Head of Fundraising

Yehudi Menuhin School; Stoke D'Abernon; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Yehudi Menuhin School is seeking a Head of Fundraising to lead major gifts, trusts, individual giving and legacies. You will hold a donor portfolio, line-manage a small team, and embed a culture of giving across the School.

Reporting to the Director of Development, you will drive fundraising strategy, stewardship and compliance. The role requires proven fundraising leadership in arts/education, excellent donor relations, and strong financial reporting.

Qualifications

• Breadth and depth of fundraising experience across majors gifts, trusts, individuals and legacies.
• Proven success securing and stewarding major donors and high-value supporters.
• Experience implementing fundraising strategies through systems and processes.
• Proven experience line managing and developing staff.
• Excellent relationship-building with donors, trustees, colleagues and stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including proposals and reports.
• IT literacy with CRM, pipelines, monitoring and reporting performance.
• Knowledge of fundraising regulation, GDPR and best practice.
• Experience in arts, education, independent schools, alumni fundraising.
• Knowledge of legacy fundraising and gifts in wills programmes.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy with the Director of Development.
• Manage budgets, forecasts, reporting and financial information.
• Line-manage Grants Manager, Development Executive and Development Assistant.
• Collaborate with Marketing to align donor communications.
• Cultivate Major Donors and mid-level giving programmes.
• Source fundable elements and create cases for support and bids.
• Ensure donor stewardship and retention across major and regular donors.
• Oversee Friends and Alumni relations within the donor/legacy pipeline.
• Shape and deliver a legacy strategy and manage the 1963 Society.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

Major donor stewardship

CRM systems

Donor relations

Team leadership

Budgeting & reporting

GDPR

Arts/education sector

Legacy fundraising

Communication

Tools

CRM databases

Fundraising software

Job description

Throughout our existence we have depended upon philanthropy to fulfil our mission to nurture and educate the world's brightest young string players and pianists. The role of Head of Fundraising therefore plays a vital role in building sustainable voluntary income through major gifts, trusts, individual giving and legacies. The successful candidate will hold their own donor portfolio and line manage a small, dedicated team, working collaboratively to help embed a wider culture of giving across the school.

Job Specification / Key Areas of Responsibility

Fundraising and Development Strategy

• Support the Director of Development to implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy.
• Actively contribute towards a sound financial management plan to include budgets, forecasts, timely reporting and other necessary financial information.

Leadership and Management

• Line-manage the Grants Manager (Trusts & Foundations), Development Executive and Development Assistant (currently 2 days/week), ensuring best practice, and professional development.
• Collaborate with the Head of Marketing and the wider Marketing Team effectively.
• Build and maintain good relations with all members of the School community, ensuring an appropriate flow of relevant information to all parties, both internally and externally.

Delivery and Operations

Donor Acquisition, Development and Stewardship

• Work closely with the Director of Development on the identification, cultivation and stewardship of Major Donors.
• Devise and implement effective mid-level giving programmes.
• Identify fundable elements of YMS's work; source and create cases for support and funding bids.
• Ensure best practice in donor acquisition and donor recruitment, leading to high donor retention levels and a sustained increase in the school’s donor base.
• Ensure exceptional stewardship of our current donors (major and regular) through implementing a donor-centric approach and developing appropriate and creative ways to ensure their continued engagement with the School’s strategic priorities.
• Oversee management of Friends, and Alumni relationships as part of the donor and legacy pipeline.
• Ensure that donors are thanked appropriately and that all donations are acknowledged accordingly.

Legacy and In Memoriam Fundraising

• Shape, plan and deliver a legacy strategy for the School.
• Manage the School’s legacy society (The 1963 Society) and devise and manage appropriate supporter journeys and accompanying communications plans for pledgers.
• Liaise with executors and manage the administration of all legacies received by the School, in collaboration with the Bursary.

Events

• Organise high-quality cultivation and stewardship events working collaboratively across departments.

Reporting and Accountability

• Attend meetings of the Development Committee and provide written and oral updates on current progress and pipelines.
• Ensure that all fundraising systems, including the database, record-keeping and reporting are up to date and fit for purpose.
• Produce reports to measure performance against objectives and budgets.

General Responsibilities

• Lead on implementation of compliance and best practice in fundraising.
• Lead operationally on fundraising systems and implementation of new software and SOPs.
• Understand and support the mission and strategic aims of the Yehudi Menuhin School.
• Be aware of and abide by all Yehudi Menuhin School policies and procedures.
• Undertake other duties as may be reasonably requested of your post.

Person Specification

• Demonstrable breadth and depth of fundraising experience, including delivering income growth and achieving targets, preferably gained in the arts or education sector.
• Proven success securing and stewarding major donors and high-value supporters.
• Experience of implementing fundraising strategies through effective systems and processes.
• Proven experience of effectively line managing and developing staff.
• Excellent relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage donors, trustees, colleagues and senior stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including proposal and report writing.
• Strong IT literacy and financial numeracy including experience of managing CRM databases, pipelines, monitoring and reporting on performance.
• Good understanding of fundraising regulation, GDPR and fundraising best practice.
• Experience in the arts, education, independent schools, membership or alumni fundraising.
• Experience of legacy fundraising and gifts in wills programmes.
• Knowledge and appreciation of classical music.

The School is registered with the DBS and successful applicants will be required to complete successfully the Disclosure Procedure at Enhanced level. It is an offence for a person barred from working with children to apply for this post.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.

Our full Safeguarding/Child Protection Policy can be found here .

The Yehudi Menuhin School is an Equal Opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

The deadline for applications is Monday 28 September at 12 noon. We reserve the right to appoint sooner and encourage early applications.