Internal communication manager jobs in harrogate, north yorkshire

About Free to Run

Free to Run’s mission is to advance gender equity globally through running. We are a registered nonprofit/nongovernmental organization that has been operating community-led programs for adolescent girls and young women since 2014. We are known for delivering long-term, youth-led, progressive running, leadership, rights, and health programs directly to girls and young women living in protracted conflict zones. However, the longer-term impact of our work is building enduring social change - decreasing barriers to public participation, increasing women in leadership, and making power structures more equitable and inclusive. Free to Run identifies as an organization working at the intersections of feminism, human rights, development, and humanitarian interventions.

The organization is in a position of significant growth, in terms of our strategy, reach, impact, and operating budget. In 2024, we embarked on a new three-year strategic plan that positions us to reach 50,000 people by 2026. We will meet this goal through our work across three strategic pillars: direct service (EMPOWER), capacity building for local, women-led NGOs (EQUIP), and building a global movement of activists who are passionate about gender equity and running (MOVE).

Position Overview

A new role within the organization, the Philanthropy Officer, Trusts and Foundations is responsible for identifying, building, and managing a (new) portfolio of trust, foundation, and grant funders from identification to stewardship, developing high-quality proposals, budgets, and reports. Alongside ownership of this portfolio, the Philanthropy Officer, Trusts and Foundations will support the broader Free to Run team with prospect research and assist with applications and reports for institutional/transformational funders.

This position offers a high degree of flexibility and would suit a proactive self-starter with a strong ability to self-manage to achieve goals and a demonstrated passion for the work of Free to Run.  This is a unique opportunity for an experienced trusts and foundations fundraiser to build and grow a new, high-potential portfolio from the ground up, with strong support from program and leadership teams.

While some support for larger institutional grants is part of the role, we are particularly seeking applicants with experience managing and growing portfolios of charitable trusts, private foundations, or family foundations, rather than institutional grant management alone.

This role reports to the Director of Development and Communications and is a part-time (20 hours per week), fully remote position. While Free to Run is registered in the U.S., our team is based around the world.

Core Accountabilities
 

1. Create and manage a portfolio of trust and foundation donors at the four- to five-figure level (60%)

• Take primary responsibility for developing, growing, and building strong relationships with a portfolio of trust/foundation/grant funders through the full donor cycle.

• Take an active role in meeting and exceeding annual income targets by developing strategies to maximize foundation and grant funding, regularly assessing progress, and reporting to senior management.

• Develop a formal pipeline of foundation funding opportunities for Free to Run

• Develop compelling, high-quality funding applications tailored to donor requirements, leveraging program data and impact narratives.

• Work with the Programs team to oversee budget tracking and reporting requirements for grants, ensuring accurate fund allocation, compliance with donor requirements, and timely submission of financial and impact reports.

• Collaborate with the global Free to Run team to identify and develop new funding opportunities and projects

2.  Support the process of donor qualification and prospect research (15%)

• Use research tools to support the ED and Development Team with in-depth prospect research profiles for individual major donor prospects, family foundations, and other prospective funders

3. Provide support to the Free to Run team with institutional grant applications (20%)

• Monitor grant tracking tools to identify and qualify new opportunities for institutional or transformational grants

• Keep up to date with the funder landscape and giving trends across multiple geographies 

• Support the ED and Programs with the development of grant applications, project budgets, or other related materials where needed

• Work with internal stakeholders to lead organizational grant tracking within the donor database (EveryAction), ensuring accurate documentation of all interactions, proposals, and gifts.

4.  Engage with the Free to Run Team (5%)

• Participate in weekly 1 on 1 meetings with manager

• Participate in performance planning, goal setting, and evaluation activities

• Liaise with key staff across functions of this position

• Attend team meetings and participate in strategic planning and evaluation meetings

Location

• This is a fully remote position that can be carried out from anywhere in the world. Travel may be required occasionally to attend fundraising events or organizational/donor meetings.
• For candidates outside the U.S., this role will be offered as an independent contractor position, allowing for flexible working hours and location.

Working Hours

• This position is a part-time role at 20 hours/week. The role offers a high degree of flexibility, although working hours may occasionally fluctuate outside regular core hours to attend meetings across time zones. 

Compensation

• The full-time equivalent (FTE) salary for this role is $45,000–$50,000 USD per year (approximately £35,500–£39,500 GBP based on current exchange rates). The actual salary will be pro rata based on 50% FTE, i.e., $22,500–$25,000 per year, and will be paid in USD.

Experience and Competencies

Below is what we are looking for as we evaluate applications.  Candidates don’t need to have all these experiences and competencies but should be able to display strengths across multiple areas. 

Language: 

• English (full fluency required, written and spoken)

Experience

• 3+ years of experience successfully managing a portfolio of charitable trusts, private or family foundations, or similar funders, with a proven track record of securing and stewarding gifts in the $5,000–$100,000 range

• Direct experience crafting tailored funding applications, budgets, and impact reports for US, UK, or international philanthropic funders, in collaboration with Programs teams

• Confidence in independently managing the full donor lifecycle — from prospecting and cultivation to application, reporting, and stewardship

• A demonstrable track record of developing long-term relationships with grantmakers or major donors

• Experience in prospect identification and research using relevant tools and databases

• Familiarity with the funding and donor landscape in the UK, EU, North America, and/or MENA region

• Experience using a CRM system for fundraising (EveryAction or similar) to manage donor records, track proposals, and support donor stewardship

Skills and Competencies

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to write compelling and persuasive cases for support

• Ability to effectively convey the impact of social justice, gender equity, and the power of running, hiking, and outdoor sport in driving positive change

• Ability to think creatively and spot opportunities for new or increased funding

• A results-oriented mindset with the ability to self-organize, meet deadlines, and deliver on goals

• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with people from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and generational backgrounds

• Interest in international girls’, women’s, and human rights or running/outdoor sports 

Free to Run is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We don’t just accept differences — we celebrate, support and thrive on them for the benefit of our team, our programs, and our organizational strength. We are proud to be an affirmative action employer, committed to diversity, equity and inclusion of ALL people in our hiring and employment practices. We encourage applications from people who have non-dominant identities based on race, ethnicity, migration status, ability, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, etc.

Make a Change 

Make a Change is a community-wide, early response approach to people using abusive behaviours (or who are concerned that they might be) towards a current or ex-partner. The model has been developed by Respect in partnership with Women’s Aid Federation England, drawing inspiration from their Change that Lasts approach. It includes three strands: expert support programme for perpetrators with parallel support for survivors, workforce development and community outreach.

Improving the safety, freedom and wellbeing of adult and child survivors of domestic abuse is a key outcome for our work with perpetrators.  The Make a Change model is a multi-partner project offering local areas a framework for delivering perpetrator work. Where feasible, we aim to establish partnerships with local survivor domestic abuse service to deliver parallel support for survivors (referred to as Integrated Support Service) as part the expert support strand.

This is a new and exciting role within the Make a Change team. This exciting new role offers a unique opportunity to join our team at a pivotal moment.  As the first person to fill this position, you'll play a key role in shaping its development and collaborating with the team to define its future direction.  This is a fantastic time to join us as we grow, and you'll be an integral part of establishing this important function and contributing to our collective and continued success 

We are seeking a Make a Change Development Lead to drive the development and innovation plans for the model for 2025-28. This pivotal role will focus on enhancing the three core strands of Make a Change: Expert Support, Workforce Development, and Community Outreach.

This role requires innovation, leadership and collaboration with a range of stakeholders, ensuring these strands work seamlessly together to achieve meaningful, measurable outcomes for individuals and communities.

You will need to think long-term and understand how different components of the programme fit together. Strong leadership skills are necessary to guide teams, inspire collaboration, and make decisions that will influence both the direction of the programme and its day-to-day operations. You will have a passion for innovation and continuous improvement to develop and test new strategies, tools, and methodologies, ensuring that the programme remains dynamic and responsive to changing needs.

This is an exciting opportunity within a creative and proactive team, where members are encouraged to seek out and share learning. The role focuses on continuously developing our work with perpetrators, contributing to the growing evidence base on effective behaviour change and strategies to keep survivors safe. 

We are looking to appoint an exceptional individual to join our team of six Strategic Partnership Advisors across England. In this role, you will support key partners, including Active Partnerships, National Governing Bodies of Sport, local authorities, and leisure providers to become more effective in their role of enabling more disabled people to be active.

You will possess a strong understanding of the sport and activity sector, including its operations, and be able to advocate for improvements that help more disabled people become active. Additionally, you will be aware of the broader systems and barriers that disabled people encounter in sports and activities, as well as organisations such as disabled people’s user-led organisations and various charities, to build relationships and foster effective cross-sector partnerships.

We are looking for an individual with experience of working strategically at a place based and/or locality level within the South West region. Someone who can positively influence local developments, systems and investments to tackle the inequalities disabled people face in sport and activity through inclusive practice.

The successful candidate will work remotely from home and be based in the South West region. This role will involve travel across the region and occasional travel to our Loughborough and Manchester offices.

This role is full-time (36 hours) and permanent.

We offer 26.5 days of annual leave, including birthday leave, plus bank holidays. Activity Alliance also closes between Christmas and New Year which means that employees are not expected to work during this time and they are not required to use their annual leave allowance to have this time free from work.

Activity Alliance currently offers the following benefits:

• Hybrid working
• Time off in lieu
• A contributory pension scheme (employee 6%, employer 9%)
• Childcare vouchers
• Cycle to work scheme
• Eye care
• Employee engagement initiatives such as away days
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme
• Menopause policy
• Enhanced sickness pay
• Group Income Protection
• Death in service
• Training and development opportunities