Individual Giving & Supporter Engagement Manager

Ripple Effect; Bath; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Ripple Effect, based in Bath, is seeking an experienced Individual Giving & Supporter Engagement Manager to lead the development and delivery of our donor income strategy. You will lead a team of fundraisers to recruit, retain and inspire supporters, using data, storytelling and partnerships to grow unrestricted income and maximise lifetime value.

This role combines strategic planning with hands-on delivery across multi-channel campaigns, ensuring alignment with our mission to transform farming

Qualifications

• Significant experience in individual giving or direct fundraising.
• Proven track record of large-scale donor acquisition and income growth.
• Strong understanding of donor retention and lifetime value.
• Experience with multi-channel campaigns: digital, direct mail, email.
• Experience managing fundraising budgets and forecasting.
• Knowledge of GDPR and fundraising regulations.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver Ripple Effect's individual giving strategy to grow unrestricted income.
• Lead a team of fundraisers to recruit, retain and inspire supporters.
• Plan campaigns, manage budgets and forecast performance.
• Create donor journeys from acquisition to regular giving and legacies.
• Collaborate with Marketing to align messaging and storytelling.
• Engage senior stakeholders and trustees in fundraising activity.
• Provide data-driven insights to improve performance.
• Oversee acquisition and audience growth across channels.

Job description

Location: Hybrid with attendance at Bath office approx. twice per month

Contract type: Permanent

Closing date: Sunday 18th October 2026 (we may close earlier depending on volume of applications)

The Individual Giving & Supporter Engagement Manager will lead the development and delivery of Ripple Effect's individual giving strategy, with responsibility for growing unrestricted income, acquiring new supporters, increasing donor retention and maximising supporter lifetime value through effective fundraising campaigns.

Leading a team of specialist fundraisers, you will use audience insight, data, innovation and compelling storytelling to recruit, retain and inspire supporters, building a sustainable unrestricted income base that enables Ripple Effect to transform the lives of farming families across rural Africa.

Key responsibilities

Income strategy planning & delivery

• Develop and execute an ambitious individual giving and supporter income growth strategy, driving supporter acquisition, retention, unrestricted income growth and supporter lifetime value.
• Lead the charity's supporter growth strategy, ensuring a strong acquisition-to-retention pipeline that maximises supporter lifetime value.
• Set and manage ambitious income, acquisition, retention and growth targets across all individual giving and supporter income streams.
• Oversee annual fundraising campaign planning, acquisition investment, budgeting, forecasting and performance tracking to deliver income growth and return on investment.
• Work with the Retention Manager, Legacy Manager and Supporter Care Manager to design and deliver integrated fundraising campaigns that recruit new donors, retain existing supporters and increase income across individual giving, regular giving, legacies and community fundraising.
• Lead the strategic planning and operational delivery of acquisition activity to grow the charity's supporter base, income and long-term engagement.
• Build, optimise and continuously improve end-to-end supporter journeys, including pathways into regular giving, community fundraising, volunteering, in-memory giving and legacy giving.
• Provide strategic leadership and direction across all income generation and supporter engagement programmes.
• Work closely with Marketing and Communications colleagues to align messaging, campaigns and storytelling that inspire action and deepen supporter engagement.
• Collaborate with Programme teams to connect supporters with the impact of their giving through compelling stories and evidence of change.
• Engage senior stakeholders, ambassadors and trustees in fundraising activity where appropriate.
• Ensure team activity is integrated with organisational priorities, campaigns and the wider strategic plan.
• Build strong internal relationships that enable collaboration and identify opportunities to increase supporter acquisition, retention and income.
• Lead the development and delivery of annual individual giving and supporter engagement plans, setting clear objectives, KPIs and income targets to drive supporter acquisition, retention and sustainable income growth.
• Identify, test and scale new fundraising products, channels and audience opportunities to diversify income and future-proof programmes.
• Accountable for delivering agreed income targets and supporter growth across individual giving, regular giving, appeals and other supporter income streams.

Acquisition and audience growth

• Lead the development and delivery of a mass individual acquisition strategy that grows sustainable income and the supporter base through digital, paid media, direct mail, face-to-face fundraising and strategic partnerships.
• Lead the development and delivery of a church engagement and fundraising strategy that retains, grows and recruits supporters across key church audiences.
• Lead the development and delivery of the ambassador (volunteer) programme, ensuring ambassadors have the training, resources and support required to raise awareness, recruit new supporters and champion Ripple Effect's work.
• Lead the development and delivery of a small trusts strategy that strengthens existing relationships and increases income from new trust supporters.
• Lead the development and delivery of a community fundraising strategy, including schools engagement, supporter-led fundraising and local community partnerships.
• Develop audience segmentation strategies to identify high-value growth opportunities and improve acquisition performance.
• Monitor acquisition performance across all channels, optimising activity to improve conversion rates, supporter value and return on investment.
• Explore and develop strategic partnerships and new routes to market that can increase awareness, reach and supporter recruitment.
• Lead the development, delivery and optimisation of supporter acquisition campaigns, monitoring cost per acquisition, supporter lifetime value, return on investment and long-term income performance.

Budget management and financial planning

• Set, manage and reforecast income and expenditure budgets across all income generation and supporter engagement activities.
• Monitor performance against targets and KPIs to maximise income growth and return on investment.
• Develop accurate short and long-term income forecasts to support organisational planning and decision-making.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities, taking proactive action to maximise performance and income growth.

Data, insight and reporting

• Utilise audience segmentation, donor insight and a test-and-learn approach to improve acquisition performance, donor retention, fundraising income and supporter lifetime value.
• Ensure robust evaluation of all campaigns, measuring performance against KPIs, income targets and return on investment.
• Produce regular reports, forecasts and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Use CRM, digital analytics and supporter data to inform strategy, audience targeting and campaign optimisation.
• Ensure high standards of data quality, supporter record management and reporting across the team.
• Monitor supporter retention, attrition, engagement and lifetime value metrics, identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Embed a culture of data-driven decision making across fundraising activity.

Leadership and people management

• Line manage the Retention Manager, Legacy Manager and Supporter Care Manager.
• Conduct annual performance reviews and support the ongoing professional development of team members.
• Set, monitor and review team objectives, targets and KPIs in line with organisational goals.
• Embed a culture of innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement within the team.
• Lead, coach and motivate the team to deliver ambitious income and engagement targets.
• Ensure effective workload planning, resource allocation and prioritisation across the team.

Experience and knowledge

• Significant experience in individual giving, public fundraising or direct marketing fundraising, with a proven track record of delivering unrestricted income growth and supporter acquisition.
• Proven track record of delivering large-scale supporter acquisition campaigns and achieving sustainable income growth within a charity, fundraising or membership organisation.
• Strong understanding of income generation, acquisition, stewardship and supporter lifetime value, with the ability to apply insight to improve fundraising performance.
• Experience developing and delivering multi-channel fundraising campaigns, including digital, direct mail, email and paid acquisition activity.
• Demonstrable success in recruiting and retaining supporters, increasing supporter lifetime value and growing sustainable fundraising income.
• Experience leading fundraising strategy and campaign planning, with responsibility for delivering measurable income growth, return on investment and forecasting.
• Strong understanding of donor acquisition, retention, stewardship and supporter journey development, including pathways to regular giving, gifts in Wills, community fundraising and volunteering.
• Experience using audience insight, segmentation, testing and campaign analysis to optimise fundraising performance and return on investment.
• Experience managing fundraising budgets, income targets, forecasting and financial performance.
• Experience using CRM systems and fundraising data to support campaign planning, performance monitoring and supporter relationship management.
• Experience developing and managing relationships with agencies, suppliers and external fundraising partners.
• Experience working collaboratively across fundraising, communications and programme teams to deliver supporter acquisition, retention and income growth objectives.
• Strong understanding of fundraising regulation, GDPR, data protection and sector best practice.
• Experience of community fundraising, supporter fundraising or volunteer engagement.
• Experience of church fundraising, faith-based fundraising or church engagement programmes.
• Experience managing a supporter acquisition budget and paid fundraising campaigns.
• Experience using Raiser's Edge, Access Charity CRM or similar fundraising databases.
• Understanding of international development fundraising and donor motivation.
• Experience presenting at events, facilitating workshops, delivering training or representing an organisation externally.
• Knowledge of individual giving fundraising trends, supporter acquisition techniques and supporter engagement best practice.
• Knowledge of the international development sector and the role of supporter engagement in delivering long-term impact.

Ripple Effect is dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment, and we welcome applications from all individuals, embracing diversity in all its forms.