Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships

Contract: 12-month Interim contract. Full-time - with the possibility of flexible or part-time working a minimum of 3 days/week.
Salary: £83k with benefits
Interview Date:  w/c 20th May

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We are looking for an Interim Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships to lead our High-Value Relationships team for 12 months. This is an exciting time for fundraising at the National Trust as we embark on a programme of significant change. We are embarking on an internal change programme, the Fundraising Growth Programme, to build our fundraising capabilities so we can support the ambitious work of our new organisational strategy from 2025. We know that Fundraising will have a major role to play in supporting this strategy, as it has been identified as the 'second engine of growth' for the Trust, with the biggest headroom compared to our other income streams.

As a result of these growth ambitions, we are offering this position to provide interim support for the current postholder who has taken on the operational lead for the Fundraising Growth Programme.

In this role, you will be responsible for the continued success of three high-performing teams that make up High Value Relationships: Grants, Corporate Partnerships and Philanthropy, ensuring that the 2024 delivery plan is implemented and that the teams are supported to continue developing and growing deep relationships with major funders. In 2022/23, these teams together raised £38.7m a year out of a total fundraising income of c. £116.7m and are supported by a Fundraising Operations function.

Our Fundraising team sits within our Support and Revenue Directorate, which brings together our supporter-facing income streams from Membership to Fundraising through to our Commercial teams.

Within Fundraising, our job is to inspire individuals, grant makers, trusts and companies to support the Trust in our mission to ensure that nature, beauty and history are there for all to enjoy, for ever. This includes welcoming new donors at all levels from diverse audience groups, inspiring their support for people and places, and championing a fundraising culture across the Trust.

You will be based out of our Head Office in Swindon and will work to a hybrid working pattern (part office based and part working from home). The members of the High Value Relationships team are geographically disbursed; however the teams come together face to face regularly for meetings and key events in Swindon, London or another Trust location, as appropriate.

The role involves some travel to work with National Trust colleagues, and visit our projects and properties across England, Wales and Northern Ireland as required.

As Interim Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships, you will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the High Value Relationship team, ensuring the operational delivery of the teams’ annual plans to achieve or exceed our annual targets. You will work with the Fundraising Leadership team and High-Value Relationship colleagues to contribute to the annual budget and planning process.

You will be a contributing member of the Fundraising Leadership Team, working closely with leadership team colleagues to foster a ‘fundraising friendly’ culture and contribute to the overall success of the fundraising function. You will have an important role to play in effectively working with our senior stakeholders across the National Trust’s central teams, countries and regions.

You will have operational line management responsibility for four experienced Heads of teams and our Philanthropy & Partnerships Officer, providing guidance and coaching to support and empower them to deliver their annual goals and to lead their teams effectively through this period of change and growth.

In addition to providing leadership and strategic direction to High Value Relationship team members, you will work closely with the Fundraising Growth Programme Lead to embed opportunities for improvement and change interventions in our ‘business as usual’ operations, and supporting the teams through this period of change.

Other responsibilities will include:

• Continuing to embed high standards and consistent approaches across High Value fundraising.
• Championing a strong 'One Team' culture and ways of working for High Value Relationship team colleagues across our central and regional teams.
• Supporting on team-wide initiatives to important areas, such as colleague wellbeing and Learning and Development, as part of the Fundraising Leadership team
• Representing fundraising internally and the National Trust externally

You will have experience of leading multiple fundraising disciplines across high-value income streams, with a track record of collaborative working between disciplines to maximise opportunities.

You will possess demonstrable expertise in building compelling fundraising proposals and building relationships to secure donations of 7-figures or more, ideally from high-net-worth individuals or corporations.

This is a senior position with a wide scope of accountability and responsibility within a large Fundraising team. You bring outstanding communications skills and are confident working with stakeholders at all levels, in particular with senior stakeholders and volunteers. You keep up to date with external trends in fundraising, corporate partnerships and philanthropy and are adept at spotting opportunities for innovation and new relationships. 

The successful candidate will also need to demonstrate a strong track record of:

• Leading and motivating front-line fundraising teams to meet targets and developing high-performing teams
• Leading teams to success in a matrix organisation; comfort with leading through periods of change.
• Senior stakeholder management within a complex and dynamic environment
• Using your influencing skills to build cultivation strategies with leadership teams in order to develop and steward high-value donors
• Dealing with the complexity of scope and scale.

Finally, you will bring a passion for fundraising and a strong desire to advance the charitable mission of the National Trust.