Are you a talented individual looking to develop your career in a progressive conservation organisation? The reason the John Muir Trust exists – to conserve, protect and repair wild places for the benefit of everyone – has never been more important.

The John Muir Trust is recruiting a Fundraiser – Major Donors to lead on the Trust’s major donor fundraising. This is a unique opportunity to join the Trust’s Income Generation team as it looks to build capacity and significantly increase income to support its exciting Strategy.

The John Muir Trust is committed to working together to promote a more inclusive environment and we need a diverse team to realise this. Applicants are welcome from all walks of life with diverse backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and experiences to support our work on behalf of wild places.

Main responsibilities

Key duties

• Lead on major donor fundraising, including project and prospect development and stewardship of high value donors.

• Develop funding bids, working with a range of colleagues to submit compelling proposals to individuals and other funders, ensuring approaches match their interests and priorities.

• Write reports and updates to keep donors informed of the positive impact of their support.

• Ensure effective stewardship of individual donors and support development of the offline and online donor journey to build engagement and loyalty.

• Manage and develop the Trust’s symbolic giving programme including product development, website updates and budget management.

• Support expansion of the Trust’s corporate fundraising, assisting with identifying targets, developing materials, and making persuasive asks for relevant projects.

• Work with the Income Generation Director and the wider team to assist with other aspects of fundraising as required.

Person specification

Essential skills, knowledge and aptitude

• Demonstrable experience of successful fundraising from individuals, especially High Net Worth Individuals. Experience of fundraising appeals or trusts/statutory funders would also be useful.

• Desire to develop skills and work flexibly across multiple funding streams as required.

• Excellent communication skills, including evidence of the ability to turn complex project information into persuasive fundraising content for various audiences.

• Experience of the charitable and environmental sectors, and basic understanding of the key land management and policy issues facing the Trust.

• Energy, enthusiasm and desire to meet ambitious targets and ability to work flexibly and creatively towards those targets.

• Ability to use initiative, plan and manage own workload and support others.

• Commitment to and sensitive communication of the Trust’s core values and strategic direction.

• Awareness of fundraising legislation and data protection requirements including GDPR.

• Excellent IT skills – experience with CRM systems, design tools and/or website CMS, and experience analysing data and creating reports, would be an advantage.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent – or evidence of continued professional development relevant to the role purpose and level.

Other details

Type of contract: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week

Salary: Grade B (starting from £26,676)

Pension: 5% employer contribution to a group auto-enrolment pension scheme

Reporting to: Director of Income Generation

Location: Flexible, with regular travel to Edinburgh or Pitlochry Holidays: 34 days (which includes bank holidays) per year plus 2 ‘wild days’ or 2 sustainable travel days

John Muir Trust standard terms and conditions of employment apply.