Fighting Blindness has a mission to find treatments and cures for conditions causing severe sight loss, support individuals and families affected, and empower the visually impaired community through advocacy and opportunity. 

Role Overview

This is a great opportunity for someone who has good organisational, planning and people skills who would like to move into fundraising and make a real difference through their work. The Fundraising Officer will be responsible for implementing fundraising strategies to support Fighting Blindness’ mission to find the cures for sight loss. This role entails corporate and individual giving, as well as community fundraising, requiring a versatile approach to securing funds from various sources. The successful candidate will build and maintain relationships with donors, partners, and community groups to achieve fundraising targets.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Corporate Giving:

   - Identify and cultivate relationships with corporate partners.

   - Develop proposals and presentations to secure sponsorships and donations.

   - Manage corporate fundraising campaigns and events.

   - Ensure effective communication and recognition for corporate donors.

2. Individual Giving:

   - Implement strategies to increase individual donations.

   - Manage donor databases and ensure accurate record-keeping.

   - Manage programs to engage and retain individual donors.

   - Plan and execute individual giving campaigns, including annual appeals and major gifts.

3. Community Fundraising:

   - Engage with community groups and volunteers to support local fundraising initiatives.

   - Organise and manage community fundraising events.

   - Develop and distribute fundraising materials to support community efforts.

   - Build relationships with community stakeholders.

4. General Fundraising Activities:

   - Support the Head of Department in implementing the fundraising plan.

   - Monitor and report on fundraising progress against targets.

   - Stay informed about fundraising trends and best practices.

   - Collaborate with other departments to integrate fundraising activities with overall charity goals.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Proficiency in MS Office
• Experience in fundraising across corporate, individual, and community channels
• Experience with donor database platforms (Raisers Edge a significant advantage)
• Written and verbal communication skills are a necessity. As a fundraising executive you have to write reports and funding applications and persuade prospective donors of the virtue of their cause
• Numeracy - Fundraising executives have to work to a budget and reach financial targets, regularly reporting on both
• Sound organisational abilities: Fundraising executives work to deadlines, handle multiple donor accounts simultaneously and keep a record of donations
• Negotiation skills: You need to possess the ability to persuade donors of the need to give and answer questions about the impact of your organisation
• Teamwork skills: As a fundraising executive, you need to be an effective part of a team with the overriding aim of maximising donations

The day-to-day

• Undertake research on prospective donors and opportunities
• Help develop new fundraising products and events and market them
• Cold call potential donors and build relationships with them
• Update donors on how their money is being spent
• Write case studies on the impact of the organisation’s work
• Respond to enquiries from trusts, corporates and members of the public
• Write funding applications or charity partner proposals to corporates, trusts and foundations
• Write reports on the use of existing grants
• Maintain and update donors’ records on a fundraising database
• Write internal reports, analysing fundraising progress on a monthly or periodic basis
• Take part in strategy and planning meetings with other members of the fundraising team
• Arrange fundraising events and tours of the charity’s projects for potential donors
• Liaise with external agencies such as telephone or street fundraising agencies
• Engage in database maintenance