Fundraising Relationship Officer

Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900 by Joseph Chamberlain.  Since then philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University with funds supporting life-changing research, scholarships and new facilities.  This year we launched our new campaign, Birmingham In Action, which aims to transform lives for our generation and the next by tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges.  These challenges include access to education, cancer, youth mental health, the environment (including climate change and plastic pollution) and migration.  The campaign is a truly global campaign (having launched in Birmingham, London, Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco) and aims to raise £400 million, and secure 1 million hours of volunteering, making it one of the largest campaigns in the UK Higher Education sector.

We are now looking to recruit a Fundraising Relationship Officer to join us at this very exciting time. The Fundraising Relationship Officer will be responsible for the relationship management of a portfolio of prospective donors in order to raise funds for a range of key projects. They will be responsible for the entire prospect relationship management process including researching, cultivating, asking and stewarding. This will entail:-

• Relationship management of a portfolio of prospective and current donors
• Communication with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• Complete ownership of the end-to-end relationship management process including all research, proposal writing and stewardship activity
• Working to objectives and KPIs set by the Head of Philanthropy.

As part of an award winning team and led by some of the most respected names in higher education fundraising, you will also get the chance to 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 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.

The University has global reach, including several partnerships with other leading universities around the world, and is grounded in our local community, having opened the first fully comprehensive University secondary school in the country in 2015.  We are an innovative institution, being the first University to incorporate a Medical School, the first to create a students’ union, and the first to offer a women’s hall of residence.

We are an ambitious and successful research-intensive University (one of the top 100 research-led universities globally) and have produced 11 Nobel Prize winners, including three who received their awards in 2016.  Academics here are exploring the impact of climate change, helping to prevent global health epidemics, and changing our understanding of Shakespeare.

Our student body is one of the largest and most diverse in the UK. Our students come from nearly 150 countries and our flagship outreach programmes mean that almost 25% of our student population come from disadvantaged backgrounds, one of the highest proportions in the UK. 

The Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) exists to support our student and research 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 fundraising and volunteering from graduates, alumni and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research trials, supporting student scholarships, mentoring students, and providing internships.