Trusts and Foundations Fundraiser

Job summary

• Salary: £30,060, increasing to £31,500 after probation period
• Hours: 35 hours per week
• Term: Permanent
• Location: Home-based

In this role, you will implement our agreed fundraising strategy while collaborating across the team and externally with key partners to maximise funding from a variety of sources, predominantly trusts and foundations.

Please see the Recruitment Pack to learn more about the role and what it’s like working with us:

Read the Recruitment Pack

To arrange an informal chat about the role, please contact Steven Sweeney, Chief Executive: steven.sweeney@forceschildrenscotland.org.uk

 

 

Employee Benefits

We are proud of our healthy, happy, energised, rights-respecting work culture at Forces Children Scotland. In recognition of this, our Board of Trustees have approved a range of actions to further enhance our employee offer, which have been fully implemented as of 1 April 2026:

• Work from home: Forces Children Scotland is a remote-first team. You will be expected to travel to monthly team meetings and other occasional meetings with colleagues and partners across Scotland.
• Annual leave: Full-time employees are entitled to 36 days of annual leave (including public holidays). We also close in between Christmas and New Year, gifting the days off as a thank you to the staff team for their efforts throughout the year.
• Pension plan: Forces Children Scotland offers a Pension Plan, with Smart Pension. The Plan is a money purchase arrangement. You can choose at what rate you wish to contribute (subject to statutory minimums) with Forces Children Scotland contributing up to 6% of gross salary.
• Flexible working: As a flexibly enabled workplace, we practice, encourage and welcome conversations around flexible start and finish times, part-time working, informal and ad hoc adjustments, reliable, predictable work patterns, paid time off for appointments, compressed hours, and the removal of unnecessary travel.
• Forces-friendly policies: Additional paid leave is available for Reservists and Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers. We are also aware of the procedure in relation to mobilisations and would be supportive of any request to mobilise a Reservist within our workforce. This extends to any Veteran in the Strategic Reserve, i.e. Ex-Regulars with a call-out liability.
• Other benefits: We also offer Life Assurance Cover, inclusive and enhanced policies, compassionate leave, the ability to buy and Sell annual leave, and pre-tax deductible offers.

Key Responsibilities

• Increasing Trust and Foundations support
  • Draft well-written, creative and compelling funding applications
  • Ensure our cases for support relate to key participation, services, resource development and professional learning activity contained in our business plan
  • Help to develop and maintain relationships and funding streams with partners
• Planning and Research
  • Communicate effectively with colleagues to ensure the production of relevant documentation, i.e., project planning, reporting information as required
  • Maintain and build on our pipeline of current and future trusts and foundations, qualifying new opportunities
  • Develop and maintain an excellent knowledge and understanding of FCS’ work
  • Work within the guidelines of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising best practice and the Fundraising Regulator code of practice
• Monitoring, Recording and Reporting
  • Ensure funding relationships are maintained with appropriate acknowledgements, dialogue and engagement, timely reporting, and financial management in liaison with the Finance Manager
  • Ensure accuracy and well-organised records for all income from start to finish to enable effective fundraising
  • Help the organisation achieve income targets and deliver expenditure within budget
• Database and Infrastructure
  • Maintain and update Donorfy to ensure all data is stored accurately and up to date to comply with current data protection and other fundraising regulations
• General
  • To raise awareness of the experiences and voices of children and young people from armed forces families across a wide range of audiences
  • Represent Forces Children Scotland externally, to the press and at events or forums as required
  • To liaise closely with other Forces Children Scotland staff in supporting the aims and objectives of the organisation
  • Carry out any other duties commensurate with the post as identified by your line manager

Person Specification

Qualifications (Desirable)

• A relevant qualification to degree level or equivalent, or equivalent work experience
• Qualifications and membership of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, or equivalent

Experience (Essential)

• Proven track record of income generation through trusts and foundations
  • Demonstrable experience of translating complex subject matter into compelling and easy-to-understand cases for support
  • Demonstrable proficiency in research, able to match the organisation’s projects and strands of work with funders’ priorities
  • Able to effectively prioritise own workload without oversight and ensure deadlines are adhered to
• Demonstrable attention to detail and competence across required administration skills to ensure that Trusts and Foundations fundraising information is accurate and correctly recorded in line with CRM guidance and data protection expectations
• Proven track record of developing a varied pipeline across restricted, unrestricted, single and multi-year funding opportunities and stewarding donor relationships over a period of years to maintain loyalty and deliver results
• Interpersonal, influencing and relationship-management skills that demonstrate confidence and capability in building effective relationships across all levels, including internal and senior stakeholders, potential funders, existing funders, and others
• Experience of living the values as part of an organisation

Experience (Desirable)

• Understanding of the issues affecting Armed Forces Children and Young People and their families
• Experience of working in the voluntary sector
• Experience in managing individual, regular and legacy giving

Knowledge (Essential)

• Knowledge of fundraising regulations and code of practice
• Digitally literate with experience of using MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams) and fundraising databases (Donorfy – training provided)

Skills

• Willingness to commit to our desired work culture and role model the expected behaviours
• Ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with colleagues, as well as children and young people, parents, carers, and other professionals
• Commitment to and understanding of:
  • Children’s rights
  • Co-production

How to apply

Please complete our Application Form and submit a Regulated Work Declaration.

Application Form Regulated Work Declaration

We also request that you send in a child-friendly version of your application setting out the values, skills, and experiences that make you a suitable candidate for this role. The format could be written, a graphic, a short film, or a picture, and should be suitable for review by a 14-17-year-old.

Interviews are anticipated to be held on 5 June (online) and 12 June (in Glasgow).

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact admin@forceschildrenscotland.org.uk.