We are seeking a dynamic fundraiser to join our ambitious and supportive team as our Head of Philanthropy.
Northern Ballet is at an exciting point in our organisational journey and you will inherit a successful philanthropy programme, with a broad, engaged and growing portfolio of donors, which receives effective and valuable support from our Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees.
As Head of Philanthropy, you will be an experienced manager and fundraiser, confident in securing and stewarding donors. You will devise and implement a comprehensive strategy to build income from individuals across our full suite of giving schemes. You will personally scope, secure and steward new major gifts from individuals, support your line report and manage your own portfolio of current and prospective donors.
This role is integral to our plans to grow both income and the impact of fundraising. If you're passionate about joining a friendly, creative and dynamic working environment where everyone contributes to our success, then we'd love to hear from you.
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Key Responsibilities
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- Develop and implement a philanthropy strategy across all levels of individual giving, to support future growth targets and deliver budgeted annual income targets.
- Be responsible for the growth, development and management of the Benefactor programme.
- Research, build and steward a pipeline of high-value prospects and to drive new activity to secure four to six figure gifts.
- Personally manage a portfolio of key relationships, developing robust supporter engagement plans to maximise opportunities for support. Meet with and cultivate new prospects and establish long-term, respectful, tailored relationships.
- Manage and support the Philanthropy Executive in stewarding donor relationships, supporting the post holder’s ongoing development and working together to grow lower level giving as part of the overall individual giving strategy.
- Support and work in partnership with the Philanthropy Executive to plan and deliver the annual appeal.
- Work closely with the Events & Partnership Executive to create and deliver bespoke events to grow engagement with the Company and generate additional income.
- Work with the Events & Partnership Executive and Director of Development, to support the sponsorship programme, overseeing relationships with corporate sponsors to ensure that activities meet the needs of the client and maximise the potential for future giving.
- Work with the Director of Development to grow and promote legacy giving to the organisation.
- Work with teams across the organisation to develop opportunities for support, to foster open information sharing and ensure donor opportunities, acknowledgments and experiences are delivered.
- Monitor fundraising performance and budgets and provide timely reports and analysis to the Director of Development.
- Ensure income is tracked and progressed through phased budgets, prospect pipelines and moves management processes, supported by the CRM database.
- Contribute to the overall fundraising success of the Development Team, supporting opportunities for collaboration and championing a supportive, high-performing culture.
- Ensure that all activities comply with current GDPR legislation, codes of practice and ethical guidelines.
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Additional criteria
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- The role requires the post holder to work some evenings both in Leeds and in touring venues across the UK.
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Key deliverables
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By the end of the first year the successful candidate will have:
- Received an induction, training and development programme including opportunities to engage with the backstage, technical and artistic areas of the organisation
- Have become a highly valued and trusted member of the Development team, with a confident understanding of the Company, it’s work and donor base
- Drafted and made significant inroads in delivering an individual giving strategy for the Company
- Effectively stewarded and grown a portfolio of major donors, with whom you will have developed strong relationships
- Researched and cultivated new leads and have developed supporter engagement plans for existing supporters
- Have developed an effective and supportive working relationship with your direct line report
- Worked in collaboration with colleagues to grow the pipeline of new prospects and developed compelling projects and opportunities attractive to donors
- Worked to agreed KPI’s, targets and reporting schedules
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What we’re looking for
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- Experience building and stewarding strong relationships with supporters, with demonstrable success in working to targets and securing significant gifts
- A warm, engaging and tactful communication style, comfortable interacting with supporters, Trustees and colleagues
- A self-motivated and tenacious fundraiser
- A strategic thinker, skilled in written and verbal communication
- Experience in using fundraising CRM software, ideally Spektrix
- Highly organised and able to effectively manage competing priorities, with excellent attention to detail
- A collaborative style of working, with experience of supporting and motivating staff and working to a shared goal
- A willingness to work out of regular hours and to travel
- Enthusiasm for and commitment to Northern Ballet’s work and values
Other Details
- Salary: £40,000 per annum plus excellent benefits
- Hours: 35 hours per week
- Closing date for applications: 4 July 2025, 17.00pm
- Interviews will take place week commencing 14 July 2025
How to Apply
Please send your CV and a covering letter to recruitment@northernballet.com
We also ask applicants to complete our equal opportunities monitoring form.
We wish you luck with your application and very much hope that you’ll want to join our friendly and dynamic team. If you would like an informal conversation about the role please contact Lynne Farnell, Director of Development at lynne.farnell@northernballet.com.
Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Northern Ballet strives to understand, respect and champion diversity in all its forms. We believe in embracing diversity within our workforce, repertoire and practices and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences.
Please contact us to talk through any access requirements you may need at any stage of the recruitment process so that we can ensure reasonable adjustments are in place. Adjustments could include providing documentation in alternative formats (large print, braille, or audio), adapting the interview environment, or allowing additional time for responses.
About Northern Ballet
Northern Ballet is the UK's foremost narrative ballet company. We tell unexpected stories that move our audiences across the country and online. We aim to reach as many different people and places as possible with our passionate storytelling, mastery of classical dance technique and live music.
We believe in the power to change lives through dance and are committed to engaging with people from all different sectors of the community. We have an absolute commitment to our leading role as an international ambassador for world-class dance, often showcasing our exceptional home-grown artistry on the world-stage.
Our Priorities
Creating Stories that connect
We create stories that connect with people and invite a range of diverse voices to bring fresh perspectives to stories old and new
Develop new voices & artists
We build inclusive pathways for the next generation of creative voices to learn, develop and flourish through our Academy, Learning programme and the work we commission on our stages
Sharing the joy of dance with everyone
Through an open access and Inclusive Dance programme for people of all ages and abilities we create opportunity for people to experience the physical and emotional impact of dance. We believe dancing improves people’s health and wellbeing, as well as bringing joy and we want to share that joy!
Header image from The Great Gatsby with dancer Joseph Taylor and Dominique Larose taken by Emily Nuttall