Philanthropy Assistant - Legacies & Trust

Job Purpose

Provide administrative, events and communications support to assist in the delivery of legacy and trust fundraising including the management of legacy gifts and the management of relationships with donors families, executors and legacy pledgers.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Secure and schedule appointments with legacy pledgers, prospective pledgers, Trustees and Trust Administrators for all members of the Legacies and Trust teams. Draft meeting plans where necessary, book and arrange travel, and prepare and compile briefing packs with meeting locations, directions etc. Use own judgment to resolve any problems because of last-minute changes to appointments and travel arrangements. This will involve dealing with influential people external to the University including prospective and existing donors.

2. Use Raiser s Edge to maintain accurate records and manage data relating to legacy pledgers and donors and their gifts, ensuring that all information is up-to-date and correct. Make judgements on the best way to reflect meetings and relevant information on the database, ensuring a complete record of the relationship with the University is maintained and that privacy regulations are complied with. Use expertise to suggest improvements to procedures.

3. Assist in the process of identifying and managing segments of the alumni/donor database from which potential legacy pledgers could be drawn. Interrogate databases and spreadsheets to support stewardship, events and fundraising and run legacy activity reports in liaison with Planning & Development Operations staff to monitor progress.

4. Maintain an action timeline to ensure all legacy administration and stewardship activity is completed efficiently and ensure legacy fundraisers maintain efficient contact and follow up, managing up where required to ensure actions are completed.

5. Work with gift management staff to ensure legacy gifts are correctly allocated to the appropriate fund.

6. Co-ordinate arrangements for events for the 1451 Society of legacy pledgers, including drafting invitations, liaising with guests and venues, compiling materials such as information packs, presentations, signage and badges. Ensure the correct people receive the correct invitation and that an accurate picture of invitations and attendees is maintained and recorded on Raiser s Edge database.

7. Support the delivery of selected follow up actions for legacy pledgers or prospective pledgers, for example co-ordinating campus visits involving academic departments and the University s Senior Management Team, liaising across the University and with donors to compile schedules.

8. Support the communication strategy for legacy fundraising and stewardship by writing and editing communication materials, sourcing quotes and content and liaising with bequest pledgers and executors. With guidance, draft, upload and ensure the maintenance of content for the University s web pages on legacy giving in liaison with Development & Alumni and Marketing colleagues. (CMS T4, training will be given).

9. Act as liaison with the Regular Giving Team and Digital team to provide legacy information to support mass mailings, telephone fundraising and legacy communications on social media.

10. Act as first point of contact for enquiries related to legacies and, when appropriate, act in the place of the Legacy Gift Manager / Philanthropy Officer - Legacies when they are absent or unavailable by responding to queries in a timely and efficient manner to maintain the smooth running of the operations.

11. Provide the Strategic Philanthropy Manager (Legacies and Trusts), Trusts and Foundations Manager and Philanthropy Officer-Trusts with administrative support as and when required to maximise income from Trusts and Foundations. This may include producing gift acknowledgements, proof reading of applications, formatting of applications, coordinating information and assisting in the submission of applications to Trusts and Foundations as and when appropriate .

12. Keep general administrative procedures up to date, including drafting correspondence, opening mail, photocopying and filing as well as arranging catering and supporting visits with donors.

13. Act as a purchasing officer as required.

14. Participate fully as a member of the Development & Alumni and External Relations teams, ensuring strong links and good working relationships.

15. Be prepared to undertake projects appropriate to the grade of the role but that might fall outside its direct remit of as the line manager, Director and/or Vice Principal External Relations may advise. This will include providing administrative support in other areas of the Development and Alumni team and External Relations directorate from time to time.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge/Qualifications

Essential:

A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this post (as below) having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a similar role. OR

Scottish Credit and Qualification Level 5 or 6 (National 5 or 6, Scottish Vocational Qualification Level 2 or 3) or equivalent and experience of personal development in a similar role.

A2 Detailed knowledge across the Microsoft Office Suite (principally Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel)

A3 Understanding of the objectives of a Development & Alumni operation and how this role can support them.

A4 Understanding of legacy fundraising

A5 Understanding of the role of relationship management databases and how they support donor and alumni relationship development and fundraising.

A6 Good knowledge of updating and interrogating data.

A7 Understanding of data protection regulatory requirements and how they affect fundraising and alumni engagement.

Desirable:

B1 Knowledge of fundraising in the higher education sector

Skills

Essential:

C1 Excellent written and verbal communication skills including the ability to present information clearly and concisely and to persuade others

C2 Resilient in the face of challenge, using initiative and judgement to resolve problems independently.

C3 Excellent time management abilities with demonstrable planning, organising and prioritising skills and the ability to schedule work weeks ahead and respond to changing pressures and requirements.

C4 Exceptional attention to detail

C5 Confident self-starter with ability work to tight deadlines with minimum supervision whilst also working effectively as part of a team and building effective working relationships

C6 Tact and sensitivity to deal with confidential information and bereaved family members.

C7 Strong commitment to customer service.

C8 IT skills with the ability to update and manipulate data.

Desirable:

D1 Ability to create and maintain webpages

Experience

Essential:

E1 Experience in an administrative role in a customer-facing environment

E2 Experience of interrogating a complex relationship management database such as the Raiser s Edge to deliver events and communications and manage supporter/customer relationships.

E3 Experience of event management and administration

E4 Experience of working in an office team environment

Desirable:

F1 Experience of fundraising or alumni relations

F2 Experience of outbound telephone fundraising or sales

F3 Experience of writing or editing communications

F4 Experience of the Agresso purchasing system

F5 Experience of HTML and Google Analytics

F6 Experience of Raiser s Edge