Fundraising Officer - Trusts and Foundations

The Trusts and Foundations Fundraising Officer will work alongside the Head of Income, Partnerships and Communications to help deliver Rising Sun’s fundraising targets during this exciting period of growth for the charity.

The main focus of the role is finding, attracting and stewarding new funders to help deliver Rising Sun’s life changing services. You will write compelling funding proposals that demonstrate the impact of our services and how we meet funders’ requirements. You will build strong relationships with grant officers from various foundations, providing regular updates and communicating challenges, solutions and successes as appropriate to develop our reputation as an effective, reliable and trustworthy organisation. Alongside this you will be nurturing our existing portfolio of funders to help prioritise multi-year funding.

Working with you in the Fundraising Team will be the Head of Income, Partnerships and Communications, Trusts and Foundations Officer, Community Fundraising Officer and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Team. As part of the team you will help to develop fundraising materials such as case studies, impact reports and cases for support.

We are looking for a proactive and organised individual who loves building and nurturing relationships and has a passion for fundraising. In addition, you will have excellent writing skills and experience of generating income from trusts and foundations to grow our income from this stream. As part of our committed team of approximately 50 staff, you will be contributing to the invaluable work of the Rising Sun and making a lasting difference to the lives of those who have experienced domestic abuse.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and manage part of Rising Sun’s portfolio of income and fundraising activities related to trusts and foundations.
• Keep the trusts and foundations stream of the funding pipeline healthy and up to date, carrying out research into new opportunities and meeting application deadlines.
• Write compelling funding applications that answer funders’ questions and effectively communicate the mission, services and impact of Rising Sun.
• Develop appropriate fundraising tools, such as cases for support and impact reports.
• Support the Head of Income, Partnerships and Communications to write bids for commissioned services and government funding opportunities.
• Liaise internally across the organisation to become familiar with our services and stay up to date with current trends to feed into funding applications and develop project proposals.
• Build and manage relationships with key stakeholders, including survivors and grant officers.
• Be responsible for the management of successful trusts and foundations grant agreements and reporting requirements, working with the wider team to gather information and data as required.
• Work with survivors and team members to develop case studies, presentations and fundraising materials as required to support income generating activities.
• Represent Rising Sun at fundraising events and pitches as required.
• Comply with current Institute of Fundraising Code of Fundraising Practice guidelines and Data Protection legislation and ensure that fundraising is carried out on an ethical basis.
• Effectively prioritise, plan and organise own workload, working effectively with the Head of Income and Partnerships.
• Take responsibility for personal development by making the most of your induction, line management and training, and attending team meetings.
• Carry out any other duties that support the growth of the organisation as deemed appropriate.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following experience, knowledge, skills and attitudes. (D = Desirable)

Skills and Attitude

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, including the ability to influence and negotiate
• Report writing skills
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders by phone, by email and in person
• Excellent team working skills
• Presentation / pitching skills (D)
• Excellent planning and organisation skills
• Ability to motivate yourself and work independently on your own initiative
• Solution focused and creative in approaching new challenges
• Competent using Microsoft office programmes, in particular MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Passionate about the vision and mission of Rising Sun
• Committed to equal opportunities, safeguarding and maintaining confidentiality

Knowledge and Experience

• Success in raising income through trusts and foundations (D)
• Experience carrying out research into potential funders
• Experience establishing and developing partnerships
• Experience of managing a diverse workload, prioritising and meeting deadlines while working under pressure
• Experience of completing reports for funders (D)
• Knowledge of the grant applications process (D)
• Basic awareness of issues and opportunities within the sector, current trends, influences and funder priorities
• Awareness and understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse and its impact on the lives of survivors and families (D)
• A relevant fundraising qualification e.g. Institute of Fundraising (D)

Other requirements

• Able to drive and have access to a reliable car (D) (post holder will be required to attend meetings and events across our areas of work from time to time)
• Able to attend occasional evening and weekend events with notice to further the aims of the organisation and fundraising team (time off in lieu will be given)
• Eligible to live and work in the UK

How to apply

Please download the Job Information Pack on our website for the full job description, person specification and application form, and return the application by the end of Monday 13th January 2025.