Fundraising Manager

Are you an arb-solutely epic fundraiser? Can you make a tree-mendous impact for our 40th birthday celebrations? Will you root out the best opportunities for securing more donations?

At the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum we are dedicated to furthering public enjoyment and knowledge of Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, and to secure it's sustainable future. We exist to shine a light on the unique environment of Westonbirt Arboretum, encouraging and enabling more people to connect with the arboretum and its life-enhancing impacts, today and for generations to come. 

We’re seeking an enterprising and accomplished Fundraising Manager to join our team at a pivotal moment in the charity’s history, with the opportunity to work on a stand-out campaign that will secure the legacy of Westonbirt Arboretum. 

Our fundraising approach is due for a shake up, after we’ve spent the last couple of years refocussing our efforts and consolidating our approach. We’re looking for a candidate that can continue to build on our successes, boosting the donations and opportunities we already have, but importantly can take the lead on launching a stand-out year of fundraising to celebrate our 40 years as a charity. It’s a role that needs creative vision and dedicated delivery to make 2025 everything that it has the potential to be.

We’re embarking on an intensive 3-year fundraising strategy that will enable Westonbirt Arboretum to achieve their 10-year vision. We work with a bid writing agency to secure all major grants, and we’re looking for a Fundraising Manager that can add equal attention to our individual giving strategy. The successful candidate will manage our existing fundraising real estate including our benches, leaves for life, and Wills & legacies campaigns, while adding a fresh view on opportunities for our birthday celebrations next year.  You will Chair our Joint Fundraising Committee with our partners at Forestry England; lead on the pipeline development; project manage activities across trust & grant fundraising, individual giving, major donors and appeals; and support the CEO with awarding grants and reporting the impact.   

The role reports to the CEO and is responsible for developing and implementing our fundraising strategy as well as managing relationships with key stakeholders. 

If you are a [tree]top Fundraising Manager with a successful track record of managing fundraising activity, the skills to deliver and monitor campaigns, and a proven ability to exceed agreed fundraising targets - then this is the job for you! 

Essential skills & experience 

• At least 3 years of experience in fundraising 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong strategic and analytical skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels. 
• Experience in managing stakeholder and funder relationships. 
• Strong understanding of a range of fundraising methods and tools and best practices, with the ability to create engaging and effective fundraising appeals. 
• Events project management and delivery 
• A thorough understanding of relevant legislation/charity law affecting fundraising practice. 

Desired skills 

• Experience of communicating charity impact to stakeholders at all levels. 
• Experience in managing expenditure budgets or allocating grants 
• Experience managing a fundraising team.
• Proficient in Raisers Edge CRM and Office 365 software suite. 

We aim to recruit passionate, friendly and enthusiastic staff who are motivated to really make a difference to the stewardship and legacy of the site. Not only is this a rewarding career move, this is the also the chance to be part of a small but immensley effective team, with the following additional benefits:  

• 25 days p/a plus 1 goodwill day per year and bank holidays 
• Complimentary Joint Membership 
• Generous pension contributions
• 20% staff discount in the Shop 
• 10% staff discount at the Kitchen, Pantry and Smokehouse
• 2 x annual salary Death in Service Benefit 
• Access to annual Westonbirt Events 
• Holiday Buy & Sell scheme

The Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. 

All applications and communication will be treated as confidential.