Events Fundraiser

Job Description

Reporting To Corporate and Events Fundraising Manager

Salary £25,000 per annum

Job Type Temporary 6 months Contract

(Covering Shared Parental Leave)

Location The Poppy Factory, Richmond, Surrey with flexibility where appropriate.

Hours 37.5 hours a week. The post will involve some out of hours working i.e. to support evening/week end events.

Purpose of the role

The purpose of this role is to provide cover for a 6 month period while the permanent Events Fundraiser takes shared parental leave, thus ensuring that the planned and approved events strategy is delivered.

The events fundraising strategy has been in place for 2 years and is a core part of our offering to a wide variety of supporters. Challenge and special events are already scheduled and planned during this period and this contract role will be to ensure the successful delivery and execution of the events and to meet the income budgets for each event.

The key areas will include:

·  Working within the existing fundraising strategy for 2016-17 to ensure that opportunities for generating income from both challenge events and special events are maximized.

·  The voluntary income budget for the fundraising team is £935,000 for 2016-17 (Oct 16 –Sept 17).

·  The Events income target is £75,000.

·  To manage all aspects of the project planning and execution of events planned in the 2016-17 strategy.

Key responsibilities

  1. Implement and deliver all aspects of The Poppy Factory’s planned challenge events, which includes skydives, the Richmond Running Festival, Prudential Ride London, the Royal Park’s half marathon and our relationship with third party event management companies.
  2. Develop, implement and deliver all aspects of The Poppy Factory’s existing special events, including Trumpeters’ House Open Garden, our Armed Forces Day Concert and our Carols at Christmas event.
  3. Provide support for events which are organised by individuals and groups of supporters, ensuring that The Poppy Factory is appropriately represented and relevant guidelines (including fundraising codes of practice, risk assessment and cash handling) are adhered to, and the opportunity to raise funds and awareness is maximised.
  4. To provide support to other events across the fundraising team and organisation.
  5. Where appropriate, identify, secure and develop new business opportunities focusing on sponsorship opportunities and tailored events for specific groups of groups of supporters. This may include working with the Corporate and Events Fundraising Manager to prepare and deliver presentations and pitches.

At an operational level this will include:

  1. Staying informed of sector developments, market place and trends, influencing and informing the development of special and challenge events.
  2. Effective stewardship of all supporters, using and developing bespoke engagement tools to encourage long term, integrated relationships.
  3. Managing a pipeline of prospects, keeping up to date records to report the number of events and the status of relationships.
  4. Developing high quality proposals and presentations for prospects, including working closely with colleagues to present a compelling case for support and targeted communications.
  5. Building excellent collaborative relationships with colleagues from across the organisation in support of fundraising initiatives to maximise income and awareness for The Poppy Factory.
  6. Keeping up to date on best practice within the charity sector with a focus on regulatory and compliance issues as relevant to special and challenge events, highlighting trends and insights to inform planning.
  7. Working with the Corporate and Events Fundraising Manager to manage the events income and expenditure budget, allocating resources to achieve maximum value, reporting and re-forecasting as required.
  8. With the Corporate and Events Fundraising Manager, plan, project manage and deliver the logistics for all special and challenge events.
  9. Identify, negotiate and manage third party suppliers and partners to support the delivery of event logistics ensuring contractors meet their obligations.
  10. In liaison with marketing and communications, produce or commission copy and artwork for events marketing materials, including building a participant base,
  11. Coordinate logistics, managing groups of staff and volunteers at the event and evaluating and stewarding donors post the event.
  12. Ensuring appropriate representation at events through a combination of staff and volunteer support. Ensure all attendees are well briefed with clear roles and responsibilities to ensure the best possible experience for our supporters.
  13. The above list of responsibilities is not exhaustive and may change to meet the needs of the organisation. The post-holder may also be required to carry out such other duties as may be required from time to time which are broadly consistent with the status of the post within the organisation.

Person Specification – Events Fundraiser

Qualifications

·  Good standard of general education to minimum “A” level standard or equivalent

Experience

·  Account management experience

·  Experience in an events related position

·  Proven experience of building on a challenge event income stream

·  Proven track record of achieving income targets

Knowledge/Skills

·  Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the interests and working methods of challenge events companies.

·  Excellent organisation and prioritisation skills

·  Proven ability to manage and prioritise a portfolio of events and funders, working to deadlines and agreed targets.

·  Excellent verbal and written communication skills

·  Able to engage and motivate staff, volunteer and supporters

·  A creative writer able to develop language and themes for marketing events.

·  Project management skills

·  Excellent research skills

·  Analytical skills able to evaluate success of events and analyse market trends.

·  Good IT skills including use of Microsoft Office

Personal Attributes

·  Resilient able to deliver results working under pressure

·  Outgoing and confident in communication with a wide range of people

·  Empathy with people who face challenges arising from disability

·  Flexible approach with good team working skills

·  Proactive and motivated to achieve personal and team objectives

Desirable

·  Experience of working in a fundraising environment

·  Experience of working within a special and challenge events fundraising environment or similar

·  Professional fundraising qualification

·  Experience of fundraising in the military sector

·  Experience of working with a fundraising database

Events Fundraiser JDPS – February 2017