Individual Giving Manager

Forestry England is part of the Forestry Commission England family, operating as an Executive Agency of Defra. However we receive relatively little public funding – last year we received 22% of our funding from government. The funding we get mostly bridges the gap between our work that has a net income (e.g. supplying sustainable timber) and that which costs us money (e.g. nature conservation and education). Like many similar organisations, we have a mix of commercial activities that help support our conservation and social benefit work.

Although we are not a registered charity, we have always greatly received donations and in recent years have witnessed an increase in people wishing to support our work. The funds raised by this important role will directly contribute to bringing benefits for climate, wildlife and people. From creating new forests to increasing biodiversity, the money you help generate from our valued supporters will be vital and go back into creating beautiful forests for people to enjoy and homes for wildlife.

We are looking for an ambitious fundraising professional to formalise and develop our individual giving programme. Working within the Marketing & Supporter Development team, you’ll work closely with membership colleagues, as well as consultants and other internal teams to identify and develop new fundraising opportunities and promoting these effectively to acquire and engage supporters.

We need someone able to think strategically whilst also getting stuck in with the delivery. You will need to be passionate about our work with excellent internal relationship management and communication skills to influence stakeholders at all levels, and a proven track record of meeting financial targets.

Job description

Purpose
To support the development and be responsible for the delivery of a formalised individual giving programme for Forestry England. The role will be instrumental in working with the Head of Marketing & Supporter Development, to provide strategic input and implementation of a new individual giving programme to engage the public in supporting our work, grow our supporter base and increase fundraising income.

Key Work Areas
• Work with the Head of Marketing & Supporter Development to develop of an insight-led individual giving strategy, including identification and development of fundraising products/offers and cost-effective acquisition, retention and supporter development programmes (in collaboration with the membership team) to support Forestry England’s 5-year plan.

• Set and monitor budgets and income targets for all individual giving activity, including regular giving, legacies and single gifts.

• Successfully deliver cost-effective donor acquisition plans using a range of channels to support fundraising initiatives.

• Work with the Customer Relations team to ensure excellent supporter and donor engagement through appropriate channels, to maximise income and minimise donor attrition.

• Provide active involvement in the development and use of the CRM system and be responsible for data planning and analysis for fundraising activity.

• Work collaboratively with other Marketing & Supporter Development teams (such as Membership and Marketing) and Customer Relations teams to ensure that our supporters are at the heart of any developments in brand communications and supporter journeys.

• Work with experts and programme leads across the organisation, such as Ecologists, Heads of Recreation & Land Management to identify fundraising opportunities and agree specific areas of work which will bring benefits for climate, wildlife and people.

• Be a champion for individual giving activity across the organisation, providing support and guidance and ensuring a clear and integrated supporter journey through all areas.

• Ensure all activity in your remit complies with the Fundraising Regulator standards, keeping abreast of developments in regulation and good practise.

• Manage escalated supporters’ queries and/or complaints and ensure they are dealt with appropriately to avoid reputational risk.

• Be responsible for managing relationships with senior stakeholders, agencies and consultants at a strategic level.

• Lead on regular evaluation of individual giving activity against budgets and KPIs, making recommendations for future developments to improve performance.

Responsibilities

Person Specification

Essential Professional and Technical experience

• Experience gained in individual giving, with proven experience of developing and delivering successful fundraising programmes.

• Experience of developing successful cases for support and supporter journeys.

• Ability to set and manage budgets, effectively forecasting fundraising income.

• Experience of planning multi-channel fundraising campaigns, using digital and offline channels.

• Experience of CRM systems, ideally Salesforce, for analysing fundraising performance and for planning.

• Strong written communication and interpersonal skills.

• Strong organisational and administrative skills including IT.

Desirable Professional and Technical experience

• A relevant qualification to degree standard or equivalent.

• Experience within a senior fundraising role in the environmental sector.

• Experience of project management in large, complex organisations.

Other
This is a full time role for 37.5 hours per week, which will normally be worked from Monday to Friday each week. However, the nature of the work includes requirement for some rostered working to cover work on some weekends, public and privilege holidays and evenings (with the exception of Christmas Day).

A blended working arrangement is available to this post, allowing a mixture of home and office based working. While the post location is advertised as Bristol, other Forestry England office locations across England would be considered.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Knowledge of individual giving sector & practices

Benefits

Forestry England is a great place to work. We help all our employees to achieve their best – actively encouraging learning and development. We support everyone to achieve a healthy work-life balance, offering flexi-time and blended working where possible.

We offer 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 days after 5 years) and 10.5 days public/ additional holidays (pro rata). On top of this we offer a wealth of other benefits such as the cycle to work scheme, discounted health plans and a range of retail discounts as well as free entry/ parking to all our sites.

And because we are part of the Civil Service, you will benefit from the option to pay into the Civil Service pension scheme. This is a defined benefit pension scheme, and we contribute at least 20% of your salary towards your pension every month. You can also take advantage of other benefits such as the Civil Service Sports Council and the Civil Service Motoring Association Club.