Trusts and Grants Fundraising Officer
INFORMATION PACK Trusts and Grants Fundraising Officer (Maternity Cover)
Job Description
Thrive’s vision is that gardening is actively encouraged as part of personal health and wellbeing management and Social & Therapeutic Horticulture (STH) services are available wherever people live.
We’re looking for a skilled and enthusiastic Trusts & Grants Fundraising Officer to join our Philanthropy Team and help bring Thrive’s mission to life. This role is all about producing compelling, high-quality funding applications and reports that help secure income to support Thrive’s work across the UK.
If you have strong writing and organisational skills, an eye for detail, and want to make a real impact within a purpose-driven organisation, we’d love to hear from you.
Broad Outline of Key Responsibilities –
Manage and steward a portfolio of existing trust and foundation donors to complete funding applications (national and regional), provide on-time reporting and ensure funders’ criteria are met.
Support Philanthropy Manager with researching and verifying trust and foundation prospects;
develop relationships as required to secure new income.
Work closely with Philanthropy Manager to ensure all data on pipeline, applications and income are updated and maintained on Beacon (Thrive’s customer relationship management system).
Work with colleagues across Thrive to maintain our cases for support for the organisation, centres and programmes and produce high quality content for funding applications and reporting.
About You
You are a highly organised and collaborative individual with strong written communication skills and excellent attention to detail. This role works across different teams within Thrive, so it is important that you are confident building positive working relationships and able to manage competing priorities effectively.
Our Values
People Focussed – We care about and respect people as individuals
Collaborative – We achieve greater things by working with others
Excellence – We hold high standards for ourselves and those we train
Ambitious - We grow, adapt and innovate
At Thrive, we care about employee wellbeing. We offer flexible working arrangements to accommodate a good work life balance, competitive leave entitlement and pension, as well as a professional and inspiring working environment.
Trusts and Grants Fundraising Officer (Maternity Cover) Job Description
Title: Trusts and Grants Fundraising Officer
Place or base of work: Remote (Hybrid working considered from National Office in Reading)
Reports to: Philanthropy Manager
Direct reports: None
Salary: £27,584 FTE – Pro-rated to £16,550.40
Hours: Part time (21 hours per week)
Contract: Fixed – 1 year (Maternity Cover)
Main Purpose of the Role
Reporting to the Philanthropy Manager, this role will support the management and growth of a portfolio of Trust & Foundation donors and prospects to increase income for Thrive.
Key responsibilities
Manage and steward a portfolio of existing trust and foundation donors to complete funding applications (national and regional), provide on-time reporting and ensure funders’ criteria are met.
Support Philanthropy Manager with researching and verifying trust and foundation prospects; develop relationships as required to secure new income.
Work closely with Philanthropy Manager to ensure all data on pipeline, applications and income are updated and maintained on Beacon (Thrive’s customer relationship management system).
Work with colleagues across Thrive to maintain our cases for support for the organisation, centres and programmes and produce high quality content for funding applications and reporting.
Represent Thrive at funder events, disseminating learning as appropriate.
Participate in team meetings, staff conference and external meetings as required.
Attend supervision and appraisal meetings, jointly setting objectives and KPIs to support the attainment of organisational targets.
One Thrive
Play an active role within Thrive, inputting to improvement projects as required.
Undertake training and skills development and keep up to date with the changing requirements of the role.
Within the boundaries of the role description, new projects and work areas may be incorporated into the role over time or as the role and needs of the organisation develop. Amendments and additions may be required in the future, in line with policy and other changes.
Person Specification
| Area | Essential | Desirable |
| Experience, Skills &Knowledge | Proven experience of trust and grant fundraising,including generating income and producingreportsCompetence in using Microsoft 365 suite of appsExperience of using CRM systems to monitor andmanage pipelineExcellent written communication skillsGood standard of numeracy and able tounderstand project budgetsGood knowledge of trust and foundation fundersStrong personal organisation and co-ordinationskills, with the ability to forward plan and payattention to detail | Understanding of charitiesand sectorKnowledge or interest ofSocial & Therapeutichorticulture/gardening forhealthStrong research skills |
| Personal qualities | Creative thinker with a keen eye for detailCollaborative and able to work effectively withdifferent teamsProactive and adaptable to changing prioritiesPassionate about Thrive's mission and valuesPassion for delivering creative and effectivecontentGood interpersonal skillsPersonal resilienceResourceful and confident in using own initiativeFlexibleEnthusiastic |
Overview of Terms of Employment & Benefits
Salary: £27,584 FTE – Pro-rated to £16,550.40
Line manager: Philanthropy Manager
Contract: 1 Year fixed term (maternity cover)
Location: This is remote-working position. There is an option to work on a hybrid basis from Thrive’s Reading centre. Owing to the rural setting and the limited availability of public transport, it is advisable that candidates have access to their own transport if this is desired. The role also requires periodic travel to our centres in Birmingham and London.
Working hours: This role is 21 hours per week, which can be flexible across Monday to Friday with usual hours between 9am-5pm.
Notice periods: the notice period will be 4 working weeks.
Holidays: annual holiday entitlement is 25 days (pro rata for part-time). In addition to annual holiday entitlement, you are entitled to all statutory holidays. Part time staff are entitled to statutory and bank holidays on a pro-rata basis on the same ratio as days worked, or if work is undertaken on those days you are entitled to time off in lieu.
Sickness absence: Full salary for the first 20 days; half salary for the next 20 days (pro rata for part time contracts); subsequent absences at nil salary (apart from any SSP entitlement) until return to work.
Pension: If you meet the criteria, you will be automatically enrolled into Thrive’s contributory pension after 2 months employment. Thrive’s contribution to the pension scheme is 4% of gross salary and you will be required to contribute a minimum of 4%.
Death in Service Benefit
Employee Assistance Programme: The EAP offers a range of services that are designed to offer you a healthy and fulfilling life. This includes access to free counselling services and several information helplines. This benefit is provided by Health Assured.
Wisdom App: Offered as part of the EAP, this health and wellbeing app provides an enhanced set of proactive wellbeing tools and engaging features, designed to improve mental and physical health by using personal metrics to set goals and measure achievements. Other discounts and benefits are also available via bright exchange on the wisdom app.
To Apply:
Please provide an up-to-date CV and a covering letter of maximum 2 pages explaining how you are a good fit for the role, can meet the criteria in the person specification and confirming that you can attend an interview and be available to start on the noted dates.
Please send this to recruitment@thrive.org.uk – the closing date is 12 noon on Monday 15 June 2026. Applications without a covering letter will not be considered.
Interviews will take place on Teams/Zoom on Tuesday 23 / Wednesday 24 June 2026, with the successful candidate expected to start in early August 2026.
To achieve our goal of engaging as many people as possible in ‘gardening for health’, we know that our employee team needs to better reflect and represent all of our communities. Therefore, we particularly welcome applicants from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, and disabled people, as these groups are currently under-represented among Thrive’s employees.
Thrive is a Disability Confident Employer and as such we are committed to the employment and career development of disabled people and will offer an interview to give you the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities at an interview, if you declare that you have a disability and meet the minimum criteria for the job.
By ‘minimum criteria’ we mean that you must provide us with evidence in your application which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of competence required for each competency as well as meeting any of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential.
Successful appointment to this post will be subject to satisfactory references and Disclosure & Barring Service checks. Thrive complies fully with the DBS Code of Practice. Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an individual from working for Thrive.
Charity No. 277570
Company No: 1415700