Development Manager (Major Donors)

MQ Mental Health Research; London; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

MQ Mental Health Research seeks a Development Manager to enhance donor engagement and secure major gifts. The role focuses on building relationships, creating proposals, and reporting on donor impact. This position offers a hybrid working model, a supportive team environment, and generous benefits, all aimed at fostering a healthy work-life balance.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

28 days of annual holiday plus bank holidays

Wellbeing allowance up to £1200 per annum

Cycle to work scheme

Employee assistance programme

Counselling sessions via EAP scheme

Pension contributions

Interest-free season ticket loan

Personal development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience managing 4 and 5-figure+ gifts from donors.
• Comfortable with face-to-face donor engagement.
• Ability to develop compelling written proposals.

Responsibilities

• Identify and manage major donor relationships.
• Develop proposals and stewardship activities.
• Maximize partnership opportunities.

Skills

Communication

Interpersonal Skills

Relationship Management

Education

Background or study in relevant fields of mental health sciences

Tools

Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge/NXT

Job description

Employer MQ Mental Health Research Location Hybrid – London EC1Y/Home/Travel to events Salary £35,000 - £40,000 per annum. Closing date 15 Jun 2025

View more categories View less categories Job Function Fundraising ,Marketing ,Campaigning ,Business Development & Commercial ,PR & Communications ,Events ,Major Donors ,Direct / Face to Face ,Endowment Cause Area Trades & Professions ,Community ,Disability ,Health & Medical ,Public Services ,Social Care & Welfare Hours Full Time Contract Type Permanent Job Level Management Type of Work Employee Place of Work Hybrid

Development Manager (Major Donors)
Salary: £35,000 to £40,000 per annum
Location: Hybrid – London EC1Y/Home/Travel to events

About MQ Mental Health Research:

MQ is the first major charity funding mental health research. By connecting scientists with supporters, together we strive to understand mental health, improve treatments and prevent mental illness.

We champion and fund world-class research to transform the lives of everyone affected by mental illness. By connecting scientists with supporters, together we strive to understand mental health, improve treatments and prevent mental illness.

About the Role:

You will play an active role in identifying, cultivating, securing, managing and retaining donors, and soliciting major gifts, with the full support of the Executive Leadership Team and Chair of Trustees.

Here's a summary of your key responsibilities:

• Prospect and cultivate new individual supporters to donate 5 figure gifts using a variety of tactics, such as attending in person networking events, gaining introductions from our Development Board, Trustees and other senior supporters
• Personally manage a prospect pool of individuals to steward and re-engage to donate 5 figure gifts
• Maximise the partnership opportunities with the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.
• Develop written materials and proposals to engage prospective individual donors and report on the impact of their donations
• Develop stewardship and cultivation activities (e.g. webinars/ drinks receptions for mid-level donors)
• Use the support of senior leadership and members of the Board of Trustees to cultivate prospects as needed
• Work with colleagues to identify and scope new high value partnership prospects and application opportunities
• With the support of the Head of Development, develop and implement the donor giving strategy
• Report against income, expenditure and other targets
• Keep MQ’s central database up to date with all prospect actions

About You:

This role is for you if you are self-motivated and an experienced relationship fundraiser and driven to ensure that targets are hit and projects are delivered to the highest possible standards.

You will have demonstrable experience of managing 4 and 5-figure+ gifts from donors and be a sophisticated communicator with the confidence to build relationships with and inspire colleagues and donors.

Essential role requirements include:

• Exceptional communication skills particularly in understanding and translating complex information and turning it into compelling written proposals
• Demonstrates a commercial mindset
• Good interpersonal, influencing and relationship-management skills, at all levels.
• Willingness to attend networking events as required
• Experience of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge/NXT is desirable but not essential.
• Background or study in relevant fields of mental health sciences

What We're Offering You:

In return, we offer a great working experience within a friendly team. Hybrid working (in the London office Mondays and Tuesdays, with the remaining days from home). We are located near Barbican Tube.

Plus, we offer lots of generous benefits and training opportunities.

We're a Sunday Times Top Company to work for.

• Flexible working: As a mental health charity, staff wellbeing is of paramount importance. We operate a core hours policy (10-4) to encourage flexible working and staff are mainly home based with the requirement to come into the office two days per week. A standard full-time working week is 35 hours, plus an hour for lunch breaks.
• Holidays: Annual holiday entitlement of 28 days plus bank holidays.
• Wellbeing Allowance: MQ provides an allowance of up to £1200 per annum for each employee to spend on activities that increase their wellbeing. This is paid through payroll and is taxable.
• Cycle to work scheme: An interest-free loan is available to enable employees to purchase a bike and accessories, repaid via equal deductions from the employee’s salary over 12 months.
• Employee Assistance Programme: All employees and their families have access to a 24-hour confidential advice and support line.
• Counselling: Employees have access to a number of free face-to-face sessions, via the EAP scheme.
• Pension: MQ makes contributions of 5% and employees make contributions of 3%.
• Season Ticket Loan: An interest free season ticket loan is available, repaid via equal deductions from the employee’s salary over 12 months.
• Personal Development: We value employee development and review individual training needs through our performance management system. HR also runs internal management development sessions for all staff.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Closing date: Sunday 15th June 2025
Please note,we typically start interviewing within two weeks of the job advert going live. We reserve the right to close the job before the deadline based on the volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

We believe in equality and inclusion and we welcome job applications from everyone, provided you meet the criteria for the job.

Safer recruitment is important to us and the successful applicant will be asked to provide two references. They will also be required to complete a safeguarding self-declaration and undertake a DBS check.

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