Fundraising Officer

About Us

Learning with Parents supports all families to have positive learning interactions together and leads the sector to learn what works in tackling inequality.

In partnership with 150 primary schools, we support families across the UK to enjoy learning together at home. Families are motivated to sustain and enjoy frequent and positive interactions together.

Our parental engagement journey with schools starts by focussing on reading. Our digital reading log is an inclusive way for schools and families to record reading, replacing physical reading records.

Our full Maths and English programme builds on the positive habits fostered by our reading log. It replaces traditional Maths and English homework with fun activities which have parent-child interaction at their heart. Through behavioural insight research, innovative technology and teacher training we ensure that as many families as possible are supported effectively. 

We are working to improve parental engagement across the sector, by producing evidence of parents’ impact and generating insights into how schools can best support them. Learnings are disseminated through the Parental Engagement Forum and amplified through the Fair Education Alliance.

About the Role

There are 1.4 million primary-aged children growing up in poverty in the UK, and we are currently only working with a fraction of them. We have grown rapidly over the last few years and are now looking to grow our Fundraising team to the next level.

The Fundraising and Communications Officer will work as part of the Fundraising team to deliver Learning with Parents’ fundraising strategy. Their primary focus will be strengthening our existing funding pipeline through prospects research and managing the donor database. They will also be responsible for drafting compelling applications and reports for new and existing donors. They will develop and adapt our fundraising resources and provide wider support to the team. 

The Fundraising and Communications Officer will also be responsible for managing Learning with Parents external communications, including creating and posting engaging blogs and social media posts, drafting the Annual Impact Report and managing the organisation’s brand guidelines.  

Lastly, the Fundraising and Communications Officer will provide logistical support for the Parental Engagement Forum. 

Core Areas of Responsibility:

Fundraising support

• Research prospects who are a good fit for our work including corporate funders, trusts and foundations, High Net Worth Individuals and Sector Awards

• Working with our Fundraising Manager, build our funder pipeline in order to support accurate forecasting for the organisation

• Working with our Fundraising Manager, craft well-written project proposals and briefings to inspire and engage funders including corporate funders, individuals and Trusts and Foundations

• Cultivate and steward existing and new donors, helping to secure ongoing support and identify potential uplifts

• Build relationships across the Learning with Parents team to source and manage information about our work, keeping up to date with progress and impact

• Manage Learning with Parents’ reporting schedule, feeding into our draft reports as required 

• Draft and spend out engaging and impactful quarterly funder newsletters

• General support across different areas of fundraising, including but not limited to: working with the wider team to draft cases for support for new projects; keeping existing fundraising resources up to date and developing new ones as required; keeping our databases up to date; and supporting with event planning.

External communications

• Manage the charity’s social media accounts, working across the Learning with Parents teams to ensure regular and engaging content

• Make updates to the charity WordPress site 

• Write regular blogs on a range of topics connected to our work

• Format and publish the blogs on the WordPress site

• Manage our annual impact report including planning the content, coordinating with other members of the team and liaising with the graphic designer

• Manage brand guidelines, keeping them up to date with any changes to our sales & marketing strategy

• Ad hoc support creating sales & marketing materials. 

Coordinate the Parental Engagement Form

• Send out meeting updates, reminders and follow ups

• Set up the quarterly meetings and assist the chair and speakers with logistics

• Support speakers with slide templates and any other information required

• Manage the participant list, adding and removing members as required and ensuring the links are shared at each meeting.

About you

This is an exciting opportunity to gain experience across fundraising, communications and project management at a fast-paced education-tech charity. A successful Fundraising and Communications Officer will be eager to work in a small team, enjoy creative writing, have a can-do attitude, and be keen to get stuck in to support the charity’s growth and impact. 

Our ideal candidate would also be able to provide examples of when they have used the following skills and experience: 

• Strong writing and editing skills and an ability to produce clear and compelling narrative from your research and understanding of an organisation 

• Good organisational skills and ability to prioritise effectively – you’ll be in a busy role, working on several projects

• Good attention to detail

• Excellent communication skills and an ability to work well as a team and with a range of different stakeholders – you’ll need to adapt to a range of audiences as engagement will be key to this role

• A desire to champion and uphold our organisation’s vision, mission and values.

Our ideal candidate might also be able to provide examples of when they have used  some of the following skills and experience, although these are not essential: 

• An understanding of education inequality in the UK

• Lived experience of some of the barriers that families from disadvantaged communities face in engaging with children’s learning 

• Experience with WordPress, Canva, and mainstream social media channels. 

Our Values 

Our Learning with Parents values are key to how we work and inform our strategy, programme, and how we collaborate.

Ambition

We strive do more for the families, schools and organisations we work with

Collaboration

We value the voices of others and achieve more by working together

Exploration

We are curious and seek evidence to inform our work

Innovation

We test, learn, adapt and embrace failure in our pursuit of progress

Integrity

We act responsibly and honestly, and default to transparency

Supportive environment

We work to create an environment which supports growth, belonging and wellbeing for everyone 

Benefits

We have a passionate team and supportive culture, which was recognised as we were named one of “The top 100 organisations to escape to in 2022” by Escape the City. In addition, we offer:

• Generous holiday allowance (36 days, including bank holidays and a Birthday day)

• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave policy

• Income protection in case of sickness

• Flexible working times

• Social events

• Environmental (Net Zero) Pension

• Cycle to work scheme

• Benefit Hub, including virtual GP and discount scheme 

To Apply 

Submit a CV and one-page Cover Letter outlining your interest and suitability for this role by the 28th July 2024. 

We would be grateful if you could also complete and submit our Equality and Diversity form. This helps us to monitor how we are doing against our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and identify areas we need to improve. Submitting this form is voluntary and will not affect how your application is assessed.   

Provisional dates for the first-round interviews will be online on Friday 2nd August. Second round interviews will be in person, at our Bristol offices the week commencing the 12th August.

We think it is important that our charity reflects the lived experience of our beneficiaries, and we want to be an organisation where employees and supporters from any background can thrive. We particularly welcome applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans including non-binary (LGBTQ+) candidates, and candidates from low-income families. These groups are currently underrepresented at Learning with Parents, and we are committed to increasing representation and diversity at the charity.

Due to the nature of our work with young people, on acceptance of offers all Learning with Parents employees are subject to a DBS check in accordance with Safeguarding Policies and offers will also be subject to reference checks.