Trusts and Foundations Officer

Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre and one of the UK's top five visitor attractions, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day.

The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to four Resident Orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and four Associate Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain).

We are currently looking for a Trusts and Foundations Officer to support our Senior Trusts and Foundations Manager and Trusts and Foundations Executive in the creation of funding applications for Southbank Centre activities, strategic and capital projects. Responsible for supporting fundraising in the team by preparing and submitting applications for up to £30,000 for Southbank Centre activities, the Trusts and Foundations Officer also provides dedicated administrative support to the team, including the management of the team’s priorities and work plan in support of the strategy. The role leads on prospect research for the team to identify new funding sources, as well as leading on the stewardship plan for funders to encourage closer relationships, better partnerships and multi-year grants.

With demonstrable experience of raising funds from Trusts and Foundations and a keen interest in working in Development; the ideal candidate will have outstanding written and spoken communication skills and the ability to deal diplomatically with a wide range of people and organisations. You will have strong IT skills including confidence using MS Office and Google Drive and be well organised, with a focused and methodical approach to work and excellent attention to detail. You will have a keen interest in and knowledge of a range of different art forms and be ready to use your existing skills and experience to support fundraising within the Trusts and Foundations team and contribute towards Southbank Centre fulfilling our mission to make the arts available to all.

We present work for everyone and we welcome applications from everyone. We particularly welcome applications from people from a BAME background or those who are Deaf or disabled as they are currently under-represented in our workforce.  If you wish to discuss reasonable adjustments for this role please indicate this on your application form and we will be in touch with you.

By attracting people to work for us from a broad range of backgrounds with diverse attitudes, opinions and beliefs we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.  We offer a stimulating and professional environment in which to work - and the pace and scale can be breathtaking. This is a remarkable place to work and our people require the ability to work in The Southbank Centre Way - to think, act and learn with speed and agility.

In order for us to consider your application, we would like you to address the following question in your supporting statement. Only applicants that answer the following question will be considered for interview:

1. Why do you want to work in Development specifically with Trusts and Foundations?

Contract: Permanent

Closing date for applications: 23:45, Monday 24th June 2019 

Interviews: w/c 1st July 2019 

We reserve the right to close the advert early if enough applications are received.

Job Objectives

• To support fundraising in the Trusts and Foundations team by preparing and submitting small to mid-level applications for Southbank Centre activities.

• Assisting the Senior Trusts and Foundations Manager and Trusts and Foundations Executive in the creation of larger funding applications for activities, strategic and capital projects.

• To lead on prospect research for the Trusts and Foundations team to identify new funding sources for activities, strategic and capital projects. To lead on the stewardship plan for funders to encourage closer relationships, better partnerships and multi year grants.

• To provide dedicated administrative support to the Trusts and Foundations team including the management of the team’s priorities and work plan in support of the strategy.

Main Responsibilities

Supporting Trusts and Foundations Fundraising

• Work with the Trusts and Foundations team to identify prospects for activities, strategic and capital projects and take responsibility for managing and implementing the plan for cultivating their support.

• Making applications for funding

• Managing the Small Trusts Programme.

• Support the Senior Trusts and Foundations Manager and Trusts and Foundations Executive in preparing larger applications for activities, strategic and capital projects.

• Working with Artistic and Finance teams to compile budgets to support applications.

• Hold the overview of reporting and crediting requirements, gather information for end of grant and evaluation reports, and where appropriate, prepare reports in accordance with grant guidelines.

• Devise and manage a plan for stewardship of live prospects and supporters in consultation with the Senior Trusts and Foundations Manager and Trusts and Foundations Executive. Drive the implementation of the agreed plan and ensure the Trusts and Foundations team adhere to it.

• Build relationships across Southbank Centre that support the gathering of information about future projects from teams across the organisation, attending programming meetings as appropriate and ensuring that information is shared with the wider Development teams in a timely fashion.

Leading on Prospect Research for Grants & Trusts team

• Implement a programme of proactive research and monitoring in consultation with the Trusts and Foundations team to ensure team members are aware of new funding opportunities from Trusts, Foundations and public funders and the emergence of new funding sources.

• Following Trusts and Foundations team processes, prepare relevant prospect lists and detailed research profiles drawing information from a wide range of credible sources in response to briefings provided by members of the Trusts and Foundations team.

• Build an awareness of wider trends in fundraising and the arts and cultural sector and report back to the Trusts and Foundations team on relevant issues.

Administration for the Grants & Trusts team

• Process all income due to Southbank Centre from Trusts and Foundations fundraising. This will include adding pledges and gifts to our database Tessitura, monitoring the receipt of income, raising invoices and liaising with the Finance team to ensure all gifts are banked and recorded correctly.

• Manage the income and planning records for the Trusts and Foundations team, ensuring all approaches, successes and rejections are up to date.

• Produce appropriate and timely correspondence to supporters including drafting thank you letters and letters of invitation from senior Southbank Centre staff members.

• Support the maintenance of accurate plans on Tessitura, working with team members to ensure records are kept up to date.

• Prepare invitation lists for a range of cultivation events in collaboration with the Senior Trusts and Foundations Manager and Trusts and Foundations Executive.

• Working closely with other teams, ensure all Trusts and Foundations supporters are credited for their support in accordance with their own and Southbank Centre’s guidelines.

• Represent and help the Development team and Southbank Centre at a range of events as required.

• Undertake any other duties as reasonably required in the above role.

Person Specification

Essential skills and experience required

We are looking for someone who:

• Has demonstrable experience of raising funds from Trusts and Foundations;

• Has excellent written communication skills;

• Has excellent spoken communication skills and the ability to deal diplomatically with a wide range of people and organisations;

• Is well organised with a focused and methodical approach to work and excellent attention to detail;

• Is able to work in a team and independently;

• Is motivated and target-driven;

• Has an interest in and knowledge of a range of different art forms;

• Has good numerical skills and experience of working with budgets;

• Has excellent IT skills, including the ability to use MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint and Google Drive;

• Is able to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to the role that diversity and inclusion play in the activities of the Southbank Centre as a whole and in the work of this particular job.

Desirable skills and experience

• Understanding of the importance of fundraising in a cultural organisation

• Previous experience of working in a Development Team ideally in the cultural sector

• Previous experience of working with fundraising databases