Major Gifts Officer

Job Description

Would you like to support Blood Cancer UK to secure high-value philanthropic income that will help beat blood cancer? Then this role is for you.

This is a really exciting time to join the Major Gifts team at Blood Cancer UK. Over the last three years we have seen significant income growth in this area, enabling us to invest more money in life-saving research.

We’re looking for an ambitious and resilient member of the team who will help drive forward new opportunities for income growth in the team, and provide a first class stewardship experience for our supporters. You might have existing experience working with high-value donors, however we are also open to candidates who have transferable experience from other areas – for example a sales or account management background.
We offer a truly agile and flexible working environment alongside other excellent benefits including 5 wellbeing days a year. If you’re looking to work in a collaborative, supportive and ambitious fundraising team then we would love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
Ensure an engaging and best-in-class experience for our supporters

• Work with colleagues to create and deliver moments of stewardship, including written reports, that are personal to each donor and demonstrate the impact of philanthropy, inspiring them to give again.
• Support the stewardship of the Matthew Wilson Multiple Myeloma Fund, our flagship philanthropy fund established by our Chair of Trustees, Matthew Wilson.
• Support the design and delivery of events led by the Philanthropy and Special Events teams. Scope out new ways to engage our supporters and identify relevant stewardship opportunities – for example this could include lab tours, a regular major donor newsletter, or video content.
• Scope out the opportunity to develop a major donor giving circle at Blood Cancer UK, and lead on this activity.

Build our pipeline of major donors within the philanthropy programme

• Lead on the qualification of our major donor prospects within our pipeline, calling and meeting with prospects regularly and as required, developing the face-to-face relationships that are beneficial to effective fundraising.
• Manage a portfolio of prospects and donors following the qualification process, ensuring they are moved through the pipeline from identification through to cultivation and to pledge, securing five figure donations to support Blood Cancer UK’s work.
• Write high-quality proposals that inspire new donors to support Blood Cancer UK and existing donors to uplift their support, liaising with our Research and Support Services teams to develop these proposals.
• Lead the delivery of our annual major donor Christmas appeal.

Support the wider activity of the Philanthropy team

• Compose briefing documents for meetings and events attended by senior members of staff, including our Executive Team and Trustees.
• Support with the development of cultivation plans for our prospects and donors
• Liaise with colleagues across the organisation and external contacts including researchers to understand where there are new propositions and gift opportunities to take to prospects and donors

General Responsibilities:

• Ensure all relevant interactions with supporters and prospects are recorded on our CRM
• Constantly scan the environment and liaise with peers in the sector to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience for our supporters and are aware of new opportunities to engage them
• Closely track income and expenditure
• Monitor individual and team KPIs

THINGS WE ALL DO

• Promote Blood Cancer UK’s vision, mission and core values
• We’re all fundraisers. This is slightly different for all roles, and your team will have fundraising KPIs and objectives we all work to
• Attend and assist at Blood Cancer UK events and activities as required (NB this involves evening and weekend work)
• Be an effective ambassador for Blood Cancer UK at any activity you attend
• All staff are expected to adhere to Blood Cancer UK’s policies and procedures
• Do any other reasonable things your manager needs you to do

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, with the ability to develop relationships with HNWIs, senior colleagues, senior volunteers and influencers
• Experience of securing five figure donations from HNWIs, or equivalent sales experience
• Experience of working with senior volunteers
• Experience of using a CRM or other database to manage supporter information
• Able to work well under pressure, pushing forward multiple projects simultaneously and be solutions focused
• High level of resilience and ability to consistently pursue opportunities
• Able to work as part of a collaborative, successful team
• Confident using data and insight to improve performance and make decisions
• Fluent with digital collaboration tools to meet, share and collaborate with colleagues
• A positive attitude to technology, insight and data, including an enthusiasm to use new technologies and ways of working to deliver team/individual objectives
• Understanding of personal data under the principles of GDPR