campaigns.

Key Communications Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for IPWSO’s public email address and social media channels and ensure that timely and appropriate replies are issued.
• Manage IPWSO’s social media channels, creating original and engaging posts, and actively engaging with our audiences.
• Manage Google Ad Grant campaigns with an emphasis on growing our supporter base and increasing individual giving.
• Keep up to date with emerging trends in digital communications and social media, and recommend potential new channels for fundraising and audience engagement.
• Maintain and develop the IPWSO website ensuring its security and that it functions both as an effective supporter acquisition tool and a means by which people can easily access information about PWS.
• Produce compelling monthly newsletters and an Annual Report.
• Review and update IPWSO’s Communications Strategy in line with its Strategic Plan.
• Uphold and showcase the IPWSO mission and brand.
• Working with IPWSO’s Publication and Communication Committee, oversee the production and design of a range of educational resources for families and professionals.
• Oversee copywriting and proofreading within IPWSO.
• Support IPWSO’s members and liaise with its stakeholders internationally in support of our shared goals.

General Responsibilities

• Champion the vision, mission and values of IPWSO internally and externally.
• Comply with all relevant charity and other legislation.       
• Uphold IPWSO’s internal policies.
• Act as IPWSO’s Data Manager, ensuring our continued compliance with the Data Protection Act.
• Undertake other reasonable duties requested by the CEO.

Person Specification

Essential

• Significant fundraising experience including planning and delivering successful online fundraising campaigns
• A track record of securing donations from individuals
• Experience of donor stewardship
• Excellent presentation, writing and storytelling skills across a wide range of applications and for varied  audiences
• Excellent proofreading and editing skills
• Understanding of organisational branding
• Experience managing websites and social media platforms
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build and maintain positive relationships

Desirable

• Experience using Donorfy or another CRM
• Experience using Google Analytics and WordPress
• Experience managing Google Ad Grant campaigns 
• Experience working remotely
• Experience working with volunteers
• Experience working as part of a small team
• Experience working for an international nonprofit organisation
• Understanding of challenges facing people with disabilities
• Design skills, including proficiency in software such as Canva

Essential Personal Attributes

• Enthusiasm for IPWSO’s work and commitment to its vision, mission and values
• Confidence and ability to work well with people from different backgrounds from around the world
• Highly self-motivated and able to work on own initiative as well as part of a team
• Enthusiastic and positive attitude to work and willingness to learn new skills and support colleagues as needed

We are seeking an experienced Fundraising and Events Officer. In this role you will be responsible for driving, creating and implementing our short and long-term fundraising and events strategy. The role will involve a close working relationship with our Operations Officer and our Board of Trustees. This is an exciting role working with a motivated and committed Trustee team, and a wonderful opportunity to make a big difference to our beneficiairies.