Philanthropy Manager

Job Description

The Philanthropy team at War Child is sector leading with our heritage, connections, and relationships. Our friends are superbly connected and ready to use their networks to help us. With a talented, hard-working team, we deliver amazing, creative and innovative fundraising that has a huge capacity to inspire people.

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Philanthropy Manager with a passion for international development to join our growing team. Working in a fast-paced environment, you will bring deep expertise in major donor fundraising, exceptional interpersonal skills, and a strong understanding of how to identify, cultivate and steward high-value supporters to grow sustainable income.

You will play a key role in developing and managing a robust pipeline of major donors, securing significant restricted and unrestricted gifts through tailored cultivation, compelling proposals and high-quality stewardship. Working closely with colleagues across the organisation, you will help shape the future of War Child’s major donor programme and contribute to a sector-leading supporter experience.

Reporting to the Philanthropy Lead, you will lead the delivery of an effective stewardship programme, nurture long-term relationships with major donors and supporters, and help deliver a programme of high-quality events and engagement opportunities. This is an exciting opportunity to join a high-performing, values-driven team and make a meaningful contribution to War Child’s growth and impact.

• Systematically identify, qualify, and develop a pipeline for up to six figure gift opportunities for both unrestricted and restricted giving using research, prospect mapping, and data-driven insights.
• Lead the design and delivery of an excellent stewardship programme, supporting relationship managers to provide sector-leading supporter journeys through tailored communications, recognition, and engagement strategies.
• Develop and implement strong cultivation and solicitation plans for existing donors to generate significant income, including personal meetings, networking events, proposals, reports, and presentations.
• Take an active role, and lead where relevant, in planning and delivering a diverse portfolio of philanthropy events, including those hosted by high-profile individuals and Ambassadors, ensuring high-quality donor experiences.
• Support the creation and launch of new fundraising products that enhance donor engagement, retention, and stewardship.
• Contribute to strategy discussions in department, team, or working group meetings, providing insight and recommendations to improve fundraising activities.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all donor communications in Salesforce, ensuring data is properly secured and utilised to inform engagement strategies.
• Monitor income and expenditure targets, producing regular reports on performance against targets using War Child’s database.
• Participate in, and lead where relevant, cross-team working groups to provide expertise, share insights, and identify opportunities for the Philanthropy & Partnerships team.
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of War Child’s activities and programmes, acting as a brand ambassador in all interactions.
• Perform other duties as may be required by the Head of Philanthropy and Philanthropy & Partner Engagement Director
• Contribute to creating a culture committed to the safeguarding of children and adults and compliant to War Child’s Safeguarding and PSEAH (Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse & Harassment) Policies.
• We are committed to building an inclusive and equitable workplace. All staff are expected to actively contribute to this by embedding principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into their day-to-day work, decision-making, and interactions with colleagues, partners, and supporters.

• Experienced in a similar fundraising role, with specialist knowledge of major donor fundraising, including securing five-figure gifts from high-value supporters, ideally within an international development or humanitarian NGO.
• Able to work independently to develop and implement fundraising strategies with a proven track record of securing five figure gifts and delivering against income targets.
• A confident relationship manager skilled at building and maintaining strong relationships with senior stakeholders and high-value donors, both internally and externally.
• Experienced in developing and delivering effective stewardship strategies or supporter journeys that deepen engagement and retain major donors over time.
• Able to demonstrate experience of planning and delivering high-quality fundraising or cultivation events, with a clear understanding of how events engage and inspire high-value audiences.
• An excellent communicator, with strong verbal and written skills, able to present compelling cases for support, proposals, briefings and reports to a range of audiences.
• Knowledgeable about international development and able to represent War Child’s vision, mission and values with credibility and authority.
• Highly organised, with the ability to plan, prioritise and manage multiple deadlines while maintaining attention to detail.
• Up to date with fundraising regulation, compliance and GDPR, and able to apply this knowledge confidently in fundraising practice.
• Confident in using fundraising databases, ideally Salesforce, and able to use data effectively to manage prospects, track performance and inform decision-making.

Deadline: Jan 5, 2026