Fundraising Development Officer – South West

The Woodland Trust is looking for a Fundraising Development Officer to join the Fundraising Development team and play a key role in raising vital income to support nature recovery across South West England. You’ll build and manage relationships with major donors, secure funding through grants and legacy giving, and help deliver ambitious fundraising plans for projects, including the South West Rainforest Recovery Treescape.

This role is advertised as full-time, 37.5 hours per week.

The Role:

• Manage and grow a portfolio of major donors and prospects to secure significant philanthropic income, improve donor loyalty, and promote blended and legacy giving.
• Lead fundraising strategy and delivery for the Rainforest Recovery Treescape initiative, securing funding and acting as its fundraising champion.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with donors, partners and internal stakeholders to maximise restricted and unrestricted fundraising opportunities.
• Develop compelling funding proposals, cases of support and other fundraising materials to secure income for regional projects.
• Work collaboratively across the South West and wider Woodland Trust to develop and deliver fundraising plans supporting nature recovery, woodland creation, outreach and land acquisition.
• Support and maximise fundraising events across the South West and UK to engage donors and generate income.
• Secure funding from regional grant-makers and community funding programmes, including local authorities, lottery and environmental funding sources.
• Collaborate with operational, grants and regional teams to identify funding opportunities and submit high-quality bids aligned with regional priorities.
• This is a homebased role, requiring regular travel to locations within the South West landscape, sometimes to remote locations. You would be expected to live within reasonable travelling distance of your area of responsibility. Occasional travel to regional offices and overnight stays will be required.
• This role does not come with a company vehicle, however after a 9-month period in-post, we will review vehicle business use to see if the post-holder is reaching the eligibility criteria as stated in our Company Vehicle Policy. If the post-holder complies with those criteria, with sign off from our Facilities Team, a vehicle will be sourced and provided. Please note that our Company Vehicle Policy is also under review as part of our Job Families and Contract Review project, so the eligibility criteria therein are subject to change in due course.

The Candidate:

• Experience in fundraising, the charity sector or a target-driven communications environment.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage, influence and inspire a wide range of audiences.
• Strong planning and organisational skills, with experience managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced, target-driven environment.
• Proven ability to develop donor or prospect pipelines and build successful partnerships through networking and collaboration.
• Experience securing major gifts or high-value funding from individuals, trusts or foundations, including gifts of £50,000+ (desirable).
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of fundraising markets and opportunities (desirable).
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and CRM/database systems (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics 365).
• Full UK driving licence.

Benefits and Wellbeing:

Joining our team means you’ll be part of our fight for a greener, healthier planet for people and wildlife. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:

• Enhanced Employer Pension
• Life Assurance
• Flexible and hybrid working options (7am – 7pm)
• Generous annual leave – 25 Days plus Bank Holidays (pro rata for part-time)
• Buy and sell holiday scheme
• Enhanced parental pay
• Employee assistance programme

To support inclusivity and remove barriers for candidates, we publish all salaries upfront and proudly follow the We Show the Salary pledge. The salary listed is the set salary for this role, and we don’t ask applicants to state their current pay or expectations. If you choose to apply, we’ll take that as confirmation that the advertised salary meets your expectations.

About Us:

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity. We want to see a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature. The Trust engages and inspires people to make a difference by protecting, restoring and creating woodland and getting more trees in the ground.

Our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

To achieve our mission, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply. Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.

Application information and advice:

For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, and we do not ask for your CV at application.
Make sure that your personal statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role. Even if you don’t meet every requirement of the role, we encourage you to apply.
Completed applications will be reviewed by a hiring manager and/or a member of the recruitment team, and you will receive an update on the outcome of your application via email.

Acceptable Use – Artificial Intelligence (AI):

We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools.

Apply now:

If you’re ready to make a difference and grow with us, apply today. We might close advertising early if we get a lot of applications, so it’s a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in progress, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.

Interviews will take place via teams. Interview questions will be provided before the interview to help you prepare.

For queries about this role, reasonable adjustments, or support with your application, please contact: [email protected]