Philanthropy Manager

nationalarchives; Greater London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Archives is seeking an experienced Philanthropy Manager to grow donor income and raise the profile of our philanthropic work. You will build and manage donor relationships, craft compelling proposals, and coordinate with funding colleagues to drive strategic fundraising.

Reporting to the Head of Philanthropy, you will lead cultivation and stewardship activities, and work closely with The National Archives Trust on delivering funded projects and public engagement programs.

Qualifications

• Graduate-level education or equivalent experience with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven experience in securing five- and six-figure gifts from donors or foundations within arts, culture or heritage.
• Outstanding relationship management skills with senior donor relationships and stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently and maintain momentum across multiple tasks.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage a portfolio of donors and prospects at various cultivation stages.
• Develop compelling proposals to secure major gifts that support The National Archives' strategic vision.
• Generate income for strategic multi-year programmes and annual priority projects like exhibitions and digitisation.
• Coordinate with Grant Development to ensure strategic fundraising approaches and milestones.
• Deliver cultivation and stewardship activities to engage donors with the collection and staff expertise.

Skills

Communication skills

Relationship management

Independent work

Education

Graduate-level education

Job description

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We're an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history.

We've set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won't become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That's where you come in. Because we can't do this without you.

Job Overview

Salary: £40,853 per annum

Contract type: Permanent

Band: F / Senior Executive Officer

Closing date: Wednesday 7th October 2026 at midnight

About us:

The Philanthropy Manager will sit within The National Archives' Research, Grants and Academic Engagement department, the central locus for our:

1. Research strategy and delivery
2. Research impact, culture and engagement
3. Grant fundraising and philanthropy
4. Management and assurance of external funding
5. Grant-making to the archives and GLAM sectors.

The National Archives has a strong track record of securing external funding and holds a grant portfolio of over £16m. Our per-annum grant income has grown by nearly 500% since 2022-23, and in April 2026, we consolidated our fundraising operations with The National Archives Trust. The National Archives has a strategic priority to secure new charitable and philanthropic funding, and this post is one of three new roles being advertised in Autumn 2026 to deliver on that goal. We want to grow our research income, including particularly beyond the arts and humanities; reach a wider breadth of funders both nationally and internationally; and raise our profile, through more creative and targeted public engagement and learning programmes with national reach.

About the role:

The National Archives (TNA) is looking for an experienced Philanthropy Manager to work within its newly established Philanthropy team. Reporting to the Head of Philanthropy, the Philanthropy Manager will play an important role in shaping this new business function, working to grow the profile of The National Archives in the philanthropic community and generate donor income. They will build meaningful and sustainable donor relationships that enable exceptional projects across the breadth of The National Archives' work.

The Philanthropy Manager will independently build and manage a portfolio of donors and prospects at various stages of cultivation and stewardship. Working collaboratively with colleagues across a range of disciplines, the Philanthropy Manager will develop compelling proposals to secure major gifts that support The National Archives' strategic vision.

This will include generating income for strategic multi-year programmes, as well as annual priority projects, such as exhibitions, digitisation and conservation. Working closely with the Grant Development team, the Philanthropy Manager will coordinate approaches and share intelligence to ensure a strategic approach to achieving shared goals.

The Philanthropy Manager will develop and deliver cultivation and stewardship activities to bring donors and prospects close to The National Archives' collection, activities and staff expertise. They will identify bespoke opportunities to steward and recognise donors during delivery of funded projects, develop engaging and timely progress reports and work closely with project teams to monitor projects and ensure accurate financial reporting.

The postholder will work closely with The National Archives Trust, a registered charity that supports The National Archives to engage and educate the public, and conserve and preserve the collection. The Philanthropy Officer will also work with the Grant Development team to achieve shared goals.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.

A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

Application Process:

• Graduate-level education or equivalent experience, with excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to translate complex information to compelling cases for support.
• Proven experience in securing five- and six-figure gifts from family trusts and foundations and/or high-net-worth individuals within an arts, culture and heritage organisation.
• Outstanding relationship management skills, with proven experience of managing senior donor relationships, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, and of coaching and supporting senior staff and Trustees in donor engagement.
• Ability to work independently, maintain momentum across a variety of tasks and meet multiple and simultaneous