Philanthropy Manager - Development and Alumni Relations Office - 48300 - Grade 7

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 49,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent UK university is seeking a Philanthropy Manager to manage a portfolio of donors and secure funding for educational and charitable projects. The role involves building and maintaining relationships with alumni and stakeholders to drive contributions, targeting five and six-figure donations. Candidates should possess strong communication skills, a degree or equivalent experience, and a proven track record in fundraising. This position offers a diverse and inclusive work environment with flexible working options and attractive benefits.

Benefits

40 days paid holiday

Pension scheme

Occupational sick pay

Subsidised day nurseries

Qualifications

• Experience in fundraising or client management.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage a donor portfolio effectively.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of around 100 donors.
• Secure five and six-figure philanthropic gifts.
• Develop relationships with alumni and potential donors.

Skills

Relationship building

Communication

Negotiation

Fundraising

Time management

Education

Degree level education

Job description

Position Details

Development and Alumni Relations Office

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

2 positions available:

1x Full Time, Permanent

1x Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2027

Closing date: 5th January 2025

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, andweare equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here todevelopthrough our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programmewhichprovides allprofessionalservices staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.With almost 5,000professionalservices jobs in a wide-range of functionsin Edgbaston andin our campus inDubai, there are plenty of opportunities foryou to be able to develop yourcareer at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate.We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are,and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees andtothe success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer avarietyof flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working.In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 dayspaid holidaya year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site.On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops,places to eat and drink,our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Background

Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900. With a clear vision to change the lives of the people of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain raised the funds required to build the University from citizens and corporations based locally and abroad. Since then philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University. There have been a number of fundraising campaigns, including a £1m urgent capital appeal after the Second World War and a £1.4m campaign to fund the Vale ‘student village’ in the 1960s. In 2015 we closed the Circles of Influence Campaign, raising £193 million, making it the largest HE fundraising campaign outside Oxbridge and London.

The University has global reach, including several partnerships with other leading universities around the world, and is grounded in our local community, having opened the first fully comprehensive University secondary school in the country in 2015. We are an ambitious and successful research-intensive University (one of the top 100 research-led universities globally) and have produced 10 Nobel Prize winners, including three who received their awards in 2016. Academics here are exploring the impact of climate change, helping to address global health epidemics, and changing our understanding of Shakespeare. Our students come from nearly 150 countries and our flagship outreach programmes mean that almost 25% of our student population come from underrepresented backgrounds: one of the highest proportions in the UK.

DARO exists to support this academic and student community by engaging, inspiring, and celebrating alumni, individuals, and charitable funders who give their money, time, and networks to support the University’s strategic priorities. The Office, which is comprised of five teams, is focused on fundraising and volunteering from alumni, organisations and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research projects, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships, as well as providing a versatile programme of engagement opportunities for our global alumni community.

Role Summary

Join us in the ambitious ‘Birmingham In Action’ campaign, which commits to raising over £600 million of charitable funding and 1.25 million volunteer hours positioning the University as one of the world leaders in University development. To fulfil our exciting campaign ambitions, we are recruiting a Philanthropy Manager to help grow our philanthropic funding and to take our campaign to the next level.

Our world has many challenges that will deeply affect our generation and the next.As a Philanthropy Manager, youwill cultivate significant gifts for amazing education and charitable research projects, you will provide funding for scholarships to support students from underrepresented backgrounds and will raise philanthropic funds for priority research areas including cancer, other global health issues and climate change.You will encourage and inspire donors to make long-term, sustainable gifts.

You will be joining an established team of fundraisers made up of Senior Philanthropy Managers, Philanthropy Managers and Philanthropy Officers.You will have experience of delivering against financial targets, along with the ability to translate complex information into a compelling ask in both verbal and written form.As a Philanthropy Manager in DARO, you will be innovative, self-motivated, and take ownership of fundraising opportunities in this area and generate significant gifts for amazing philanthropic projects.You will have an enthusiasm for building relationships, the skill to interact with high-level donors and supporters, and the ability to showcase the sector-leading academic research to a range of audiences.

Main Duties

The Philanthropy Manager will excel in the following areas:

• Manage a portfolio of around 100 active and prospective donors who will primarily live and work in the UK, but not exclusively.Many of which will be alumni of the University, with scope to expand this through peer networks and working with the Prospect Research Team.
• Responsible for securing five and six figure philanthropic gifts for the University of Birmingham, developing a sustainable pipeline of prospects and philanthropic income.
• Demonstrate an understanding that successful fundraising is based on building effective relationships, which match a prospective donor’s philanthropic interest with an area of strength and/or opportunity at the University. Be responsible for the end-to-end relationship management process of your contacts including:
  • Identifying new prospective donors from your networks.
  • Making the approach and managing a tailored cultivation process.
  • Translating complex ideas, including academic research and University strategy, into compelling messages tailored to individual supporters.
  • Asking confidently, passionately and effectively for key priorities.
  • Building long-term relationships that are centred on the donor, including maximising volunteering opportunities where appropriate.
  • Stewarding the donor once a gift is made, ensuring the individual remains connected to the University, the project and the impact which they have made.
• As part of a multidisciplinary team work closely with one of the University Colleges to better understand their strategic priorities and identify ways in which DARO can support these objectives.
• Deliver against set targets including money raised, asks made, meetings secured and gift close rate. Regularly report the delivery of these KPT’s to the Senior Philanthropy Manager (your line manager).
• Develop medium, and long term solicitation strategies and use these to maximise philanthropic income and foster a ‘culture of giving’ across the whole of your prospect pool.
• Working with the Head of Campaign Management and academics to showcase their projects or research by translating it into a compelling case for support tailored to individual supporters.
• Working alongside the Senior Philanthropy Manager, Head of Philanthropy, and the Associate Director- Fundraising to help grow the overall income of your prospect pool.
• Working alongside colleagues, including the Communications Team and Events Team to engage donors and potential supporters.
• Working with the Donor Experience Team to ensure donors are stewarded effectively and are brought closer to the Universities fundraising priorities.
• Work in partnership with the Philanthropic Finance team, Contracts, and Legal Services teams to ensure gifts are processed in line with donor wishes, financial regulations and counted in compliance with the campaign methodology.
• Ability to work with Professional Services and academic colleagues across the University, to create shared opportunities that support and advance the University’s fundraising priorities.
• Understand that new ‘supporter leads’ will come from a variety of sources including the wider DARO team, academic and staff networks, volunteers, and current donor networks.You will be expected to identify new prospects and develop your networks in a number of ways.
• Make the most efficient use of time and financial resources through rigorous planning.
• Efficiently use CRM to record and report on activity – feeding into campaign data, team reporting and management information for the senior leadership team.
• Be responsible for adhering to relevant fundraising regulation and current data legislation in the UK and in target markets whilst ensuring fundraising is ethical and that due diligence is undertaken as necessary.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications).Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
• Experience of working in fundraising/ sales/ account management or a client focussed environment.
• Experience of identifying and building long-term mutually beneficial relationships with alumni, donors, supporters and volunteers.
• Experience of developing and implementing fundraising plans and solicitation strategies.
• Extensive experience of working to and delivering against financial targets.
• A track record of securing five and six figure gifts or sales.
• Strong written communication skills with the ability to present complex information in an engaging and accessible manner to a varied audience.
• The ability to work effectively both in a team and independently and work with colleagues across the office.
• The ability to represent the University with confidence and authority.
• Strong negotiation skills and the ability to persuade and influence.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive, personal and confidential information alongside an understanding of data protection issues.
• The ability to work to tight deadlines and prioritise a varied and diverse workload.
• The flexibility to travel regularly within the UK and to travel overseas when necessary.
• The flexibility to work occasional evenings to support events.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Dimensions

Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You are likely to be responsible for managing a team of staff, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.

Planning and Organising

• plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
• develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
• plan relevant training and development;
• provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
• oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.

Problem Solving and decision making

• review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
• deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
• deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
• provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others.

Internal and External relationships

• understand their own and closely-related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University;
• has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others;
• developing empathy with the academic endeavour;
• influence decision makers and win support for proposals;
• develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders;
• co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.

Informal enquiries to Emily Henderson, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications

We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.