​​Please note this is a hybrid role based on the successful candidate working at least two days a week in our London office. Remote contracts would not be considered for this role

Purpose of job:​ 

The role will lead the strategic direction, and be accountable for, income and engagement metrics across our public fundraising from individuals, including identifying and delivering new revenue via audience or product development approaches both during key campaign moments (RND/Sport Relief/Winter) and year-round. The postholder will be expected to lead the development of growth strategies that increase our reach, income and impact, spear-heading Comic Relief’s ability to successfully engage and deepen relationships with the UK public. 

 Interviews are expected to take place on the w/c July 17th

Key responsibilities: 

• Work with colleagues across the Fundraising team to inspire a high performance culture and ambitious approach to fundraising  

• Lead the development of the public activation and individual giving strategy and associated business plans, including campaigns and year round and multi-channel approaches/activity to deliver Comic Relief’s strategy and income objectives, particularly leveraging digital to drive engagement and income, ensuring continuous learning and improvement to increase the effectiveness and impact of our fundraising investments. 

• Work closely with the Head of Campaign Strategy & Planning and relevant x-organisational project teams to direct, shape and influence campaign strategies, propositions and fundraising products and approaches, incl broadcast; challenge events; digital fundraising and marketing for the public and individual giving audiences 

• Working with colleagues, oversee campaign specific, planning, implementation and monitoring of fundraising activities and initiatives to deliver multiple goals including acquisition, retention, and fundraising 

• Embed best practice fundraising across the team, including in digital fundraising and engagement (paid/organic media, digital development frameworks, digital optimisation, end to end digital delivery and digital product portfolio management); multi-channel direct marketing and in the use of public activation focussed events and challenge activity 

• Set and be accountable for income and engagement KPIs segmented by audience and channel 

• Oversight of budget and resource allocation, milestone and project delivery and measurement of all activity against KPIs 

• Lead and manage a high-performing Public Activation & Individual Giving team; ensuring capabilities are harnessed and nurtured; clear performance objectives, KPIs including income targets, and learning and development plans are set and managed against  

• Role model expert collaboration and communication of quality management information to enhance x-organisational working and impact; timely and effective organisational decision making and shared ownership of relevant outcomes 

• Working with colleagues, create, communicate and refine operating systems and processes that enable effective delivery plans and objectives 

• Be a point of contact and subject matter expert on digital fundraising and individual giving audiences for the entire organisation. 

• Deliver ad-hoc projects as required   

• Play an active role in the Fundraising Team, working collaboratively to enable inclusivity and diversity in order to drive high performance and an action-oriented culture  
   

People management 

• Proactively undertake business planning, prioritise activities and set clear and realistic objectives based on capacity, expertise and aspirations 

• Provide balanced, constructive feedback, undertake effective performance management to embed accountability and proactively support the professional development and growth of staff 

• Maintain regular two-way communication and dialogue with staff, ensuring information is cascaded and escalated as needed 

• Model an enabling, inclusive and empowering leadership style that builds a values-based culture throughout the charity. 

Person Specification

​​Essential criteria​ 

• Significant experience of developing, implementing and evaluating public fundraising strategies and plans , with demonstrable success in growing income through digital  

• Proven understanding of fundraising tactics and approaches, including identifying, sizing, and targeting audiences, optimising performance, testing, and learning, digital user experience design, content strategy and accessibility 

• A deep and broad understanding of multi-channel direct marketing and advertising techniques and concepts, specifically leveraging SEO, paid social, and display, including how to optimise for ongoing performance 

• Significant experience in effectively leading and managing high performing individuals and teams 

• Highly organised; able to handle multiple ongoing projects with a variety of priorities and deadlines 

• Highly numerate, able to analyse, manipulate and interpret complex information to plan and manage fundraising and financial performance, including knowledge of analytics, digital metrics for evaluating and benchmarking performance and generating actionalble insights from audience activity.  

• Exceptional networking, negotiating, influencing and persuading skills 

• Ability to think strategically, able to evaluate decisions in the short, medium and long term 

• Effective Communication skills, written and oral – including strong presentation skills 

• Ability to build and sustain effective working relationships both internally and externally 

• Able to use a full suite of IT packages and applications  

• A demonstrable commitment to diversity, accessibility, and inclusion 

​​Desirable criteria​ 

• Experience in a senior management position in the charity sector 

• Experience working in a creative digital enabled environment with experience of working with and of line (or matrix) management of multi-disciplinary internal and external teams 

• Experience of fundraising for international and national causes  

• Accredited fundraising or marketing qualification  

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.