Deadline: 9am, Monday 1st December

We are seeking a dynamic and driven fundraiser to be our Trusts and Foundations Manager. The Sutton Trust is at an exciting point in our organisational journey, with a new Chairperson and ambitions to significantly grow our impact and fundraising as part of our 2030 strategy.

Over the past five years the impact of the Sutton Trust has increased, especially in our programme numbers, securing a relatively stable income of c.£6m over a number of years. In recent years this has grown to c.£7m, and our organisational strategy to 2030 will continue this fundraising trajectory to increase income to £12m. Trusts and foundations income currently accounts for c.37% of our fundraising, and we know there is considerable enthusiasm and opportunity in the grant-making world for building strategic partnerships with us.

Our fundraising approach will continue to focus on major gifts and strategic multi-year partnerships, leveraging a range of drivers to secure Trust, Foundation and Statutory support. There is significant opportunity to build mid-level income (£50k-£100k) from family and organisational trusts/foundations, in which the Manager will play a pivotal role, as well as completing a deep dive into the team’s extensive prospect pipeline.

The Role and Team

As Trusts and Foundations Manager, you will be an experienced, proactive relationship manager and fundraiser. You will be confident in securing new business through active prospecting and networking, along with securing and stewarding funding relationships with a wide variety of Trusts, Foundations, Statutory and organisational donors. With an entrepreneurial mindset for income generation, the postholder will be able to confidently manage competing demands to balance securing new funding and delivering high quality stewardship and grant management to a portfolio of current and prospective supporters.

The role will manage a growing portfolio of mid-level Trusts, Foundations, and organisational donors (predominantly £50k-£100k), while also providing strategic support on grant management of our major Trust and Foundation partners. This will include compiling key reports and support of gathering and analysing programmatic data.

The role sits in the Trusts and Foundations team of the Development Department and is managed by the Head of Trusts and Foundations. All team members work on both new business and grant/account management, with ambitious individual income targets. You will work closely with colleagues across both the Development Department and the wider organisation.

Main duties

New Business

• Undertake prospect research into trusts and foundations, statutory opportunities (contracts or grants) and organisational funders in collaboration with the Head of Trusts and Foundations, and other senior staff and senior volunteers. This includes identification, due diligence, qualification, and creating briefings and outreach plans.
• Work with the Head of Trusts and Foundations to cultivate a prospect pool of potential donors, looking at lapsed supporters, the prospect pipeline, stakeholder network mapping through the Board and Trustees, as well as funders with an active interest in education / social mobility.
• Submit compelling funding proposals and reports to mid-level trusts, foundations, statutory and organisational donors to secure income (predominately £50k - £100k) for the Trust. Work alongside other Development team and wider organisation members to ensure high-quality submissions.
• Alongside team members, manage the shared Development inbox to ensure all enquiries are dealt with in a prompt, consistent, and friendly manner.
• Follow all relevant policies and processes to ensure due diligence is completed for prospective donors and account management plans are kept up to date.

Account Management and Development

• Manage and grow a portfolio of mid-level trusts, foundations, statutory supporters and organisational donors, delivering impactful stewardship (e.g. impact reporting) while meeting all donor reporting requirements to maximise financial income and partnership longevity.
• Support senior team members on strategic management of our major trust and foundation partners, including leading on compiling key impact reports, coordinating meetings, attending programme visits, event invites, writing targeted donor communications and reporting.
• Work with the Head of Fundraising Operations to compile and analyse key programmatic data for use by the Development team in their grant reporting.
• Be accountable for achieving agreed trusts and foundations income targets, looking for opportunities to grow funding and diversify income for this stream.
• Ensure all record keeping and administration relating to trusts and foundations income is maintained, up-to-date, and processed in accordance with GDPR and Sutton Trust policies and procedures.

Fundraising Finance and Reporting

• Act as an ambassador for the Trust with external audiences, delivering presentations and providing expertise as required.
• Work with colleagues to deliver impactful events to cultivate prospects and steward partners, with a focus on experience for trust and foundation supporters and prospects.
• Work with colleagues across Development and Finance to ensure accurate forecasting, income tracking and reporting for trusts and foundations income, through the Trust’s CRM (Salesforce), account management plans, and all relevant income pipeline documents.
• Ensure you appropriately follow policies and procedures on due diligence, Salesforce and data management, account management, stewardship, and reporting.
• Stay up to date with grant fundraising best practice, learning from senior members of the team, and keep abreast of developments and opportunities within the wider fundraising space.
• Other duties as necessary from time to time.

Person Specification

We welcome applications from individuals who have:

• Experience in successfully securing, managing, and developing Trust, Foundation, Statutory or organisational donor partnerships at five figures or above, from initial prospect research to securing income and ongoing grant management.
  
• Experience building and managing relationships, particularly in the philanthropic sector with organisational donors.
  
• Strong presentation skills and the ability to write compelling proposals and impact reports, or pitch to audiences with the intent of persuading them to your point of view or secure a specific outcome.
  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to summarise information from readily available sources clearly and concisely.
  
• Experience managing multiple priorities and tasks to successfully achieve project or other goals.
  
• Excellent prospect research skills and strong analytical skills.
  
• First-class interpersonal skills - a natural ambassador able to represent the Sutton Trust with confidence in a range of settings.
  
• Knowledge of fundraising in the education and/or not-for-profit sector.
  
• Experience using CRM software (ideally Salesforce) to accurately record funding relationships (desirable).
  

• Sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage and increase social mobility.
• Able to take the initiative and take responsibility for a wide variety of tasks and projects.
• Strong communicator, skilled at persuading others through writing and conversation.
• Enjoy working with impact and outcomes data to create compelling narratives for reporting purposes (desirable).
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Able to multi-task and prioritise multiple funder relationships.
• Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Is eligible to work in the UK (see here for information about right to work)

Terms of Appointment

• Contract: Full-time, Permanent
• Salary: £43,000-£48,000
• Working location: Minimum of two office days per week. Our home working policy gives staff the option to - work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.
• Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.
• Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. This role is likely to also be required to attend events / meetings outside of normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends, in line with organisational policies.
• A DBS check may be required


Scroll down to find out about our staff benefits!

Please note that your application should be submitted in one go - you can view the questions by clicking on the link if you would like to prepare in advance.

Interviews

Applications should reach us by 9am, Monday 1st December, with first round interviews held on Tuesday, 9th December, and second round interviews held on Wednesday, 17th December. Both rounds will be held in our London office. 

Safeguarding statement

The Sutton Trust believes that a child, young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. Therefore all posts undergo a safer recruitment process, including but not limited to, disclosure of criminal records where necessary and eligibility to work in the UK. We have procedures in place to promote safeguarding and a safe culture at the Trust.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website.