Following a merger between St Barnabas Hospices (incorporating St Barnabas House and Chestnut Tree House) and Martlets, we are now the largest group of hospices in Sussex and one of the largest in the UK. We are committed to providing exceptional and compassionate care to adults, children and their families across Sussex.

As part of our plans, we have undertaken a strategic restructure of the Fundraising and Communications teams and are recruiting to a number of new roles. These roles work across all three hospices and will play a fundamental part as we build and develop our new team.

The Major Gifts Manager is a critical role within the Philanthropy Team, overseeing the trusts and major donors income streams. With the support of the Head of Philanthropy, the postholder is responsible for strategic planning and execution to maximise income for St Barnabas House, Martlets, and Chestnut Tree House hospices.

Key responsibilities include contributing to the strategic development of the major gifts programme through the successful recruitment and cultivation of new prospects, and managing a personal portfolio of high-level major donors and trusts. The ideal candidate will be an exceptional relationship manager with extensive knowledge and expertise in their field. Building strong relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders is crucial to this role, supporting the diverse fundraising resources necessary to generate significant income.

Strategy and planning  

• Work with the Head of Philanthropy to develop and deliver a targeted and strategic programme of donations from trusts and major donors to achieve agreed annual income targets.
• To assist in the development of major gifts planning and strategy setting.
• Lead on setting budget targets for major gifts and other non-financial KPIs in line with the team strategy.
• To contribute to the annual planning cycle and monthly/quarterly budget reports. Management  • Responsible for the line management of the Major Gifts Team.
• Work closely alongside Corporate Team to ensure a consistent and streamlined approach to relationship/portfolio and prospect management across the three major giving streams.
• Play an active role within the organisation, promoting positive, effective working, innovation, and best marketing practice.
• Stay informed on industry and regulatory developments to ensure that St Barnabas Hospices is at the forefront of new major giving activity and always complies with regulation and best practice.

Fundraising and communications

• Management of own portfolio of major donor and trust relationships.
• Lead on the design and delivery the stewardship and cultivation events and communications planning for major donors and trusts fundraising.
• Work closely with trustees, CEO, key senior figures to ensure their support at meetings and engagements.
• Ensure Donor Flex/Raisers Edge (CRM system) is used consistently throughout the team and best practice standards are adhered to.
• Work with the Prospect Research on the development of a prospect research strategy to support new business through major donors and trusts.
• Management of the Patrons and Trustees stewardship programme.
• Work closely with the Legacy and In Memory Manager to ensure legacy pledger and in memory major donors and prospects are stewarded collaboratively.
• Management of the fundraising collateral and website relevant to major gift fundraising to ensure information is up to date and relevant.

Knowledge & Experience    

• Educated to degree standard or equivalent experience
• Hold full UK driving licence
• Demonstrable and relevant management experience in Major Gifts within the voluntary sector
• Experience in line management including objective and KPI setting, monitoring of performance, conducting monthly 1:1s and yearly appraisals
• A track record of meeting financial targets with management experience of setting, monitoring and reforecasting on budgets
• Experience of developing successful relationships with HNWI
• Experience of producing compelling fundraising case for support, proposals and reports
• Experience of working closely with key stakeholders internally and externally such as board members, CEO and SLT members    
• Excellent written and personal communications skills with the ability to communicate with a range of audiences
• Strong organisation skills with the ability to prioritise and manage time effectively
• Proven line management skills and the ability to lead a team
• Highly numerate with the ability to collate, understand and present financial information to a range of audiences  
• Outstanding interpersonal and relationship building skills
• Experience in event planning and execution for engagement, cultivation and stewardship
• Excellent attention to detail
• Knowledge of, or proven interest in the voluntary sector and best practice related to major gifts fundraising
• Excellent personal organisation skills, including time management and IT literate

This role is hybrid and will be based across our three hospice sites: Martlets in Hove, St Barnabas House in Worthing, Chestnut Tree House in Arundel. The proportion of time spent at the above sites will be agreed with your line manager.