Philanthropy Assistant

This is a fantastic opportunity for a motivated fundraiser with a passion for international development to join an award winning and ambitious team and help us to dramatically grow our income to reach more children in the worst conflict affected countries. With a keen interest in relationship-based fundraising, you will support the Philanthropy team to generate income from a portfolio of existing and prospective high value and major donors. You will help to identify and research new prospects to drive the pipeline for the Philanthropy income stream and work closely with the Philanthropy and Partnerships team to plan and deliver cultivation and stewardship opportunities and events.

If you share our values and believe that children’s lives should not be torn apart by war, we want to hear from you.

Your role

This role will maximise War Child’s capacity to maintain and grow existing relationships with high value and major donor supporters and high profile/Ambassador relationships. As part of a small but ambitious team the post holder will have the chance to shine and really have an impact on our projects supporting children affected by war.

The role will ultimately support the high performing Philanthropy team to drive sustainable funding for War Child’s programmes. The ideal candidate will be someone eager to learn about relationship-based fundraising with a keen interest in growing their skills and experience within a Philanthropy team and the enthusiasm to work with high-net-worth individuals to bring about positive change to children’s lives.

Child safeguarding and Adults at Risk

Our work with children and at-risk adults to keep them safe is the most important thing we do. We are committed to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in all areas of our work. We have zero tolerance for any behaviours and practices that puts children and/or vulnerable adults at risk of abuse and/or harm

Your responsibilities

• To play a key role in supporting the Philanthropy team to maximise philanthropic income for War Child
• To support Philanthropy Managers to be able to nurture relationships with existing mid-high value and regular givers, Ambassadors and High-Profile Individuals
• To lead on writing, developing and delivering the mid-high value quarterly newsletter which keeps our mid-high value donors updated on War Child’s work.
• Support the Philanthropy Manager to identify, research, qualify, and strategize a pipeline for £1k+ gifts, including regular givers
• Lead on the research and screening of new prospects in line with War Child’s robust screening policies
• Support the team to implement strong stewardship, cultivation and solicitation plans for prospects and donors to generate significant income from the portfolio, including identifying lapsed donors and devising strategies for re-engagement
• Work with the Philanthropy and Partnerships team and the Strategic Projects team to plan and deliver cultivation and stewardship opportunities and events as well as supporting on the delivery of high-level cultivation events including our Ambassador led events such as the Winter Gala – the Wassail
• Support the Philanthropy team and at times the wider Philanthropy & Partnerships team on general administrative tasks including (but not limited to) donation processing, income reconciliation, event liaison, venue & catering support, arranging travel and booking internal and external meetings.
• Ensure that all communications with donors are stored accurately on War Child’s database, Salesforce and use Dot Digital/Salesforce to send automated comms to mid-high value donors.
• Ensure that all of Philanthropy’s key documents, reports and event documents are correctly filed on the War Child internal system for easy reference for the Fundraising Team
• Take minutes in key Philanthropy meetings
• Represent War Child with commitment and enthusiasm to build new relationships and contacts for War Child, supporting colleagues to ensure that new prospects are followed up and their interest capitalised on
• Develop strong relationships and maintain excellent communication channels with other teams and departments across War Child
• Actively participate in regular department and team meetings, contributing to strategy discussion and decisions that will be beneficial to the development of fundraising activities
• Contribute to creating a culture committed to the safeguarding of children and adults and compliant to WCUK’s Child Safeguarding and Adults at Risk Policies.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the role.

You are

·       Someone with a keen interest in (and ideally some experience of) relationship-based fundraising with high profile supporters and who understands the principles of major donor fundraising and how to apply them

·       An understanding of the steps to take to identify and develop cultivation plans for long term relationships with high net worth individuals/high profile figures to generate income and to affect social change

·       Someone with extensive administrative experience who can demonstrate strong skills in supporting a highly driven team to succeed

·       Highly organised and efficient with excellent time management skills, able to prioritise a multitude of tasks at one time in a fast-paced environment. Fully IT/Microsoft literate

• Experienced in working with fundraising databases, Salesforce would be an advantage
• Experienced in writing and creating detailed proposals, reports and other donor communications with both excellent verbal and written communications skills.

·       Someone with excellent interpersonal skills, with the proven ability to work collaboratively with other team members across the organisation, building positive and productive relationships

·       Someone with an understanding of project management, convening and coordination

·       Understanding and insight into how public figures can raise/mobilise funds, help achieve wider social and political change, and enhance an organisation’s brand awareness to support these objectives

• Experience of working on fundraising events and confident in networking, including with high profile (celebrity) supporters
• A results-oriented and problem-solving approach to work and challenges

·       Ability to recognise, manage and mitigate risks

·       High levels of discretion and excellent judgement

·       Strong upward management skills, with the ability to work with colleagues of all levels

• Proven ability to work to deadlines and manage workload effectively
• Interest in international development issues and an understanding of, and commitment to, War Child’s vision, mission and aims