Fundraising Manager in Newcastle upon Tyne

The role sits within the Bubble Foundation, a unique charity dedicated to supporting children born with severe immune deficiencies. As the communications and fundraising lead, you will play a key part in raising vital funds and awareness by strengthening how we communicate with patients and families, engaging the public, and expanding our digital presence. Working independently, you will shape engaging social media content, nurture supporter relationships, enhance our social media channels, and identify new opportunities to increase donations through both digital and in‑person initiatives, helping to build a stronger, more visible Bubble Foundation.

Key Accountabilities

• Opportunity Development: Source new business opportunities in the North of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Liaise with ward staff and families to understand their needs and report back to the charity team. Provide excellent supporter service to enquiries from the public, building long‑term beneficial relationships with supporters and families. Represent the charity confidently in a range of settings, resolving issues or queries independently or reporting to senior staff when necessary.
• Event Management and Networking: Develop and implement physical fundraising activities for identified target audiences. Design and support delivery of promotional materials for events and fundraising activities. Respond to telephone and email enquiries from supporters, filtering issues and resolving queries independently. Provide on‑the‑day support at Bubble Foundation events, ensuring activities run efficiently and reporting procedures are followed. Supervise the administrator and volunteers engaged with charitable activities on behalf of the Bubble Foundation.
• External Communications: Plan, develop and integrate digital content across multiple channels including web, social media, etc. Create and deliver virtual fundraising and engagement events and activities to grow income for the charity. Manage social media groups, engaging with posts, responding to queries, creating posts and providing first‑class supporter care. Ensure all digital supporter communications are in line with The Bubble Foundation’s values, branding and messaging.
• Ad‑hoc: Manage the charity’s CRM database, recording and reporting all key relationships and partners and income streams. Undertake any other duties as appropriate to the level of the post, as determined by the Chairman and Trustees.

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Detailed understanding of physical and digital fundraising techniques.
• Demonstrable experience working independently and dealing with unforeseen problems.
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Databases, Outlook) and digital marketing tools such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Analytics, etc.
• Excellent interpersonal, networking and presentation skills.
• Good knowledge of managing financial records and handling budgets.
• Knowledge of fundraising and events operational procedures (e.g. health and safety, finance, volunteer).
• Operate as an individual, organising and planning own work activities contributing to the team’s objectives.
• Good understanding of social media platforms, keeping abreast of current trends and seeking new opportunities.

Attributes and Behaviour:

• Clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach and encouraging two‑way communication.
• Understanding of colleagues, supporters and other stakeholders.
• Gathering relevant information from internal and external sources, making it widely available.
• Creativity and ability to transform ideas into practical reality.
• Team working, playing a positive role in a small team environment.
• Flexible work approach, able to work occasional evenings and weekends.

Qualifications:

• Educated to HNC or HND level with several years’ experience, OR broad vocational experience acquired through a combination of job‑related vocational training and on‑the‑job experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding relevant work.
• Clean driving licence and access to own car for business use.

Equal Opportunity and EEO Statements: Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality and a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.