Major Gifts Officer

BirdLife International; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Pension up to 12%

25 days leave

Job summary

BirdLife International in Cambridge, UK is seeking a Major Gifts Officer to cultivate, steward and grow the pool of donors in the £10k-£50k giving range, helping supporters move through the pipeline while providing outstanding stewardship and donor care.

Working closely with the Head of Major Gifts and the wider team, the postholder will develop their portfolio and solicitation skills, draft reports, and assist in events and CRM management as part of a collaborative conservation effort.

Qualifications

• Experience in fundraising, donor relationship management, or a related client- or relationship-facing role.
• Ability to build rapport with donors and colleagues and to communicate donor and pipeline information clearly.
• Good knowledge of major gifts fundraising practice and prospect research techniques.
• Highly organised, evidence-based, results-focused self-starter.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to draft clear donor-facing correspondence, reports, proposals and stewardship materials.
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams and with external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Personally manage a portfolio of donors and prospects in the £10k-£50k range, developing appropriate cultivation, solicitation and stewardship plans
• Cultivate and steward relationships with donors and prospects in the portfolio
• Conduct prospect research to inform cultivation strategies, working closely with the Prospect Research & Insights Manager.
• Work with conservation, regional, science, policy, communications and finance colleagues to gather information for donor proposals, impact updates, reports and other cultivation or stewardship materials.
• Draft donor reports, proposals and stewardship materials to support the Major Gifts team in cultivating and reporting to donors.
• Support the Events Coordinator in the planning and delivery of cultivation and fundraising events
• Support the Major Gifts team across research, stewardship, administration, compliance and CRM management.

Skills

Fundraising

Donor relations

Prospect research

Communication

Organisational skills

Tools

CRM systems

Job description

Application deadline: Monday 19 October 2026- 09:00 BST

Location: Cambridge, UK (hybrid working, minimum one day per week in Cambridge)

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Contract: Open-ended

Salary: £30,000 - £35,000 per annum depending on skills/experience, plus competitive 12% pension benefit

Annual Leave: 25 days pro rata in year 1, increasing by 1 day p/a to 28 days

We’re BirdLife International, the only global Partnership conserving birds and all life on our planet. We exist to give one voice to nature, and to unite and strengthen conservation across borders.

BirdLife International has created the role of Major Gifts Officer to provide dedicated focus to cultivating, stewarding and growing the pool of donors in the £10k-£50k giving range - helping supporters move through the pipeline while providing outstanding stewardship and donor care. Working closely with the Head of Major Gifts and the wider team, the postholder will have the opportunity to learn from experienced major donor fundraisers while developing their own portfolio and solicitation skills.

How you will do this:

• Personally manage a portfolio of donors and prospects in the £10k-£50k range, developing appropriate cultivation, solicitation and stewardship plans


• Cultivate and steward relationships with donors and prospects in the portfolio


• Conduct prospect research to inform cultivation strategies, working closely with the Prospect Research & Insights Manager.


• Work with conservation, regional, science, policy, communications and finance colleagues to gather information for donor proposals, impact updates, reports and other cultivation or stewardship materials.


• Draft donor reports, proposals and stewardship materials to support the Major Gifts team in cultivating and reporting to donors.


• Support the Events Coordinator in the planning and delivery of cultivation and fundraising events


• Support the Major Gifts team across research, stewardship, administration, compliance and CRM management.

What we are looking for:

• Experience in fundraising, donor relationship management, or a related client- or relationship-facing role


• Ability to build rapport with donors and colleagues and to communicate donor and pipeline information clearly


• Good knowledge of major gifts fundraising practice and prospect research techniques


• Highly organised, evidence-based, results-focused self-starter


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to draft clear donor-facing correspondence, reports, proposals and stewardship materials


• Ability to work collaboratively across teams and with external stakeholders

Some of our benefits:

• We are able to offer a hybrid model of working on-site and from home/remote for most roles, which helps to ensure a flexible work-life balance.


• A chance to work in the award-winning David Attenborough Building, which brings together much of the Cambridge-based conservation community on a 'conservation campus.'


• A generous pension scheme, up to 12% company contribution.


• Holiday starting at 25 days excluding Bank Holidays and increasing for every year of service up to a maximum of 28 days.


• Full access to LinkedIn Learning with access to more than 13,000 high-quality, on-demand courses.


• Cycle to work scheme.


• Employee Assistance Programme, including access to Health Assured online health portal.

BirdLife values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Find out more about our Diversity statement .

We are committed to building and maintaining an inclusive and supportive culture, a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We aim to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity.

We know that everyone's needs are different. If you need us to make any adjustments to our recruitment process, let us know, we'll do our best to make it happen.

Please note: under the UK Government criteria this role will not be eligible for Visa Sponsorship.

Department: Development. Locations: Cambridge, UK. Yearly salary: £30,000 - £35,000.