Grants and Trust Fundraiser in Manchester

Wood Street Mission is a children’s charity helping children and families impacted by poverty in Manchester and Salford. We provide practical help to meet children’s day-to-day needs and improve their life chances. We give clothes, bedding and baby equipment to struggling families, along with toys and books which are important for children’s wellbeing and development. We support engagement in education by helping families with the costs of school uniform and run Book Roadshow events in schools to promote reading and improve children’s literacy. We work to raise awareness about child poverty and help thousands of children and their families every year.

We are looking to recruit a Grants and Trusts Fundraiser to join our growing team. You will be responsible for managing and delivering our Grants and Trusts income stream, developing long-term relationships with funders, and building on our small but successful track record. The Grants and Trusts Fundraiser is a pivotal role in helping us to accelerate our growth even further so we can help more children to thrive free from poverty. The role is flexible between the office in Manchester and working from home.

Purpose of post

As the Grants and Trusts Fundraiser, you will be responsible for securing grants of varying sizes, translating the charity’s work across our five projects into compelling, high-quality applications for a range of audiences. Working collaboratively with the wider charity team, you will have a hands-on role in understanding our projects to ensure you can authentically convey our mission and our impact to funders. You will provide excellent care to existing and new supporters, ensuring reporting requirements are met and that funders are kept informed of how their support has enabled the charity to continue its work.

A key responsibility will be to contribute to and develop the Grants and Trusts fundraising plan. You will work to identify, secure and develop a robust pipeline of grant funders to maximise income and enable continued growth and sustainability of Wood Street Mission’s work.

Main duties and responsibilities

• To contribute to and develop the Grants and Trusts fundraising plan as agreed with the Fundraising Lead, to support the charity’s strategy.
• Meet agreed key performance indicators and monitor and report on these targets.
• Keep up to date with funding policies and grant giving organisation news to inform the fundraising plan.
• Work closely with the Fundraising Lead and other members of the team to ensure a coordinated approach and excellent level of care for supporters, through appropriate and engaging communication methods.
• Research and develop new funders to support the achievement of fundraising targets.
• Frequently report on progress of Grants and Trusts fundraising to the Fundraising Lead.
• Work with the wider charity team to build a bank of individual stories and information for each of the five projects, to develop a Case for Support which can be adapted to different audiences.
• Work with the Fundraising Lead and the charity team to carry out a Full Cost Recovery exercise across all five projects, to provide a clear overview of the charity’s income and expenditure budget.
• Write comprehensive and persuasive applications to funders and prepare tailored presentations for a range of supporters.
• Build, nurture and account manage relationships with grant giving organisations, providing impact assessments, case studies and progress reports as required.
• Implement an effective stewardship process to maximise income and encourage long-term support, so funders feel appreciated and understand how their support has made an impact.
• Ensure grants are acknowledged promptly and reporting requirements are met within agreed timescales.
• Work alongside colleagues within the charity to identify potential grant funding opportunities and potential cross team working opportunities to ensure the charity maximises income across all income streams.
• Maintain up-to-date and accurate funder and volunteer records on the Beacon database, and input data, donations and consent preferences, ensuring all data processing is GDPR compliant.
• Provide general administrative support to the Fundraising team.
• Represent Wood Street Mission as required at special events, and proactively seek out new funding prospects and networking opportunities.
• Act as an ambassador for Wood Street Mission and promote the charity.
• Champion the Fundraising Regulator Code of Fundraising Practice, upholding a high standard of fundraising that is legal, open, honest and respectful.

Other areas and general work duties:

• Work collaboratively on a daily basis with the wider charity team, including the Finance, Marketing, Administration and Project Development/Worker team.
• Support a safe working environment.
• Attend and participate constructively in staff meetings, supervision and appraisal.
• Implement Wood Street Mission policies and guidelines as set out in the staff handbook.
• Undertake training to develop knowledge, skills and confidence as agreed with your manager.
• Work flexibly and undertake such other work appropriate to the post as may be assigned by your manager.
• Other tasks and duties relevant to the role as required by the organisation.

Personal Specification

• Experience working in a fundraising or customer care environment.
• Experience of working towards targets and with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Experience of writing and developing funding applications, proposals and budgets.
• Experience of delivering presentations to different audiences in a variety of settings.
• Experience of using a CRM for data analysis and reporting.
• Success in securing high-value trust and grants (Desired).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• An excellent understanding of effective supporter care and stewardship.
• A genuine interest in the issues of child poverty and an understanding of Wood Street Mission’s aims to tackle these issues.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, capable of communicating with a diverse range of people with sensitivity, confidentiality and respect.
• Excellent attention to detail, ability to keep clear and accurate records, and a desire to offer a high standard of service to our supporters.
• Excellent organisation and time management skills, with an ability to work effectively under pressure and prioritise overlapping deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal skills, with the ability to communicate clearly with different audiences.
• Excellent numeracy skills including the ability to track income, interpret accounts and present detailed financial information for supporters.
• High IT proficiency with an excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Outlook and social media platforms.
• Ability to work proactively and autonomously, using your own initiative to overcome challenges and problem-solve.
• A good team player who can work collaboratively alongside the wider team and volunteers.
• A self-motivated individual with a drive to achieve targets.
• GCSE Level Education including Maths and English.
• Excellent understanding of all aspects of fundraising and a commercial awareness of fundraising trends in the UK (Desired).
• Knowledge of charitable grant giving organisations, funding policies, data protection and fundraising best practice (Desired).
• A good working knowledge of the Code of Fundraising Practice and the Charities Act (Desired).