Trusts and Grants Manager

RNLI; Poole; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

RNLI is seeking a Trusts and Grants Manager to lead and grow a portfolio of Trusts and Grantmakers, primarily in Wales, the West of the UK and Ireland. This full-time role blends home and Poole office presence, with regular travel.

You will craft standout grant applications and impact reports, maintain strong relationships with funders, and help meet ambitious fundraising targets. Experience managing donor relationships in a Trust fundraising setting, excellent written communication, and

Qualifications

• Experience managing donor portfolios including six-figure gifts and complex relationships in Trust fundraising or similar.
• Strong writing skills for persuasive proposals and impact reports.
• Attention to detail with ability to present complex project info clearly in applications.
• Ability to work with project managers to package funding opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate and steward Trusts portfolio with budgets and timelines showing impact.
• Build long-term, strategic relationships with funders.
• Identify new funders and open doors to new prospects.
• Collaborate with RNLI teams to align funding with project objectives.
• Maintain accurate grant management and reporting in line with agreements.

Skills

Donor portfolio management

Grant proposal writing

Relationship management

Storytelling / impact reporting

Strategic fundraising

Tools

CRM/database

Spreadsheets

Financial reporting

Job description

Trusts and Grants Manager

Salary: From £42,479 (dependent on experience)

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Full-time

Location description: Hybrid between home and Poole - minimum 2 days’ a week in Poole with regular (potentially monthly) travel to region

Interview date: 13th – 14th October 2026

Closing Date: 4th October 2026

Reference: 21883

About us

Our purpose is simple: to save lives at sea. 24 hours a day, every day, RNLI lifesavers are ready to launch to the rescue.

We're looking for an experienced and ambitious Trusts and Grants Manager to join our Trusts and Grants team to manage and expand a portfolio of prospects and Grantmakers to help raise funds for our lifesaving work. This will be a full-time, permanent post. Securing funds from Trusts and Grantmakers will help equip, train and protect our extraordinary voluntary lifesaving crews and lifeguards so that they can do what they need to do to save lives at sea.

Your role

You will work as part of a supportive and collaborative team to help develop and steward a portfolio of Trusts, largely in Wales, the West of the UK and Ireland, building sustainable long-term relationships with Trust supporters to help meet and exceed the team’s financial targets and deliver our Trust fundraising strategy.

• Provide excellent stewardship to the Trusts on your portfolio, carefully crafting ‘stand-out’ grant applications and impact reports with detailed budgets and timelines that clearly demonstrate to funders the impact of their donations.
• Through intelligent relationship management, develop an in-depth understanding of each of your Trusts, exploring their needs and motivation to ensure you build long-term, strategic relationships.
• Expand your portfolio of Trust supporters by carefully researching and identifying new funders and finding creative ways to make new approaches and open doors to new prospects.
• Develop excellent relationships with stakeholders across the RNLI, working collaboratively with project and finance managers to identify and package RNLI projects to find a creative best fit with Trust objectives.
• Use RNLI engagement opportunities, key anniversaries, station events and peer connections to find creative ways to keep funders engaged and excited about our work, inspiring them to continue to give.
• Develop excellent relationships with your regional colleagues and internal stakeholders to understand their needs, keep abreast of potential funding opportunities and ensure a collaborative, joined-up approach to your donor management.
• Share your networks, skills, knowledge and experience with your colleagues in the Trusts and Grants team and support your teammates by leading on specific project themes and areas of expertise.
• Maintain excellent record-keeping to ensure accurate and timely grant management and reporting in line with grant agreements, internal policies and processes, GDPR and Third Sector accounting good practice.

About you

• Good experience of managing a donor portfolio including prospecting for six-figure gifts and managing large, complex donor relationships in a Trust fundraising environment or very similar discipline.
• Natural writing skills and an ability to craft and adapt creative, engaging and concise fundraising proposals and targeted impact reports.
• An unswerving attention to detail.
• An understanding of how to work with project managers to identify funding packages that will match your Trusts’ objectives and motivations, with a knack for simplifying complex project information and presenting it in accessible way in funding applications.
• High emotional intelligence and strong, confident communication skills with good experience in building internal and external relationships at all levels, including Directors, Trustees and high-level donors.
• Good personal resilience, with a positive, solution-focused attitude, confident to work both as part of a team or autonomously and a good understanding of when to elevate risk.
• An ability to think strategically with awareness of the challenges and opportunities in the current trust fundraising environment.
• Comfortable using a client database, spreadsheets, financial reporting and managing your own income pipeline.
• Excellent organisational skills with an understanding of the importance of good record-keeping.

If you are an ambitious and passionate Trust fundraiser who enjoys relationship building, writing persuasively and the challenge of prospecting for new business and would like to join us in our mission of saving lives at sea, we would love you to hear from you.

Safeguarding

The RNLI is committed to safeguarding; protecting a person’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment and have a zero-tolerance approach. The suitability of all prospective employees and volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment. This will include relevant criminal record checks being carried out dependent on the eligibility of the role. (England & Wales; DBS check, Scotland; Disclosure Scotland PVG, Northern Ireland; Access NI, Republic of Ireland; Garda Vetting; International, International Child Protection Certificate process).

Diversity at the RNLI

Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world‑class lifesaving service. We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone. In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable), and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One