Donor Relations Manager

Location: Home-based / London/ Netherlands (Occasional presence in the London office required).

Remuneration: £50,000 - £55,000 depending on experience  

Contract: Full-time - Permanent

Reports to: Head of Donor Relations

About Us

Founded in 2018, the Stichting Foundation for International Law for the Environment (FILE) is a major philanthropic initiative working to tackle the climate and nature crisis by scaling up legal action globally.

Driven by the urgent need to facilitate a global transition to a zero-carbon, regenerative society, FILE funds world-leading global partners to deliver pioneering legal and shareholder actions with the aim of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees. Our grant portfolio includes workstreams that cut across global systems, including Just Energy Transition; Food, Forests & Biodiversity; Finance, Investment and Trade, and Governance, Rights & Justice. 

Our mission is to change the systems that are responsible for the climate and nature crises by ensuring those in power stop locking us into a high-carbon, destructive economy. We are committed to ensuring legal action can facilitate the transition to a post-carbon, regenerative society that upholds human rights and achieves climate justice. 

FILE supports the development of a strong, diverse, and empowered ecosystem of partners, enabling the co-development of strategy to collectively make a meaningful impact on climate change and the protection of nature. We seek to grow the field and facilitate the enabling conditions that lead to successful outcomes. This means as well as supporting legal partners, we support access to key research, knowledge sharing, strategic communications and campaign alignment and learning.

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join FILE’s high-performing fundraising team and secure support from some of the world’s leading foundations working in climate.

FILE is seeking a dynamic and experienced Donor Relations Manager to lead relationships with significant funders and play a critical role in advancing FILE’s ambitious fundraising strategy. The Donor Relations Manager will provide excellent relationship management to a portfolio of existing donors and seek new funding opportunities from major philanthropic foundations.

The Donor Relations Manager will work closely with the Head of Donor Relations and FILE leadership to shape fundraising and donor stewardship strategies and drive fundraising success. They will be comfortable operating at the most senior level externally to devise and deliver excellent donor experiences, and adept at navigating complex internal environments.

This is a newly created and high-profile position, building out FILE’s successful fundraising team. In a highly collaborative and dynamic environment, there is real potential for the right candidate to shape and grow the role. The Donor Relations Manager has the opportunity to work with major global philanthropies and to take a key role in supporting the future direction of a highly ambitious organisation. We are looking for a candidate who is excited at the prospect of working for a dynamic and fast-growing organisation and passionate about playing their part to solve the climate crisis.

Key Responsibilities

Donor relationship management and stewardship

The Donor Relations Manager will lead on a number of funder relationships, co-ordinating internally with FILE Leadership and strategic experts to devise and deliver excellent stewardship and donor experiences. This will include:

·      Leading externally in face-to-face and virtual meetings, events and engagements and managing complex donor relationships across multiple stakeholders and workstreams

·      Creating and managing bespoke donor stewardship plans and communications

·      Liaising across internal cross-functional teams to plan and co-ordinate donor engagement at multiple levels

·      Leading on proposals, donor impact reports, budgets and other key outputs

·      Being responsible for partnership co-ordination including grant agreements, deliverables and information management

·      Supporting other major relationships as required

Cultivating new funder relationships

Securing new support is a critical organisational priority and the candidate will have the opportunity to forge new relationships with major funders.

Alongside FILE leadership and the Head of Donor Relations, they will be responsible for identifying and progressing new pipeline opportunities and become the fundraising lead for specific thematic areas and initiatives. This will include:

·      Devising and delivering bespoke cultivation strategies for key donor prospects

·      Devising new funding propositions and strategies for high-priority areas and new strategic initiatives

·      Working with FILE leadership and strategy leads to delivering engaging cultivation, including through meetings, calls and written materials

·      Actively progressing opportunities through the fundraising pipeline and leading on proposal development for target opportunities

·      Complete mapping and research into new funding prospects and identify areas of strategic alignment

·      Complete research briefs and materials for preparation for key donor meetings

·      Complete due diligence on new funding prospects in line with FILE’s donor acceptance principles

Providing strategic support to the Head of Donor Relations and leading cross-organisational projects and initiatives

The Donor Relations Manager will support the Head of Donor Relations to develop and implement the wider fundraising strategy and contribute towards strategic initiatives such as:

·      Developing and embedding a strengthened fundraising model and approach across the organisation

·      Communications planning and delivery, including through creation and management of key communications content

·      Reporting to the FILE leadership and Board

Key Competencies and person specification

·      The ideal candidate will be an excellent relationship and stakeholder manager with demonstrable experience years working in philanthropy or high-value funding.

·      They will have extensive experience in cross-functional roles in complex NGOs or IGOs, working with leadership and colleagues in programmes, communications and finance.

·      They will have experience in securing and managing 6/7-figure funding relationships and be confident working at the most senior level externally.

·      They will have significant knowledge and experience in the foundation/ philanthropy sector, ideally in the climate or environmental space.

·      The candidate will thrive in fast-paced environments, and be adept at managing complex and multi-level relationships both internally and externally. They will be highly influential, flexible and strategically astute.

·      They will have excellent written and verbal communications skills and be confident in creating compelling proposals, pitches and cultivation materials, turning complex and technical information into engaging donor content and experiences.

·      The candidate will be highly organized, demonstrate strong project management skills and be comfortable balancing a varied and demanding workload.

•       They will have a passion for global environmental issues, particularly climate change and biodiversity loss, and an affinity with FILE’s values.

Working for FILE

FILE is a collaborative community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about climate. Together, we share knowledge and experience to support our mission.

Individuals are empowered to work as both part of a wider team and individually to make impactful change and deliver to a high standard. Roles here are ideally suited to those who are highly flexible and happy to change and grow in line with the ever-changing challenges of the Foundation – those who are willing to get stuck in and make an impact.

Application

Please submit your CV and introductory letter here: https://filefoundation.bamboohr.com/careers/25?source=aWQ9OA%3D%3D. All interest must be submitted by the deadline of 3rd September 2023.

Diversity & Inclusion

As an equal opportunities employer, FILE is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join FILE.