Head of Development

Background

Union Chapel, is a unique multi award-winning performing arts venue, with a global reputation for international cultural events engaging diverse audiences. For 30+ years events have been our lifeblood and income, annually engaging 100,000+ visitors through 250 events.

And Union Chapel is more than a venue. A Grade I listed Gothic architectural jewel, it is also home to charities tackling homelessness, social justice, empowering local communities with creative groups, training and employability programmes for local communities. Profits from events substantially support our vital charitable work with local communities and we are a model of good practice for community engagement.

When Union Chapel closed as a venue in March 2020, Union Chapel pivoted our spaces to become a COVID community emergency hub, maintaining and escalating our work for the hardest hit, setting up a foodbank, outreach, befriending services and support packs for those most in need.

However, Union Chapel’s trading subsidiary lost £1.5m venue revenue, and UCP faced being insolvent by the end of the financial year. UCP had until this point had relatively little income from fundraising, with 80% of the charity’s income from the venue. However, with a skeleton team, several staff pivoted their work to focus on fundraising, and they subsequently raised over £600,000 in emergency funds primarily from trusts and foundations, opening up new relationships, as well as developing new sources of income through live-streaming and recorded events.

This role joins UCP at a critical time. With a fundraising target of £1.2m for FY 21-22, you will be joining a small but dedicated team helping to ensure Union Chapel’s survival through 21-22, towards a bright, bold, exciting future as a leading ethical arts venue for all, where culture, community, heritage and social justice come together in union.

About the role

The Head of Development will lead on the development and delivery of fundraising & income generation (including trusts, foundations and particularly corporate partners and individuals). The role will lead and add capacity to the Development Team, working to secure new revenue, support fundraising and development opportunities from new sources; through fundraising, membership, corporate opportunities, and other income generation.

The role will also have oversight of all key stakeholder engagement through our marketing, PR, digital & communications strategy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. INCOME GENERATION

1. FUNDRAISING

• Work with the Development Team to achieve an unrestricted fundraising target.
• Work with the CEO and wider Development Team to review and produce UCP’s future Fundraising Strategy. (Currently the unrestricted target for 2021-22 is £ 350K).
• Lead on relationships management and networking with key partners, inspiring them with our vision and motivating them to action in support of our work
• Lead the shaping and writing of fundraising applications and accompanying budgets, gaining input from wider team members
• Harness fundraising support and expertise from our Board and stakeholders
• Ensure Development Team resources are focussed on supporting UCP programmes and projects in a way that matches organisational priorities;
• Set and deliver annual fundraising targets, including charitable trusts and foundations, individual giving, corporate partnerships and community fundraising
• Feed into the and plans to develop an effective Fundraising Team to secure funds for UCP programmes and future capital projects to upgrade and repair remaining areas of the building. This will also include further exploring and diversifying income through sources including the Membership scheme, sponsorship, donations, grants and legacies.
• Deliver the activities and fundraising for the Sunday School Stories capital project, securing required match-funding (currently £650k to be reviewed), and submit a Round 2 application to NLHF for a successful outcome by November 2021.

2. INDIVIDUAL GIVING, CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS & AMBASSADORS

• Cultivate new relationships with donors through promoting Union Chapel’s charitable and artistic work and creating relevant and enticing opportunities for engagement
• Identify, develop and maintain 1-2-1 relationships with philanthropic and high-level donors, with the ability to build strong and trusting relationships
• Develop and launch Union Chapel’s legacy giving programme
• Secure and manage at least 4 new corporate partnerships in 2021, for our live events, digital programme, community programme and other opportunities.
• Grow and steward our Ambassadors programme to support fundraising events and initiatives, ensuring they are high profile persons from differing cultural backgrounds.

II. DIGITAL, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Oversees all key stakeholder engagement through our digital programme and social media strategy, alongside our wider marketing and communications strategy.

MARKETING & DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION

• Oversee and implement a marketing, communications and brand strategy and review, working with the CEO, key staff, freelancers and stakeholders to develop and maintain the marketing, communication strategy,  maintaining existing and engaging new audiences and securing new support, and ensuring branding guidelines are consistently followed
• Line manage the Digital & Marketing Manager to deliver the project management of the digital strategy, platform and website development, content and quality assurance; working with our internal team, web developers and digital project managers to deliver a high-impact, successful digital platform
• Support the Digital & Marketing Manager in overseeing our social media strategy, ensure social media channels are regularly updated and develop our social media channels (currently Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram)
• Working to raise our profile, through marketing, multimedia, and new approaches
• Working with the Programming Team and wider teams to develop a new, broader audience development strategy

• Manage our appointed PR agency to provide in depth support for general PR coverage and internally produced events, ensuring campaigns have the highest profile.
• Work with the Head of Building and Conservation on the strategy to disseminate and promote our Archive/heritage programme and fundraising for capital projects.

LINE MANAGEMENT

• A strong team player, with a positive, inspiring and motivational in your approach to lead a team
• Direct, manage and support your departmental staff and volunteers to ensure the effective performance of their roles including undertaking support & supervisions, annual staff appraisals and training, in line with Union Chapel line management and appraisal processes.
• Ensure that your staff workload is appropriate including managing TOIL and holidays and arranging cover for holidays
• Communicate board strategy and decisions to your staff
• Attend training courses, as agreed with line manager

GENERAL

• Work closely with the Development Working Group to achieve UCP targets
• Adhere to GDPR and PECR Data Protection legal requirements, utilising Spektrix (our CRM) effectively to help identify prospects from our existing Database
• Support Board communications and other departmental systems to ensure all new contacts for Union Chapel are researched and notes kept up to date
• Work closely with external consultants, where required
• Keep up to date with policy and trends and help identify funding opportunities

FINANCE

• Work with the Head of Finance and Operations to produce the annual budget, operational plans and commentary for management accounts
• Manage the fundraising pipeline effectively, in order to secure income from existing donors and build-in new prospects
• Prepare Annual operational plan and budget for your department, for board approval. Review and revise on a quarterly basis.

GOVERNANCE

• Attend board sub-committee meetings, as required
• Contribute to effective governance of the organisation as a whole, by providing advice and information to support and inform discussion, decision-making and monitoring
• Make a presentation of department activities at the charity’s AGM, as required
• Undertaking any other duties that may reasonably be required by the CEO

POLICIES & DEVELOPMENT

• Work with colleagues and directors to coordinate the future strategic plans
• Produce and manage procedures and marketing policy documents, as required

Person Specification:

Essential

• Substantial experience of developing and managing £500,000+ fundraising targets, including corporate and individual funding relationships in an arts, cultural, heritage and/or charitable setting
• Confidence in implementing and creating ambitious fundraising strategy
• Excellent stewardship of funders and donors
• Experience with NLHF grants management
• Excellent project management, planning and time management skills
• Excellent communicator with the ability to engage with a wide range of people, including public speaking.
• Understanding of using a range of marketing tools and media for different audiences, from print to online & social media
• Strong copy writing and proof reading skills for a variety of communication channels, eg: web, social media, press, annual report, funder reports
• Strong interpersonal and line management skills, with the ability to motivate a team of people working in the office or remotely
• A passion and commitment to arts, heritage with a social justice and purpose
• Experience of managing fundraising pipelines, forecasts and budget control
• High level computer skills including, Word, Excel, databases, websites
• Ability to work flexibly - remotely or in the office, in a busy fast-changing, environment and manage a varied workload.

To apply: Please submit either a 2 page covering letter & CV; OR 4 minute video and CV, addressing the person specification above. 

Applicants will be asked to complete an Equal Opportunities Form as well