Fundraising Relationship Manager

Do you want to be part of a dynamic and innovative team? Do you want to play a key role in a new ambitious fundraising and volunteering campaign?

We are now in the planning stages of our next campaign. Inspired by our founder, Joseph Chamberlain, it will aim to change lives locally and globally. It will be unique and ambitious and will place Birmingham as one of the leading fundraising and volunteering universities in the world.

Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900. With a clear vision to change the lives of the people of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain raised the funds required to build the University from citizens and corporations based locally and around the globe. Since then philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University. There have been a number of fundraising campaigns, which have raised money for buildings, students, and research. In 2015 we closed the Circles of Influence Campaign, which raised £193 million, making it the largest HE fundraising campaign outside Oxbridge and London.

The Fundraising Relationship Manager role is your opportunity to join our excellent team at an exciting time. You will have sales experience or major gifts expertise, either through paid or voluntary work and you will be passionate about progressing your career and understand the impact the University’s teaching and research has on the world. Your role will be responsible for the relationship management of a portfolio of prospective and existing donors. You will seek to gain knowledge and understanding of the giving preferences of these audiences, and work to help the University to develop a philanthropic offer that meets their interests. All activities will be delivered in close collaboration with DARO colleagues as well as other parts of the University.

As part of an award winning team and led by some of the most respected names in higher education fundraising, you will work with our current Fundraising Relationship Managers to generate gifts to the University and encourage new donors to make long-term, sustainable and significant (5 and 6 figure) gifts. You will also have the opportunity to work with our senior team on major proposals to top donors enabling you to get experience of working with some of the most successful and experienced major gift fundraisers in the UK Higher Education sector. Your objectives and KPIs will be set by the Head of Philanthropy and the DARO Research Team.

The Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) exists to support this academic and student community by engaging, inspiring, and celebrating alumni, individuals, and charitable funders who give their money, time, and networks to support the University’s strategic priorities. The Office, which is comprised of 60 staff across five teams, is focused on securing charitable donations and gifts of time from alumni and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research trials, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships.