Closing date: 10am on Tuesday 14 June 2022.

We’re looking for a knowledgeable and articulate person to help us raise money through donations, grants and contracts. You’ll be a clear and confident communicator with the ability to create persuasive digital material with a strong attention to detail. You’ll have knowledge of fundraising and will be able to research potential new income streams working alongside our development manager.

Application & Interview Process

Please apply by completing the application form below. Please do not send a CV. Guidance for submitting your application is included in the form.

CAfS Application Form

Closing date for return of applications is 10am on 14 June 2022.

Interviews will be held via Zoom on Tuesday 21 June 2022.

Job description

If you prefer to download the job description and person specification, please use the link below:

Fundraising Officer – Job Description

BENEFITS: CAfS offers an excellent working environment, with benefits ranging from flexible working to a pension contribution. Find out more about the benefits of working at CAfS >

EMPLOYER: Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS)

LOCATION: Contractually based at our office, Eden Rural Foyer, Old London Road, Penrith, CA11 8ET, however we are open to flexible working patterns and blended (home, site and office-based) or home working is possible for this role.

REPORTS TO: Development Manager

HOURS: 22.5 hrs a week. There may be some flexibility with the contracted hours, which can be discussed at interview if of interest to the applicant.

SALARY RANGE: £21,000-£25,000 per annum full-time equivalent (£12,600 – £15,000 for the 22.5 hour week), depending on skills and experience.

DURATION: Fixed-term 12-month contract. With potential for extension subject to funding.

APPLICATIONS BY: 10am Tuesday 14th June, 2022. Interviews 21st June, 2022

Please apply using the application form. CVs will not be considered.

ABOUT CAFS:

Our vision is a zero carbon Cumbria which is socially, environmentally, and economically beneficial for all.

Our mission is to promote and facilitate low carbon living and its benefits – inspiring and supporting individuals, communities, and organisations across Cumbria and beyond to take action to decarbonise lives, communities, and businesses by 2037 or sooner. We do this through events, advice, training, and practical projects across the county as well as providing specialist consultancy services. We share our knowledge, skills, and practical experience as widely as possible.

CAfS is an award-winning charity with a team of 28 highly skilled staff, working with a pool of specialist contractors and volunteers to deliver around 20 major, transformational low-carbon projects each year. Now in our 24th year, CAfS is the first point of reference in the county for information on sustainability and low-carbon living.

CAfS continues to see a rapid rise in the demand for its services and has grown to a turnover of almost £1.5 million. However, if we are to meet our vision of zero carbon in Cumbria, within the timescales that the climate emergency requires, then we need to do more. At present most of our funds are restricted to projects, and less than 1% of our income is from donations or corporate partnerships. Working alongside our Development Manager and our marketing team, this is an exciting opportunity to help us increase our core and unrestricted funding streams.

 

MAIN PURPOSE OF ROLE: 

  • To help implement our donor and corporate fundraising strategies including campaign and stewardship support.
  • To increase core funding through development of Trust and Foundation fundraising.
  • To research grants, contracts and other funding opportunities and feed these into our funding pipeline.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

  • Undertake research about potential donor, corporate and funding prospects, providing briefings for meetings and updating our databases.
  • Provide stewardship support to, our donors, funders and corporate partners – building and maintaining relationships including thank you letters, updates and invitations to events.
  • Provide support to donation campaigns and funding applications including drafting cases for support, developing beneficiary case studies & videos and working with our marketing team on digital fundraising content.
  • Provide support to community fundraising activities.
  • Develop a pipeline of, and coordinate applications to, Trusts and Foundations including writing creative and compelling funding proposals which meet grantors requirements.
  • Researching opportunities on funding platforms and websites, passing these onto project managers, and tracking them in our pipeline and funder database.
  • Working with project managers to compile information and supporting documentation for bids and funding applications.
  • Supporting the development and implementation of a fundraising CRM, including ensuring the information we hold is data protection complaint.
  • Support the development and delivery of fundraising events including developing appropriate materials, dealing with bookings, event preparation, event set-up and event follow-up.
  • Support the monitoring of our impact and reporting on our effectiveness to our funders.
  • Assist with the preparation of trustee and funder reports
  • Undertake work as directed by line manager, including collecting and inputting data, data analysis, emails, meeting minutes, etc.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

  • Manage suppliers as required to support the delivery of the projects.
  • Manage volunteers as required to support the delivery of the projects.

OTHER RESPONSBILITIES:

  • Represent CAfS and help to raise the profile of CAfS’ work as opportunities arise.
  • Contribute to news articles, web content and other information for publicity and CAfS’ profile raising
  • Ensure documents are completed and filed appropriately.
  • Ensure CAfS’ ethical funding policies and protocols are followed.
  • Take part in staff meetings, team meetings and training.
  • Perform other duties that may be required from time to time.

Person Specification

Essential skills and attributes:

  • An understanding of the different types of fundraising and ways to develop these to support the charity.
  • Knowledge of fundraising information sources, and familiarity with research techniques for fundraising prospect research.
  • Proven ability to write clear and articulate prose, strong attention to detail and editing skills, with the ability to transform project information into compelling and persuasive proposals.
  • Ability to create compelling online and digital fundraising materials using the experiences of our beneficiaries to inspire supporters.
  • Proven ability to develop and manage ongoing relationships with people and organisations e.g. donor journeys
  • Ability to work with and interrogate databases and spreadsheets
  • Strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills
  • Confident, with the ability to work independently, and as part of a team
  • Proven ability to use initiative and make effective decisions.
  • Ability to prioritise work, manage time effectively and meet deadlines
  • Organised, dedicated, highly motivated and reliable
  • Proficiency in Microsoft computer packages (Word, Excel, Outlook), and working knowledge of SharePoint and Teams.
  • A passion for local climate change action and a commitment to CAfS’ aims, values and objectives

Desirable skills and attributes

The following attributes are desirable but not essential:

  • Experience of developing proposals and securing funding from trusts, foundations, and statutory sources
  • Experience of developing and managing supporter/donor journeys
  • Experience of using a fundraising CRM to profile donors and target communications and fundraising activities while focused on long term growth
  • Comfortable with networking and collaborating with project partners, stakeholders and other NGOs to develop joint funding proposals
  • A good level of numeracy and an understanding of budget development and management
  • Experience of event organisation
  • Experience of database/customer relationship management systems.
  • Experience of data gathering and collating e.g. event participant feedback data.
  • Experience of setting up and helping to run online meetings eg MS Teams, Zoom.
  • An understanding of the work of CAfS and the impact of climate change on the environment and economy.

If you would like more information about the role, please contact CAfS Development Manager.

Email. [email protected]

Tel. 01768 593272