Trusts and Statutory Fundraising Officer

We are on a mission to give children and young people from disadvantaged communities the literacy skills to succeed in life. You could join us and help support the sustainability of our work.

What you’ll be doing

We are recruiting a fundraising officer to play an important role in our trusts and statutory team. Government, councils, businesses and other funders are increasingly recognising our solutions to the literacy challenges faced by disadvantaged communities. Our work is key to improving attainment and social mobility, particularly through our place-based Literacy Hubs.

You will be part of a supportive team of four, generating income and managing relationships with trusts, foundations and statutory funders, including some of the leading funders in the UK. You will have the opportunity to build on your existing experience and write compelling applications, develop relationships with funders and show them how the work of the National Literacy Trust can transform lives through literacy.

You will be responsible for establishing new funding sources through prospect research, identifying and responding to leads and working closely with colleagues across the organisation to secure funding. You will research, write and present funding bids, proposals and documentation and ensure that all necessary due diligence is carried out.

What we’re looking for

You will be an excellent writer and communicator, with strong attention to detail, who is happy to collaborate across the organisation and with a wide range of people to increase support for the organisation. Ideally, you will have experience of working in a fundraising team, carrying out prospect research, generating income from trusts and foundations and working with or in the education sector. You will also need experience of building relationships and using a customer relationship database. 

Why our work is so vital

Poor literacy and resulting inequality is not inevitable. The National Literacy Trust improves the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills of those who need it most, giving them the best possible chance of success.

We make society fairer. Poor literacy creates social and economic inequality. The one in six adults in the UK with poor literacy earn less, are less likely to vote and more likely to experience health inequalities.

We enable social mobility. A child without literacy skills can’t succeed at school, and as an adult they will be locked out of the job market. The pattern is intergenerational and starts at birth.

Our work is targeted at communities with the highest levels of disadvantage and the lowest levels of literacy. We support thousands of schools and early years settings, bringing in wonderful partners like the Premier League and the nation’s best publishers who bring literacy alive. We campaign to make literacy a priority for our nation’s leaders. Our research and analysis make us the leading authority on literacy and drive our interventions.

What we offer you

As well as a competitive salary, we offer benefits including a generous leave allowance totalling 39 days (including bank holidays and office closure between Christmas and New Year), pension contributions of 8% of annual salary, a cycle to work scheme, employee assistance programme and other health and wellbeing benefits.

We support flexible working and promote a workplace where you can be yourself and contribute to our success, whoever you are.

Application details

Our people are our most important asset and we value and respect diversity in all its forms (seen and unseen). We particularly welcome applications from those from Black and Asian backgrounds, as well as candidates with disabilities and from the communities in which we work. We would like to increase representation of these groups among our staff as we know greater diversity will lead to an even greater impact for our work.