Fundraiser at Walworth Garden

Reports to: CEO

Salary: £33,000-£36,000 per annum (pro-rata)

Hours: 3-5 days a week (full or part-time, dependent on agreement)

This is a flexible position, but requires that the postholder work mostly on site for the first few months in order to fully understand the operations and programmes of the charity. After this, they will be required to work from the site at least one day a week. This is a 1-year fixed term contract with a view to becoming a permanent role.

This is a standalone position that requires a minimum of five years of experience in fundraising. You will be a proactive self-starter who is confident in making decisions, identifying priorities, and driving tasks forward with a high level of autonomy.

Walworth Garden is a charity dedicated to knowledge and nurture. We aim to improve lives by providing excellent learning and gardening therapy in a community garden that’s open to all, 7 days a week. Walworth Garden is a registered charity and Company limited by guarantee. The Charity is governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees. Our main charitable work includes horticultural training for people not in work or education and gardening therapy for vulnerable and disabled adults. We also provide goods and services that individuals or other organisations pay for in order to generate surplus income to support our charitable work. Walworth Garden works with some of the most vulnerable in society and safeguarding is of paramount importance. All staff will undergo a DBS check.

We offer a supportive culture that values autonomy, trust, and results. Therefore this role offers the option to work from home on occasion, depending on business needs and team coordination. You’ll be joining a growing, passionate team, and enjoy a range of perks including:

• 28 days of annual leave per year, plus bank holidays (pro rata)
• An active employee support programme
• Employee discounts and access to our short courses
• Daily plant-based lunches made for and by staff and volunteers
• The most beautiful ‘office’ in South London, with the company of an array of wildlife.

We particularly welcome applications from those identifying with groups currently under-represented within horticulture. Walworth Garden is an actively anti-racist and anti-oppressive organisation.

Purpose of The Role

The Fundraiser will secure income across all areas of the charity, with proven success in project, capital, core, corporate, legacy and high-net-worth funding. Working closely with the CEO, they will identify opportunities, lead funding applications from development to success, and manage monitoring and reporting. Joining at an exciting time, they will support Phase 1 of our Improvement Plan (relaunching Walworth Garden as an Environmental Learning Centre) and begin raising funds for Phase 2 and ongoing operations.

Main tasks and responsibilities

• To work to identify grant funding opportunities that are a ‘good fit’ for the charity, with support from the CEO.
• To actively explore relationships with corporate groups that align with Walworth Garden’s ethos with a view to increase support in this area.
• To work with others to expand Walworth Garden’s efforts in generating support from legacies and high net-worth individuals.
• To complete all aspects of funding application forms with information gathered from other staff where appropriate and especially the Finance Manager.
• To adhere to all grant reporting requirements. This often includes data analysis (from feedback data, enrolment data etc), and case studies (from simple qualitative interviews with participants).
• To work with the CEO and other management staff to identify areas of operation that would benefit from funding.
• To keep records of funding applications and log data so it can be analysed at a later date.

Further responsibilities include:

• To discover and organise the needs of funders (e.g. impact assessments, policies) so that Walworth Garden is increasingly eligible and successful at the larger funding applications.
• To create an appropriate ‘bank’ system so that applications are less time consuming to complete.
• To attend relevant interviews and site visits with funders and Grant Managers, with an ability to communicate the charity’s work effectively.
• To occasionally contribute to charity communications (e.g. newsletter writing).
• To attend ‘Meet the Funder’ events and related sessions where appropriate.
• To occasionally support in the production both of the yearly workshop calendar and its associated webpages.
• To operate according to the Garden’s standards, policies and departmental procedures.

To Apply

Please see the full Job Description for further details about the role, including the person specification. To apply, please email a cover letter (maximum 2 sides of A4) as well as your CV (maximum 2 sides of A4) outlining why you’re the best person for this position to our CEO at oli@walworthgarden.org.uk. Interviews will take place in the w/c Monday 1st of June, with the successful candidate expected to start in early July. Please note this is a rolling recruitment process and this posting will be closed once a suitable candidate has been identified.