Fundraiser

Location: Hybrid – your time will be split between our office/venue on Bristol Harbourside, and your home or wherever you like to work.  

We’re happy to support flexible working – both through hybrid working and your working pattern. You just need to be able to attend key meetings, have some crossover with the rest of the Development team and deliver the responsibilities of the role.  

Department: Development 

Report to: Development Manager 

Responsible for: N/A 

Salary: £26,000 - £29,000 per annum pro rata (£15,600 - £17,400 per annum) 

Contract: 18 months fixed-term contract 

Working hours: Part-time, 22.5 hours a week (0.6 FTE), flexible over 3, 4 or 5 days. Occasional working outside of normal hours, including travel, may be required.  

About the role 

We The Curious is about to enter an exciting new phase in its mission to connect and empower everyone through shared creative science learning experiences. It is now a year since we reopened and there is plenty to celebrate in our 25th Anniversary Year. We have exciting projects which range from community and educational outreach through to preparing for some major capital projects for which we must develop and cultivate support. 

The Development Team is responsible for fundraising across the whole organisation and the stewardship and development of our donors and supporters. The other members of the team are the Development Team Manager, Development Manager, Trusts and Foundations Manager and the Development Team Account Manager. We are looking for a Fundraiser to join the team, to help us maximise and unlock some very exciting opportunities. 

The Fundraiser will primarily focus on engaging businesses and Trusts & Foundations.  You will use your skills in research to identify funding opportunities, build relationships and write and submit proposals.  

You will need to be organised and enjoy working flexibly to support multiple projects. You will enjoy building relationships both internally and externally, networking and have strong verbal and written communication skills. 

What will you do in this role? 

Role specific responsibilities 

Cultivating Support: 

_Research new funding opportunities, including companies, trusts and foundations, and statutory/government funders. 

_Prepare and adapt funding proposals which meet deadlines and specific application criteria. 

_Work closely with internal departmental teams to ensure funding proposals accurately reflect their projects intended objectives. 

_Cultivate potential funders, including managing on-site visits and events, phone calls and delivering presentations to secure support. 

Stewardship and administration: 

_Work with project teams and Account Manager to develop a plan for any new donor to ensure they are appropriately managed, recognised for their support and reporting and evaluation requirements from the outset.  

_Support the migration of Development Team records into our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database, Tessitura, keeping information up to date and easy to find.  

_Occasionally support the Development Team to organise and attend events during and outside normal working hours to support the cultivation and stewardship of donors and supporters.  

Team Support: 

_Develop and maintain your knowledge of planned activities at We The Curious, across all departments, to present our work persuasively to finders and partners. 

_Contribute to the Development Team annual strategies and business planning. 

General responsibilities 

_Embody and demonstrate our values; Collaborative, Creative, Inquisitive, Playful, Progressive.  

_Safeguarding - Responsible for carefully following safeguarding policies and procedures and raising any concerns to your manager or the Designated Safeguarding Officer. 

_Fundraising - Promote charity messaging wherever possible, with support from the Development and Marketing teams. 

_General responsibility for departmental compliance with GDPR. 

_Occasional out of hours work and travel to events. 

What we’re looking for from you 

You do not need to have experience of being a fundraiser to do this role. Our experienced team are happy to develop an enthusiastic and proactive individual who can demonstrate they have transferable communication, written and research skills.  

Essential 

_We are looking for a professional, confident and enthusiastic communicator who enjoys talking on the phone, face to face and in meetings.  

_Confident with Microsoft packages such as Word, Excel and Power Point 

_Strong written skills, both in preparing and adapting documents 

_Good organisational skills so that you can multi-task between several projects at once. 

_You need to be invested in learning more about charity fundraising, however you do not necessarily need to have worked for a charity or culture/heritage organisation before.  

Desirable 

_Some experience of working with income budgets, audited accounts and internal financial reports. 

_Experience of working with CRM databases. 

_A demonstrable interest and commitment to the work we do, within the Development Team but also more generally as a charity, to make science learning more inclusive. 

Application process 

Deadline for applications: Friday 25th April at midnight. 

Interview date and location: Tuesday 13th May 2025 at We The Curious. 

Start date: Approximately 9th June 2025. 

Application process:  

If you would like to apply, please complete the application form. It contains questions designed to assess your interest in and suitability for the role.  

Please don't send in CVs or cover letters as we don't review them.  

We appreciate interviews can be stressful, so we try to make them more of a conversation and a chance for you to tell us about how your skills and interests make you the right person for the role.  

If you are invited for an interview, we'll send you the questions that you'll be asked beforehand so that you have time to prepare.  

If you have any particular needs or requirements, please do let us know so that we can make the required adjustments.  

Support during the process 

We The Curious is a Disability Confident Employer and we welcome applications from candidates who self-assess themselves as having a disability. We will guarantee an interview to applicants who advise that they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy. To help you, under the Equality Act 2010 a person is defined as having a disability if a) they have a physical or mental impairment, and b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. 

We want to work with you to ensure the recruitment process is accessible for you. 

If you are disabled, neurodivergent, or if you have a long-term health condition, we’ll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to our processes for you. 

You’ll have the opportunity to let us know about any adjustments you may need throughout the application and selection process. We’ll continue this conversation if you join us as a staff member, and we’ll work with you to make sure you have the adjustments you need to succeed in your role. 

Examples of adjustments could include: 
_providing alternative formats at every stage 
_options to apply  
_extra time for tasks 
_providing some extra information about what to expect 
_office orientation before an in-person interview. 

Including everyone  

We value the positive impact greater representation will have on our organisation, programmes and culture. It’s our goal to become an inclusive place to work and for our teams to better reflect our city and the people who visit us.  

We welcome applications from people of all lived experiences and particularly those that are not well represented* in the science centre sector.  

*By not well represented we mean people with lived experience including but not limited to:​ 
_African and African-Caribbean heritage 
_South Asian and East Asian heritage  
_Global Majority  
_Disabled 
_Neurodivergent  
_Visually Impaired  
_Deaf community 
_LGBTQIA+ and/or non-binary    
_Working class background 
_Didn’t go to university or first in your immediate family to attend University 

Working with us 

We value the people that work with us. Our staff have access to the following: 

Wellbeing & support 

_Flexible working 

_Hybrid working (if suitable and stated for role) 

_Cycle to work scheme 

_Free yearly flu jabs and eye tests 

_Paid sick leave for physical and mental health 

_Mental Health First Aiders 

_Confidential advice & counselling through the Employee Support Programme 

Leave 

_25 days holiday in addition to bank holidays (all pro-rata). 

_A day of extra holiday for every 5 years’ service. 

_An amount of paid leave for emergency dependent care, domestic emergency leave and compassionate leave. 

New Parent Policy 

We are proud to be a family friendly organisation, which is why we work to develop our people practices in line with that value. We have recently introduced a none gendered approach to Maternity and Paternity, re-branded as  our “New Parent Policy”. There are eligibility criteria and terms and conditions but the key take away is that anyone who is due to become a new parent, regardless of their gender, can take 1 year off work, and we’ll pay your full salary for the first 5 months. 

Facilities & discounts 

_Free tickets to the venue for you and up to four guests, plus 12 additional entry tickets per calendar year to give away. 

_15% off in the We The Curious café  

_20% off in our shop 

_Range of discounts with local businesses and free entry to other local attractions. 

_Social events 

_Secure cycle storage 

Pension 

_We offer a pension scheme with 5% company contributions. 

Death in service benefit 

_Four times your annual salary.