mySociety is a small, purposeful charity which uses digital tools to help people to participate more fully in democracy, make governments and society more transparent and help people work together to address societal challenges. We’re looking for an experienced fundraiser who has the research, proposal writing and budget development experience to deliver on our fundraising strategy by securing new sources of income from grant making foundations and government programmes, coupled with the strategic planning and management skills to further diversify our income by building our individual donations. You’ll be providing maternity cover and working as part of a nimble, digital-first, and entirely remote team - you can work from anywhere in the UK! You will have the opportunity to meet your colleagues face to face at our quarterly in person team meetings.

The role requires developing existing connections and leads and identifying and building new relationships in order to deliver ~£1 million a year in funding. You’ll be our sole fundraiser, coordinating with our Chief Executive and brilliant, friendly, multidisciplinary programme teams to develop workable, fundable proposals, and to manage and report on grants, acting as the main relationship holder for funders. You will need to be inventive in seeking out potential new funders, and to quickly grasp how the organisation works, with a good understanding of how our technology-led climate, transparency and democracy programmes sit within and extend the reach of broader systems of impact.

The ideal candidate will be an exceptional communicator, proactive and tenacious at finding and following up leads, flexible and collaborative in approach, with good knowledge of the broader funding landscape and relevant and active connections and networks.

No recruiters or agencies, please.

What does the role involve?

• Deliver on and refine our four year fundraising strategy, building and maintaining a good understanding of the needs of each of our programmes, priorities and desired charitable goals
• Frame our current and planned activity to appropriately align with the priorities of potential funders
• Identify new leads for unrestricted grant funding to support our existing and core activity
• Identify relevant restricted grant funding for projects that align with our existing priorities and new adjacent areas
• Lead on writing and submitting grant proposals, developing appropriate budgets, logframes, etc in collaboration with other members of the team
• Maintain effective monitoring practices in order to identify new funding opportunities
• Maintain our database of funders and potential funding contacts
• Contribute to the development of the organisation’s wider strategy, through knowledge of the funding landscape
• Produce regular reports on fundraising progress against targets
• Develop mySociety’s broader income generation work, building individual giving and other approaches as appropriate

• Own the relationship with existing funders and be their main point of contact within mySociety
• Lead on grant agreement/contract negotiations and compliance
• Ensure all relevant team members are fully briefed on the terms and conditions of funding agreements, including key deadlines
• Provide regular updates to funders on progress, and share insights and news with them