Central Fundraising Officer

The Supporter-led Fundraising (SLF) team at Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) is responsible for securing income from individuals, groups and corporates, as well as driving registrations and income through third party and mass participation events; managing these relationships to maximise income.    

As the Central Fundraising Officer, you will be part of our friendly and passionate Central Fundraising Team. You will lead on supporter stewardship and tiering to ensure our supporters are well supported by the Central Fundraising Team throughout their fundraising journey. Your role will include taking the lead on data processes such as the BACs process, drafting different engaging stewardship content, keep our fundraising materials up to date and lead on training sessions within the Central Fundraising Team and with other teams for sharing best practice. 

You will work closely with our network of 12 home-based Regional Fundraising Officers (RFOs), as well as Sporting Team and Corporate Teams. You will be the first point of contact for the majority of our DIY supporters and will offer first-class stewardship to ensure our fundraisers feel well-supported before, during and after their fundraising plans.

You will also work very closely with the Data, Supporter Care team, Finance and other key stakeholders within ARUK to ensure SLF processes and procedures are fit for purpose and completed in a timely manner and that our supporters are delighted with the management and stewardship they receive across the teams.

Main duties and responsibilities of the role:

·         Be a helpful and informed first point of contact for many supporters getting in touch with the Supporter Led Fundraising (SLF) team for the first time.

·         Build first-class and long-term relationships through telephone calls and emails with our supporters to ensure they have the best fundraising experience at Alzheimer's Research UK.

·         Provide central stewardship support to a remote-based team of Regional Fundraising Officers (RFOs) to ensure effective delivery of the SLF strategy and budget.

·         Support the Sporting Events Team with recruitment and stewardship of events. 

·         Lead on supporter stewardship journey by drafting various engaging stewardship materials, reviewing our fundraising resources and lead on training sessions for other teams for best practices.

·         Support and assist in the monthly reconciliation of income coding for the wider SLF teams.

·         Support the development of new procedures and embedding the new CRM.

·         Work with our Corporate Teams to effectively steward our partner companies.

·         Ensure consistent cross-working to identify potential opportunities in current and prospective supporters for long lasting relationships across all teams.

·         Attend a variety of events to engage with and cheer on supporters including golf days, regional events and sporting events.

Administrative Support

·         Process material requests from fundraising supporters, offering appropriate support while considering charity cost.

·         Provide further support to the RFOs where necessary including mass printing, franking, t-shirt printing, booking couriers and personalising thank you letters and certificates.

·         Provide additional support on Ad Hoc campaigns such as Facebook challenges, virtual fundraising challenges and other national corporate campaigns.

·         Ensure clear, consistent and up to date fundraising data management including adding new contacts to the fundraising database, accurately recording and maintaining supporter details, monitoring and tracking supporter income and making sure supporters are appropriately thanked in a timely manner.

·         Lead on and be responsible for specific fundraising processes e.g. responsible for coding and reconciling all SLF BACs payments and coding Paypal donations. Reviewing, updating and training others on these processes when necessary.

·         Ensure all communications are in line with GDPR policies.

·         Become the organised Central coordinator for SLF-wide activities and procedures e.g contactless machines.

Spotting Potential

·         As the central point of contact for the SLF team, you will spot opportunities to build networks among our fundraising community and flag these to the relevant members of the team.

·         Identify and research potential community group and business partnerships for SLF teams.

·         Use data reports to spot fundraising trends and identify opportunities, making a judgement on where to flag to the relevant teams to ensure accurate income coding and stewardship.

·         Help spot opportunities and contact supporters as part of our re-engagement process to encourage repeat fundraising.

·         Effectively communicate ARUK's Gifts In Will messages to supporters where appropriate.

Collaboration

·         Become involved in a Fundraising Resources Review Project Group, adding creative insight and keeping our fundraising resources updated for supporters.

·         Work closely with the Corporate and Philanthropy team to lead on income processes such as CAFAmerica, to ensure appropriate donation restrictions are implemented.

·         Work closely with other teams to locate missing income and ensuring correct coding is implemented to make certain of accurate reporting.

·         Work with our Supporters and Families Team by sharing fundraiser stories to maximise potential publicity.

·         Work closely with the Communications team to maximise potential publicity and acknowledgement for fundraising supporters and their events, including content for the charity's social media channels.

·         Be the main SLF contact for the Supporter Care team, updating them on fundraising products and events to ensure they have all the information they need to support first contact.

What we are looking for:

·         Good knowledge of Word, Excel, and Outlook.

·         Experience working on CRM systems with data processes

·         Experience working in a customer service role.

·         Telephony skills to new and warm individuals.

·         Creating engaging and exciting content to engage with supporters.

·         Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

·         Good organisational skills.

·         Able to multitask and prioritise appropriately.

·         Able to manage a busy and varied workload

·         Excellent attention to detail

·         Relationship building with internal and external stakeholders

·         Able to deliver a first-class stewardship journey

·         Warm, friendly and personable.

·         A professional and hardworking team player with a positive and collaborative work ethic.

·         A willingness to learn and adapt to processes.

·         To be agile, flexible and understanding that work priorities may change at short notice due to the nature of fundraising.

·         Flexibility to work unsociable hours and willingness to travel independently when required

Additional Information:

Ways of working: As part of our Agile ways of working you will be required to work approximately 2 days a week from the office, which is subject to the requirements of the role and the business needs. Flexibility on where you work can be split between working from home and our office.

Roles that are classed as part of the Agile ways of working are not able to claim any costs for Mileage/Travel on Public Transport, Accommodation and/or Meals.  This includes when attending the office for various meetings/events.

Our Office: Our office is at 3 Riverside, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6AD. 

Salary: Circa £29,000 per annum, plus benefits

Please download the Vacancy Pack on our website for more information.

The closing date for applications is the 6th April 2025, with interviews being arrange once shortlisting has been completed. Please indicate in your covering letter if you are unable to attend an interview on a certain date. We would encourage you to submit your application at the earliest opportunity, as on occasion we may have to bring forward the interview date and/or the closing date based on the needs of the business. Although a possibility, this will only happen in exceptional circumstances. Please indicate in your covering letter if you are unable to attend an interview on a certain date.

We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone can be themselves and reach their full potential.  We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.  Any offer of employment is however subject to you having the right to work in the UK.

As part of our commitment to being an inclusive employer and ensuring fairness and consistency in our selection process, we will handle your CV and application with the utmost confidentiality. While we strive to anonymise your CV where possible, there are certain sections, such as the application question, that cannot be fully anonymised. We kindly ask that you remove any personal information, including your name, when answering the application question. The hiring panel will not have access to your personal details, such as your name and address, until you are invited for an interview. Should you require any adjustments at either the application or interview stage, please contact us via our website.

How to apply: Please create an online account using our Online Recruitment Platform which can be accessed through our Job Vacancies page. You will be able to attach your CV to your application and track the status of your application.

About Alzheimer's Research UK: Alzheimer's Research UK is the UK's leading dementia research charity. Our mission is to accelerate progress towards a cure.  Today 1 in 2 people will be impacted by dementia, either through caring for a loved one, developing it themselves or tragically both. But there is hope. 

There has never been a more important and exciting time in dementia research. With promising new drugs in clinical trials that slow the progression of the diseases that cause it, and revolutionary new ways to diagnose them on the horizon, we are now at a tipping point. Working with the smartest minds globally and across the UK, with industry and academia, Alzheimer's Research UK is uniquely placed to invest in the very best research identifying barriers to a cure and knocking them down so that there are more and better treatments for everyone with dementia. For the first time in history, we can see a future where people with dementia can get a swift and accurate diagnosis, and effective treatments that could slow or even stop their disease. We stand for everyone affected by dementia. We stand for a cure. 

In 2024, we were incredibly proud to be awarded a 3-star accreditation by Best Companies which recognises 'World Class' levels of workplace engagement. This is the second consecutive time; we have been awarded a Best Companies 3-star accreditation.

We were also listed in the prestigious Best Companies lists:

·         18th in the 100 Best Large Companies to Work For in the UK.

·         10th in the 50 Best Companies to Work For in the East of England.

·         2nd in the 30 Best Companies to Work For in the Charity Sector.

In addition, we were also shortlisted for a special award recognising the work undertaken on reducing our environmental impact.

In 2021, we were awarded the HR Management award by The Charity Times for our Wellbeing initiatives throughout the pandemic.

In 2020, we demonstrated our commitment to changing the way we think and act about mental health in the workplace and signed the Time to Change Employer Pledge. 

ARUK really does look after its people, where you will be able to add value and make a difference. 

To view further details about working for us and the benefits we offer, please visit Alzheimer's Research UK