Description

About Five Talents

Since we began, Five Talents has supported over 290,000 families globally to grow their incomes and provide for their families. We work in partnership with local organisations in east and central Africa to set up Savings Groups through which members can take small loans. Alongside Savings Group development, members also participate in literacy, numeracy, money management and business skills training. Consequently, members develop small businesses enabling families to send their children to school, visit the clinic when they are sick and become more resilient to crises such as drought or Coronavirus. Our role is to enable them to be ‘agents of their own change’ and equip the Groups to continue operating independently long after Five Talents’ support ends.

Five Talents has grown its income significantly over recent years despite the global and domestic challenges throughout that period, and we are determined to scale up even further. We know demand for our programmes will be higher than ever as communities seek to re-build their businesses and communities, and build resilience to drought and food insecurity.

We are the Anglican Church’s microfinance charity, founded as a Christian response to global poverty – but of course people of all faiths (and none) join our programmes.

About this role

We are looking for someone who is passionate about international development to join our small Five Talents team to help us achieve our ambitious goals, and particularly to support our Trusts Fundraising team.

We are looking for a keen and enthusiastic individual to help the team achieve ambitious growth targets in Trusts & Foundations income. We are particularly interested in applications from those who have an interest in international development and/or have some previous fundraising experience.

We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams. We are committed to conscious inclusion that helps build connection and shared purpose across the team. We believe that the more diverse we are, the better we become and we seek a range of voices and perspectives to enrich all that we do.

We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best. We are happy to discuss flexible working options for all roles.

We work to ensure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. If you would like us to make adjustments during the application process, please let us know.

There is no requirement for international travel for this post. However, it is highly recommended that all staff members visit programmes at least once every two years.

You will join us at an exciting time as we expand our programmes across eastern Africa and beyond. There will be scope for the right person to progress in the role according to their own strengths, and to grow with us. We believe our staff are our best and most important asset, and we’ll invest in developing your talents as you invest your talents in us.

Job Description

The post-holder will support the work of all the UK Team (currently 9 staff), but will predominantly work within the Trusts & Foundations Team to identify and research funding prospects; draft grant applications and reports; and maintain our fundraising pipeline and key funder relationships. In addition to this, the post-holder will support CRM and donor-care administration as well as bringing their own initiative and ideas to raise the charity’s profile.

Role Responsibilities

Fundraising: Supporting the Trusts & Foundations cycle (80%)

Working with the Director of Trusts Fundraising you will:

  • Draft high quality, persuasive applications to grant-makers.

  • Draft high quality reports for grant-makers and other donors. This will include liaising with in-country Programme Teams and the Global Programme Team to ensure accurate data is used to inform existing and potential donors.

  • Identify and research new opportunities for funding partnerships with trusts and foundations and other potential new donors / partners.

  • Build long-term relationships with new and existing trusts and foundations representatives to ensure their objectives are met.

  • Write reports for funding, including supporting the major donor team as required.

  • Creating tailored thank you/grant acknowledgement letters for the T&F Team.

  • Maintaining accurate records of T&F’s and their donations on Salesforce.

Administrative support (20%)

Working with the senior leaders, you will assist with:

  • Managing the Salesforce CRM database, logging donations and running reports when required.

  • Working with the comms team to ensure donors are thanked promptly.

  • Ensuring the smooth running of the office, including for example supporting logistics for events and overseas trips, and other tasks and projects which from time to time need action, bearing in mind the flexibility needed in a small team in a growing organisation.

Person profile

Essential and Demonstrable:

  • Research and report writing experience.

  • Strong interest in and passion for international development and social justice.

  • Sympathetic to and passionate about Five Talents’ vision, programmes and core values.

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write persuasive applications to different prospects and compelling, concise copy.

  • Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to work with and engage with people of all backgrounds, faiths and cultures, in person, on the phone and in writing.

  • Highly organised with an eye for detail, and able to self-manage and prioritise.

  • Creative flair with the initiative to generate, research, develop and deliver new ideas to support fundraising strategies.

  • Experience of working to deadlines, targets and KPIs.

  • Team player with self-awareness and flexibility.

Desirable:

  • Salesforce or similar CRM experience.

  • Relevant qualification in the field of International Development.

  • Fundraising experience.

  • The role does not require international travel, but you may be requested to assist on an overseas visit. Therefore, willingness to travel to programme countries is desirable.

Five Talents UK has six values:

  1. Empowerment: We believe in people’s ability to build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.
  2. Sustainability: We take the long view and commit to long-term, ethical and community-led initiatives.
  3. Inclusivity: We put people first; meeting people where they are, adapting to people’s needs and listening to differing voices.
  4. Courage: We are open, adaptive, and continuously learning from the communities we work with.
  5. Respect: In delivering our mission we are not acting as the heroes, but seeking to work with communities as true partners.
  6. Faith: Our faith inspires hope, informs our vision for the future and grounds our commitment to serve those communities most disadvantaged.

Terms and Conditions

This is a full-time permanent role. We have a Dynamic Working Policy – the aim of which is to support employees to create a balanced life, supporting their overall wellbeing and professional success: accepting that this will look different for different roles. Your contractual base of work will be the Five Talents office in the City of London – however your dynamic working arrangements will be informally agreed and reviewed as part of an ongoing dialogue with your line manager, allowing swift adaptability based on the needs of Five Talents, the staff team and the employee.

The role comes with a generous employer pension contribution of 10%, and 25 days of annual leave.