Head of Fundraising

Job Description

Head of Fundraising

About Babyzone

Babyzone is a brand new charity which aims to support to families with babies and toddlers. We’re focused on breaking down the barriers that many parents face in accessing high quality early years offers.

Babyzones are currently delivered each week in Youth Zones where we run free exploratory play and evidence-based early years classes in a clean, safe and welcoming environment. We design our approach around the needs of lower income families, but are open to all. Parents don’t sign up in advance, there’s no timetable and we don’t take names and personal details from our families. We believe that by removing barriers we are creating a fully accessible, inclusive place for parents and carers to bring their children to play, read, chat and sing together.

We’re an ambitious charity incubated by OnSide Youth Zones and backed by philanthropists. We have great modern offices in West London at Scale Space, and we work in amazing Youth Zones to deliver Babyzone. This role is a great opportunity to join us at the start of our journey and really make a difference to how Babyzone grows and the families we support. We reach over 400 families per week across all three Babyzones. Around 60% of the families who visit us come from low income families. We want to reach more of the families who need us around the country. We’ll do this by creating more Babyzones, but also by showing others how to remove barriers.

Being relatively new, we’re learning as we go, and we’re excited for what comes next. This role will be integral to our growth and development as a charity.

The role

Reports to: Chief Executive

Purpose of the role:

The Head of Fundraising will have responsibility for leading Babyzone’s income generation working closely with the CEO and the board. This involves developing our fundraising strategy and growth over the long term. We have a great network and we need to make the most of this to secure funding for our existing delivery and our ambitious growth. This is an exciting opportunity to set up our new charity’s fundraising approach and be part of the senior leadership of the charity. The Head of Fundraising will work closely with our trustees, local teams and delivery partners to increase our income. This will include the development of our fundraising strategy, generating funding leads, cultivating and stewarding partnerships.

Responsibilities

Fundraising lead for Babyzone

• Working with the Chief Executive and trustees to develop and deliver an effective fundraising strategy which fits with Babyzone’s ambitions and principles. The plan will secure the future of the charity and our commitment to our existing Babyzones
• Determining the right mix of fundraising income streams
• Setting ambitious, achievable targets for fundraising
• Presenting to the trustees on progress against the set income targets
• Monitoring income targets and identifying opportunities or challenges to achieving these
• Supporting the Heads of Babyzones with their local fundraising efforts and developing a local approach to fundraising
• Responsibility for proposing and managing the fundraising budget

Income generation

• Working closely with our trustees to develop long term philanthropic relationships with their wide networks
• Developing proposals and documents which support our fundraising efforts
• Supporting the CEO’s and trustees fundraising activities so that we’re joined up and informed
• Working with the Babyzone delivery team and Business & Operations Manager to gather case studies and use our evaluation data for proposals
• Being a key part of the set-up of new Babyzones, finding local and national funding that supports our ability to grow

Relationship management

• Researching new prospects and instigating contacts with relevant prospects
• Supporting trustees with approaches to high net worth individuals
• Stewarding relationships with new and existing funders, including sending periodic funding reports
• Arranging visits to Babyzones and showing our approach to prospective and existing funders
• Developing the offer for funders

Team working

• Working closely with the Chief Executive to support the development of the organisation
• Being an integral part of the management team; demonstrating and holding the Babyzone principles at the heart of how we work
• Working in a collaborative way with all Babyzone staff, trustees and partners

Your skills and experience

We are looking for a motivated and pro-active person to join the Babyzone team who is:

An experienced fundraiser

• Having generated income from a variety of sources, notably major donors and charitable trusts & grant funders

Passionate about Babyzone’s mission

• Understands and cares about Babyzone’s aim to support low income families through a high quality offer
• Passionate about being involved in changing the lives of little people (children) who need it the most
• Motivated and committed to the Babyzone principles and shows sensitivity to the needs of the families who visit Babyzone.

Flexible approach

• Can work autonomously and as part of a growing team
• Able to juggle and prioritise often competing tasks with a strong eye for detail
• Work comfortably in a start-up environment which means a fast-paced environment with not everything set up to support our central team functions yet
• Willing and excited to adapt to changing circumstances as Babyzone grows and develops

A great team member

• Works well across all levels of colleagues including Chair and trustees
• Able to support Babyzone team members to develop their fundraising skills and abilities so that everyone is able to support fundraising effectively
• Collaborative in ways of working with others
• Value and support everyone who comes into contact with Babyzone

Essential

• Senior level fundraising experience, including setting and realising a fundraising strategy
• Able to work collaboratively with trustees and understand their roles as philanthropists and trustees
• Experience of successfully generating income to target from a variety of income streams, notably major donors and trust & grant sources
• Relationship management with a range of funders at various giving levels
• Excellent communication skills (both oral and written) at all levels with the ability to promote a charity’s goals and needs in a way that increases engagement
• Able to develop compelling, informative proposals and funder reports
• Excellent organisational skills
• A self-starter, able to drive own workload in a start-up flexible working environment
• Knowledge and practical understanding of fundraising legislation such as GDPR
• Microsoft Office 365 skills (Outlook, Excel, Word, Powerpoint)

Desirable but not essential

• Managing a fundraising budget
• Experience of setting up fundraising in a new organisation
• Team working across a geographically dispersed team
• Project management

What we offer

• £55k per annum (pro-rata if relevant)
• Permanent contract
• Flexible hours – we are open to full or part time (minimum of 4 days per week)
• Babyzone staff work from combination of our office in West London, home and from Babyzone locations currently within Greater London.

Salary and pension

The salary for this role is £55,000 per year which will be pro-rated over the number of days worked per week if part time. We will match pension contributions for those eligible.

Hours of work

This role is full time, but we are open to discussions about part time hours but likely not less than 4 days per week. We are open to flexible working arrangements.

Holidays

You will be entitled to 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated to reflect contracted hours).

Location

Babyzone staff will work from combination of home and from Babyzone locations within Greater London. Ideally staff will be within easily commutable distance for meetings, visits and hot desking at our sites. This is especially the case for the Head of Fundraising role as is an expectation to be in London to meet funders and to show funders around our Babyzones regularly. This will be at any of our current Babyzones in Barking & Dagenham, Barnet or Croydon or our offices at in White City.

Contract

This is a permanent contract with a 6 month probation period. We are also open to applications for interim contracts of 6-9 months.

The application process

Babyzone is currently delivered in two areas of London which have high rates of poverty and diversity. Our ambition to grow means that we will increasingly work in other areas of the country that also have high rates of poverty and diversity. As a result Babyzone want to begin our journey as a charity from a position where our team fully reflects the diversity and lived experiences of the communities within which we work. We strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups.

We are focused on making our Babyzones a welcoming, fully accessible, safe and inclusive place for all families. Babyzone won’t take a different approach to how we recruit for and treat our staff.

Please keep your covering letter to a maximum of 1 side of A4 and cover the following topics:

1. Outline you motivation for the role
2. How your skills and experience fit with the skills and experience we have set out for this role
3. What would you bring the role of Head of Fundraising at Babyzone?

We will review applications and there will be a 3 stage process which will be confirmed closer to the date, but will include a mixture of interviews and exercises.