Philanthropy Officer

Deadline: 9am, Monday 15th September

We are seeking an organised and proactive Philanthropy Officer to join our high-performing fundraising team. The Sutton Trust is at an exciting point in our organisational journey, with a new Chairperson and ambitions to significantly grow our impact and fundraising as part of our 2030 strategy.

Over the past five years the impact of the Sutton Trust has increased, especially in our programme numbers, securing a relatively stable income of c.£6m over a number of years. In recent years this has grown to c.£7m, and our organisational strategy to 2030/31 will continue this fundraising trajectory to increase income to £12m. With a growing portfolio of philanthropic income from individuals – currently accounting for c.£1.2m – there is considerable enthusiasm and opportunity to build upon existing relationships and establish new ones in support of the work of The Sutton Trust.

Our fundraising approach will continue to focus on major gifts, harnessing and increasing our networks, and multi-year partnerships to leverage a range of drivers to secure philanthropic support. We anticipate utilising the structured giving schemes designed for our individual supporters to build a robust pipeline for future major gifts.

With a new Head of Philanthropy joining in September 2025, this is an exciting time to join as Philanthropy Officer – you will work together closely together, and with the Director of Development, to refresh giving from individuals at all levels. There is a significant opportunity to grow this income, and team activities will include a segmented fundraising campaign with our 36,000 strong alumni community, building out our Fellowship scheme, and further developing our approach to regular giving and legacy fundraising.

The role and team

As Philanthropy Officer , you will be an organised and proactive fundraiser, adept at multi-tasking and working across a variety of projects to successfully support senior leaders. You will be keen to learn from senior fundraisers and implement exciting new approaches for the Sutton Trust, and bring strong organisational and interpersonal skills.

The philanthropy income team is a team of two, working closely with the Director of Development to secure and steward individual donors. As Philanthropy Officer, you will support both the Head of Philanthropy and Director of Development in their work with individual donors, including undertaking prospect research, writing briefings and compelling reports, coordinating meetings and donor visits, and maintaining accurate donor records.

The role sits in the Philanthropy team of the Development Department and is managed by the Head of Philanthropy. You will work closely with colleagues across both the Development Department and the wider organisation.

Main duties

New Business

• Undertake prospect research across the spectrum of philanthropic income in collaboration with the Head of Philanthropy - including identification, due diligence, qualification, and creating briefings and outreach plans
• Work with the Head of Philanthropy to identify and cultivate a prospect pool of potential donors, looking at lapsed supporters, current low-level donors, stakeholder network mapping through the Board and Trustees , as well as philanthropists with an active interest in education/social mobility
• Work with the Head of Philanthropy and other colleagues to implement, promote, and maintain a low-level online giving campaign, including transition of our online giving capabilities to the Trust's website, and automated stewardship activation
• Support the Head of Philanthropy to lead the Sutton Trust's approach to alumni fundraising - working collaboratively with the Alumni team in the Programmes directorate to develop and deliver a compelling alumni fundraising campaign
• Support the Head of Philanthropy to devise and implement a compelling legacy campaign, driving sustainable future philanthropic income
• Work with colleagues across the Development team to identify, qualify, cultivate and secure prospects, using resources effectively where there are links between corporates, individuals, and trusts & foundations

Stewardship and Cultivation

• Manage the Trust's online fundraising platforms, such as JustGiving and CAF, to enable smooth processes and a high-quality experience for donors, ensuring new and existing donors are appropriately thanked and have inclination to support in the future
• Be responsible for managing and growing a portfolio of mid-level donors, providing excellent relationship management from cultivation to stewardship
• Be responsible for elements of the planning and delivery of meaningful engagement events for supporters of the Trust, supported by and working with the Head of Philanthropy and relevant colleagues
• Support the Director of Development and Head of Philanthropy to provide high-quality stewardship and management of the Development Board and Fellows
• Support the Head of Philanthropy to develop and deliver appropriate and high-quality stewardship journeys for segmented philanthropic giving, including producing compelling collateral, reporting, and communications that increase affinity and loyalty
• Be accountable for achieving individual agreed income targets, looking for opportunities to grow philanthropic income
• Support the Director of Development and Head of Philanthropy to ensure all record keeping and administration relating to philanthropic income is maintained, up-to-date, and processed in accordance with GDPR and Sutton Trust policies and procedures

Fundraising, Finance and Reporting

• Respond to queries from prospective and current donors in a warm, professional and timely manner, delivering high-quality stewardship and upholding the reputation of the Trust
• Support the Director of Development and Heads in the Development team to manage logistics of their roles - including support for booking meetings and travel, submitting expenses, and creating briefings
• Act as an ambassador for the Trust with external audiences, delivering presentations and providing expertise as required
• Work with colleagues to deliver impactful events to cultivate prospects and steward partners, with a focus on experience for individual supporters and prospects
• Work with colleagues across Development and Finance to ensure accurate forecasting, income tracking, and reporting for philanthropic income
• Ensure you appropriately follow policies and procedures on due diligence, Salesforce and data management, account management, stewardship, and reporting
• Stay up to date with philanthropy fundraising best practice and keep abreast of developments and opportunities within the wider fundraising space
• Other duties as necessary from time to time

Person Specification

Skills and experience:

• Experience building and managing relationships with individuals, ideally in a philanthropy team or other fundraising capacity, or in sales or other relevant professional capacity.
• Experience researching and prioritising information to drive decisions. Evidence of researching qualifying individuals, ideally to create a clear and prioritised propsect pipeline, is not essential but will help you to stand out.
• Experience working with or supporting colleagues across an organisation to make successful asks or secure a specific outcome. Evidence of making financial asks, ideally to secure major donors and cultivate new donors, is not essential, but will help you to stand out.
• Experience managing multiple priorities and tasks to successfully achieve project or other goals
• Excellent verbal and written communication, including the ability to write persuasive and engaging materials, and to communicate effectively with the aim of inspiring and encouraging giving
• First-class interpersonal skills - a natural relationship builder able to represent the Sutton Trust with confidence in a range of settings
• Strong analytical skills
• Knowledge and experience of the education and/or not-for-profit sector (desirable)
• Experience working with membership groups such as alumni, giving circles, implementing online-giving schemes and supporting legacy campaigns (desirable)
• Knowledge of the UK fundraising environment, including trends in philanthropy and the different giving mechanisms utilised by individual donors ( desirable )
• Experienced at using Salesforce or other fundraising CRM software to accurately record funding relationships ( desirable )

Competencies:

• Sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and our mission to increase social mobility
• High degree of initiative and the ability to take responsibility for a range of philanthropy fundraising activity
• Strong communicator, skilled at persuading others through writing and conversation
• Excellent attention to detail
• Able to multi-task and prioritise multiple funder relationships
• Able to work independently and as part of a team

Other

• Is eligible to work in the UK (see here for information about right to work)

Terms of Appointment

• Contract: Full-time, permanent
• Salary: £31,775-£35,000 per annum
• Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Our home working policy gives staff the option to work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.
• Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. This role is likely to also be required to attend events / meetings outside of normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends, in line with organisational policies.
• A DBS check may be required
Scroll down to find out about our staff benefits!

Please note that your application should be submitted in one go - you can view the questions by clicking on the link if you would like to prepare in advance.

Interviews

Applications should reach us by 9am on Monday 15th September , with first round interviews on Tuesday 23rd September , and second round interviews on Tuesday 30th September . Both interview rounds will be held at our London offices.

Safeguarding statement

The Sutton Trust believes that a child, young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. Therefore all posts undergo a safer recruitment process, including but not limited to, disclosure of criminal records where necessary and eligibility to work in the UK. We have procedures in place to promote safeguarding and a safe culture at the Trust.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website .