Philanthropy Manager (Trusts and Foundations)
£40,000 - £45,000 plus benefits
Reports to: Senior Philanthropy Manager (Trusts and Foundations)
Directorate: Strategy & Philanthropy
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time 35 hours per week
Location: Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)
Closing date: Sunday 29th March 23:55pm
Recruitment process: Screening call via Teams followed by a second stage interview in person.
First interview date: Approximately w/c 6th April
Second interview date: TBC
Please note: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.
At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
Our Trusts & Foundations team sits within our Philanthropy & Strategy directorate and plays a vital role in building meaningful relationships with charitable Trusts, Foundations, Donor Advised Funds and key intermediaries who wish to support Cancer Research UK’s life‑saving work. Over the last two years alone, the team has contributed an incredible £30 million, making a significant impact on our mission to beat cancer.
As a Philanthropy Manager, you’ll work closely with the Senior Philanthropy Manager (T&Fs) to identify, cultivate and secure support from a portfolio of high‑value partners. Your focus will be on generating five‑ and six‑figure gifts, aligning funders with CRUK’s strategic campaign priorities and ensuring they have an exceptional donor experience.
You’ll also oversee our small trusts activity and act as a key point of support for colleagues across the organisation who are engaging with trusts and foundations, helping to maximise opportunities and share best practice.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious relationship‑builder with experience in high‑value fundraising to play an instrumental role in accelerating progress towards our goal of bringing forward the day we cure cancer.
What you’ll be doing?
Manage a prospect pool of trusts and foundations with the aim to secure gifts of £100K+ as well as building a base of donors at lower level. Lead on the development of strategies for individual institutions. Manage a programme of cultivation and stewardship for all trusts and foundations and a consistent pipeline movement for prospects within the role’s portfolio.
Provide regular reporting and metrics against goals to support portfolio reviews and ensure the portfolio remains on track to deliver organisational goals.
Support in establishing a library of resources for trust applications (FAQs, accounts, biographies of trustees etc).
Partner with CRUK CEO and leadership, scientists and Major Gift colleagues to develop and implement strategies for the development of relationships with T&Fs, guide discussions with colleagues on prospect strategy and the content of applications where appropriate.
Work with the prospect research team and canvassers to identify new trust and foundation prospects.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders; including research information colleagues, academics and researchers, institutional leaders and volunteer leaders, writing briefings and coordinating engagement that will lead to gifts.
Develop a strong working knowledge of the work that CRUK supports including our key priority areas - Children and young people’s cancers , Future leaders, Francis Crick Institute, Translation, Cancer Grand Challenges and AI – And working closely with internal colleagues to develop proposals and propositions.
Work closely with the Senior Philanthropy Manager to create an international trust strategy and liaise with internal teams to advance future international partnership opportunities
Help to explore the opportunities to maximise the potential of salesforce within the Trust and Foundations team
Contribute to cross Philanthropy Directorate initiatives, strategy development and other activity and working groups where appropriate.
What are we looking for?
Extensive experience of soliciting gifts from trusts and foundation at a five to six-figure level.
Proven track record of trust and foundation fundraising in the not-for-profit sector, ideally in a medical research environment.
Proven experience of building effective long-term relationships with trust and foundations.
Excellent stakeholder management skills and ability to work with, and communicate effectively and professionally with, a wide range of individuals from internal colleagues, institutional leaders, and external collaborators, stakeholders and donors.
Working knowledge of the principles of trust and foundation major gift fundraising to include identification, research, solicitation and stewardship.
Tenacious and self-motivated approach to work.
Performance and target driven.
Exceptional listening skills and efficient and compelling proposal writing style and inspiring and engaging communication style.
The intellectual curiosity to understand complex scientific areas of research, and the ability to transform this information into engaging, donor-friendly communication.
Highly professional, flexible and committed to going above and beyond the remit of the role to achieve and exceed targets. Prepared to take on a wide variety of tasks. Have a “can do” attitude and a demonstrated ability to problem solve. Ability to anticipate challenges and address them quickly.
Dedicated team player with the desire to grow within an organisation.
Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.
Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
Human: Act to have a positive impact on people
Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively
We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.
If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.
What will I gain?
We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.
You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.
How do I apply?
We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.
For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.
For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.
We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.