Public Fundraising Executive

Make-A-Wish International; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 29,000; Full time

Job summary

A charity organization in Reading seeks a Public Fundraising Executive to manage supporter engagement, data, and fundraising activities. This role involves responding to supporter queries, maintaining relationships, and assisting with various fundraising events and campaigns. Candidates should have strong organizational skills and experience with fundraising. The position offers a hybrid work model, competitive salary, and benefits, including 26 days of annual leave and a salary exchange pension scheme.

Benefits

Flexible & Hybrid working arrangements

Paid Birthday leave

Salary exchange pension scheme

Wellbeing support through Pirkx

Qualifications

• Experience of delivering excellent supporter care and stewardship.
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills.
• Experience in fundraising and supporter management.

Responsibilities

• Respond to supporter queries via phone, email and post across a range of fundraising activities.
• Steward a range of supporters and donors, delivering stewardship phone calls.
• Maintain accurate logs for stock requests, complaints and supporter interactions on Salesforce.

Skills

Strong relationship building skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Strong organisational skills

Problem solving skills

Time management skills

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Location: Reading, Hybrid (at least once per a week to Reading Office)

Salary: £28,532.46 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Campaign Closes: 5th January 2026

The Public Fundraising Executive supports the whole Public Fundraising team to achieve its aims and objectives by undertaking key administrative tasks, stewarding supporters across a range of fundraising activities, and assisting with the delivery of the team’s projects, which might include managing marketing campaigns, attending events or conducting research. They are also responsible for the acquisition, engagement and retention of supporters across all our public fundraising income streams. These include individual giving (cash, regular giving, lottery, payroll giving), legacies, in‑memory, third‑party challenge events, community fundraising, owned products and events, and innovation and new product development. The Public Fundraising Team play a vital role in contributing to our organisational strategic goal of developing sustainable sources of income and have received significant long‑term investment from the Board to accelerate growth of fundraising income in this area.

To be successful in this role you will need

• Experience of delivering excellent supporter care and stewardship, or customer care and support
• Experience of managing own time effectively and able to work to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines in a fast‑paced environment
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills
• Experience of data management and proficiency in using Microsoft Office Suite
• Experience in fundraising and supporter management
• Experience in using and maintaining accurate records on a CRM system, with knowledge or experience of Salesforce especially desirable
• Experience of working in an office environment
• Knowledge of fundraising and how to maximise income generation

Skills, knowledge and behaviours required for this role

• Strong relationship building skills with the ability to build rapport
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to work with accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong time management skills with the ability to multi‑task and to prioritise and manage a varied workload
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate with a range of internal and external audiences
• A confident self‑starter with a track record of taking the initiative, working without supervision and taking responsibility for decisions
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Proven problem solving and decision‑making skills

Key Responsibilities

Supporter stewardship and engagement

• Respond to supporter queries via phone, email and post across a range of fundraising activities.
• Act as the first point of contact for inbound supporter enquiries across a range of fundraising activities, providing necessary information and support, and ensuring they are added to relevant supporter journeys and thanked appropriately.
• Steward a range of supporters and donors, including challenge event participants, mid‑value donors, in‑memory donors and legacy enquirers and pledgers.
• Engage with non‑responsive supporters across a variety of fundraising activities to attempt to re‑engage them.
• Deliver stewardship phone calls to maintain and build relationships with supporters.
• Monitor and engage with supporters in Facebook groups, or other platforms as needed.

Data management, fulfilment, process management and administration

• Process and manage event participant, fundraiser, and donor data, including data imports and CRM management.
• Process and manage data and reports for various fundraising activities, including Gambling Commission lottery returns, face‑to‑face fundraising data, and mystery shopping reports.
• Update internal spreadsheets and reports with the latest data to support accurate tracking and reporting of fundraising activities against KPIs.
• Process invoices and manage financial documentation related to fundraising activities.
• Maintain accurate logs for stock request, complaints and supporter interactions on Salesforce.
• Manage and process stock requests for supporters and the team.
• Send race packs, thank you mailings and any other supporter materials out.
• Manage the legacy administration process for Make‑A‑Wish including managing the legacy inbox, receiving legacy notifications and recording income accruals, liaising with other charities and solicitors via email, phone and post, chasing income and following up on legacy notifications where needed. Maintaining accurate records and documenting all interactions and supporting the Finance team in the annual audit for legacy income.

Supporting Public Fundraising activities, events and campaigns

• Attend race days and major fundraising events, including the London Landmarks Half Marathon, London Marathon week, and the Great North Run, to support event logistics and engage with participants. Expenses will be covered in these instances.
• Support the coordination and management of community fundraising, challenge events, and owned products and events, ensuring a seamless experience for all participants and supporters.
• Assist in delivering marketing campaigns across a variety of channels, which could include email marketing, direct mail, telemarketing and other digital channels.
• Conduct venue research for events and other related activities.
• Research and prospect smaller trusts, grants and charity‑of‑the‑year opportunities for potential applications. Support the team to write and submit applications where relevant.
• Assist with contacting prospects, leads and enquiries from a variety of platforms or research conducted to expand our supporter base.
• Undertake prospect research or market research for the team as and when required.

As a Make‑A‑Wish colleague, you will also need to

• Actively support our wishgranting through voluntary activity to support Make‑A‑Wish. We encourage all colleagues to become Wish Makers.
• Have a practical understanding of the Make‑A‑Wish values: Be Magical, Be Inclusive and Be Inspiring
• Strengthen relationships between different members of the Make‑A‑Wish community to ensure everyone works in collaborative and inclusive way.
• Attend organisational meetings, like symposiums and town halls.
• Keep yourself informed about things going on across the organisation by making use of internal communications channels, e.g. Teams, Wish Wisdom (our colleague newsletter).
• Keep yourself informed on the strategy and plans of the organisation in order to be able to fully contribute to them through your role.
• Actively listen to other people, particularly those with views that are different to your own.
• Embed the principles of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Charter within your role.
• Be open to collaboration and working across different teams to help the organisation achieve its strategic objectives.
• Be able to work independently in an agile environment, understanding that different people across the organisation have different working patterns.
• Be able to work with your colleagues and other members of Make‑A‑Wish community as one team, united in a common vision and mission, and support organisational efforts of reaching every child by, for example, answering phones when other teams are busy, supporting activities happening across the organisation, etc.
• 26 days annual leave with the option to buy/sell annual leave (pro rata for part time)
• Paid Birthday leave
• Flexible & Hybrid working arrangements
• Salary exchange pension scheme
• Pirkx subscription - Access to wellbeing support, GP appointments, training and events, retail discount platform, and much more!