Trusts and Foundations Bid Writer

About Oaks

Oaks exists to make business easy for the sporting and charitable clients with whom we work. We are business development specialists, expert in helping organisations to run more profitable and sustainable businesses by supporting with critical functions such as business planning, organisational development and fundraising.

Our sector-leading fundraising team specialises in bid-writing advice and support - with successful bids ranging from small scale awards of £1,000 up to large investments of £2 million+. In the last year, we have secured over £10m for our diverse range of clients, including Everton in the Community, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, the Tennis Foundation, the Society of St James, the Elliot Foundation, the RFL and the County Sports Partnership Network. 

@oaksconsultancy

The Opportunity

Building on this success, we are now offering a fantastic opportunity for an experienced and talented bid writer to join our fundraising team – supporting our trusts and foundations work with several high-profile clients. This new role will be responsible for writing compelling funding applications to a variety of trusts, foundations and other relevant grant funders for several different charities, reviewing applications written by others, and training new members of the team in the art of bid-writing.

This is a unique opportunity to hone your bid-writing skills in a variety of not-for-profit contexts – working with schools, sports clubs, national governing bodies, club community organisations and regional and national charities to secure their long-term futures and deliver real social impact.

Whilst we are based in Solihull, we are also interested in candidates working in and around London due to the number of London-based charities with whom we work.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Providing fundraising advice and support to a number of organisations in the sport and not-for-profit sectors
• Identifying new opportunities in the trusts and foundations grants landscape that are suitable for our clients and their award-winning charitable programmes
• Developing high-quality, creative and ultimately successful bids to trusts and foundations for each of our clients – managing the whole application process from design to award
• Making a conscious effort to train and develop individuals within our team to be able to provide high quality bid-writing and wider fundraising support

Core Skills and Experiences

Essential:

• A proven ability to secure 5-figure grants from trusts/foundations and statutory funders
• Excellent written skills, with experience of putting together compelling and persuasive funding proposals
• Excellent verbal communication skills, with the ability to talk confidently, passionately and persuasively both on the telephone and face to face
• Experience of researching trusts/foundations and statutory funders and evaluating their propensity to offer grant support
• Excellent numerical and analytical skills, with the ability to put together and interpret budgets
• The ability to schedule and manage a range of projects and tasks and to meet key deadlines
• Proficient IT user
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability and willingness to travel to engage with sporting and charitable organisations

Desirable:

• Experience of assessing and reviewing grant applications
• A passion for sport and the impact it can have on people’s lives
• Experience in developing and implementing fundraising strategies, plans and budgets
• Experience of developing new relationships with organisations in the sport and not-for-profit sectors

Apply online by submitting your CV and Cover Letter through the CharityJob site.