Senior Trust Fundraiser

Reporting to:Head of Charitable Giving

Location: Welwyn Garden City with the option to work partly from home

Contract: Permanent; part time, a four-day working week is preferred

Salary: Up to £32k FTE, depending on experience

Willow is looking for an enthusiastic, ambitious and experienced Senior Trust Fundraiser with a strong track-record in income generation from trusts and foundations. 

This role forms an integral part of the Charitable Giving Team, a small team that works with trusts, foundations, major donors and corporate supporters.

This is an exciting opportunity for a team player with previous trust fundraising experience. Having the drive to maximise funding opportunities is a must. 

Job purpose

• To help drive and grow the fundraising income from trusts and foundations to enable Willow deliver its Special Day service for seriously ill young adults

• To develop strong relationships with trusts and foundations that result in multi-year  future support

• To articulate clearly and persuasively Willow’s messaging and service impact to a wide range of audiences including [prospective] funders, referrers and influencers.

Key responsibilities

• To help drive the implementation of Willow’s trust and foundations strategy through clear, tailored and timely stewardship of current relationships as well as developing new relationships.

• To manage a portfolio of existing trusts and foundation relationships, monitoring progress while implementing a rolling programme of trust applications

• To identify, research and apply for funding to new prospective funders with the aim to achieve new income foster new fundraising relationships and monitor progress.

• To manage a trust prospect pipeline, offering clarity on relationships at various stages in the cultivation cycle ensuring each is moved through the relationship management process.

• To identify funding project ideas and work with funders and within the team and to develop and write compelling cases for support.

• To implement a rolling programme of large, medium and small trust applications to ensure that fundraising targets are met.

• To monitor income against target, and agreed KPI’s (both financial and non-financial), providing updates and regular revised projections as required to the Head of Charitable Giving

• To develop and maintain personal relationships with contacts in trust and foundations

• To understand and help to map Willow’s networks to ensure the wider fundraising team has knowledge of our inter-relationships of individuals, companies, trusts and foundations.

• To ensure good practice in the use of Raiser’s Edge for contact strategies, ensure communications and financial records are established and contact maintained.

Person Specification

Essential Knowledge and Experience

• Demonstrable track record of experience in working with trusts and foundations in a fundraising capacity

• Have secured grants from private family trusts and larger institutional trusts across multiple years

• Excellent writing skills with the ability to make Willow’s work stand out when applying for grants

• Thorough understanding of the trust stewardship process and cultivation cycle

• Excellent prospect research skills and knowledge of funding sources

• The ability to influence both externally and internally

• Empathy with Willow’s cause and key values

• Experience in using Raisers Edge or similar database

• Well connected to appropriate professional groups and forums in the fundraising sector

Essential Skills and Abilities

• Strong verbal communications skills

• Exceptional writing skills

• Systematic in planning and executing activities

• Analytical and high attention to detail

• Ability to prioritise and work on own initiative against tight deadlines

• Ability to think creatively and to respond timely to new opportunities and changes in the fundraising environment

• Understanding and knowledge of the UK funding environment and good practice

Additional

• To support the day to day management of the database (Raiser Edge) for trusts and foundations to improve the efficient and effective storage and use of data and ensure data management complies with data protection and other fundraising governance and legal requirements.

• To undertake any other tasks as reasonably required. 

• To keep up to date on developments and trends in fundraising and voluntary sectors.

• To keep up to date and comply with fundraising, data protection and other relevant legislation and codes of practice and good standards.

General

We also offer the following competitive benefits package:

• 25 days annual leave
• Life Assurance and Group Pension Fund
• A free health cash plan
• Season ticket loan
• Cycle to work scheme