Philanthrope Partners
Head of Philanthropy
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About the Role
What does it take to build the philanthropic backing behind an organisation trying to change how some of the world’s most influential industries operate?
We’re supporting a high-profile social entrepreneur with a strong track record of building organisations and initiatives for social change, who is behind an ambitious and rapidly growing non-profit.
The organisation has developed a distinctive model.
- It works confidentially with experienced executives and industry experts, including some very senior figures, to understand where established norms, incentives and structures are getting in the way of better social and environmental outcomes.
- That insight is then turned into focused engagement with the people and institutions best placed to act.
- The model is already operating across several influential industries, with its work generating national media attention and engagement from senior figures across business, investment, government and civil society.
The organisation is independently funded, scaling rapidly and building the team and capability to take the model much further.
Philanthropy is fundamental to that ambition.
- Its independence depends on finding supporters who understand the value of work that is high-trust, often confidential and sometimes well upstream of visible public change. It does not take corporate, government or lobbyist funding.
They are now appointing a Head of Philanthropy to help build that supporter base.
This is not a conventional fundraising role.
- The opportunity is to work closely with the founder to shape the organisation’s philanthropy strategy, build relationships with significant individual donors and aligned supporters, strengthen the case for support and help turn genuine interest in the model into long-term philanthropic backing.
- It is a senior, highly relational role.
- You will be thinking carefully about who is likely to understand the proposition, what will matter to them, how relationships should be developed and when the right moment is to ask for support.
- You will also help build the infrastructure behind that work: a focused pipeline, disciplined follow-up, thoughtful stewardship and a fundraising approach that can grow with the organisation.
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The organisation is a non-profit, but the environment has much more of the pace, ambition and ownership of a start-up. There is no large established fundraising machine to inherit. You will have real scope to shape how this is done.
For the right person, that creates a particularly interesting opportunity: established enough to have demonstrated that the underlying model works, but early enough for the Head of Philanthropy to have a meaningful hand in shaping its growth.
You might have built your career in major gifts, individual philanthropy, family offices, donor relations or wider fundraising leadership. You may also have gained substantial fundraising experience through trusteeship, voluntary leadership or another route.
What matters is that you:
- Understand how to build trusted, long-term relationships with major donors.
- Have the judgement and confidence to engage high-net-worth individuals and senior philanthropic stakeholders.
- Can make a complex and unusual proposition compelling without overselling it.
- Combine strong relationship instincts with disciplined follow-through.
- Are comfortable working closely with a founder in a fast-moving environment.
- Bring discretion, emotional intelligence and sound judgement.
- Are motivated by ambitious social and environmental change.
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We are looking for someone with significant relevant experience, including a strong grounding in major gift fundraising and a track record of securing gifts of £25,000 or more from individuals.
You do not need to be looking for a conventional fundraising leadership job.
You do need to be excited by the prospect of building the philanthropic foundations behind something unusual, ambitious and capable of reaching significant scale.
What We Offer
- The role offers direct access to an accomplished founder, substantial ownership, exposure to sophisticated philanthropists and advisers, and the opportunity to become an important part of an organisation at a particularly interesting stage of its development.
Compensation and Working Conditions
- Salary: £60,000 FTE, pro rata
- Working pattern: 1 to 4 days per week
- Location: UK-based and largely remote, with some London / in-person meetings
About the Search
The search is being led by Philanthrope on behalf of our client.
You do not need to be actively looking. If this has made you curious, we would be very happy to have a confidential, exploratory conversation.
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