Fundraising & Income Generation Lead

What will you be doing?

We are a small but passionate team of just two directors running a thriving community music school with over 200 students. Our work transforms lives — from supporting children and young people from low-income families, to providing inclusive lessons for students with such as and , helping older adults (65+) combat social isolation, and delivering projects like our mentoring scheme and summer work experience programme.

Our ambition is huge — but our time and administrative capacity are limited. To grow our reach and sustain our impact, we need expert support to develop and implement a clear fundraising and income generation strategy.

What You’ll Do

• Work closely with our leadership team to understand our mission, programmes and funding needs
• Create a practical income generation strategy that aligns with our objectives and capacity
• Research, identify and write bids and grant applications to secure funding

Key Deliverables

• A written funding and income generation strategy
• A pipeline of identified funding opportunities relevant to our work
• Guidance or templates to help our team maintain funding efforts going forward

Why This Matters

Your support will help us build long-term sustainability, reach more students, and ensure that no one is excluded from music education due to background, income or ability.

With your help, we can turn our exciting project ideas into reality — and bring the power of music to even more people in our community.

What are we looking for?

As a small, passionate team, so we’re looking for someone who can bring expertise and also enjoys being hands-on in a collaborative environment. Ideally, you will have:

• Experience in fundraising, bid writing or grant applications — able to identify opportunities and craft compelling proposals
• Strategic thinking skills — able to create a practical and inventive funding strategy aligned to our goals and capacity
• Understanding of (or empathy with) our purpose — making music education accessible for students from low-income families, students with such as and , and older adults facing isolation
• Ability to work independently — confident taking initiative and driving projects forward

Our ideal candidate will be happy to “roll up your sleeves” and get stuck in!

Desirable (but not essential):

• Knowledge of the charity or education sector
• Understanding of monitoring and reporting requirements for grants
• Experience helping small organisations grow sustainably

What difference will you make?

Your work will directly transform the future of our music school and the people we support.

By developing and implementing a funding strategy, you will give us the resources to reach more people, run more community projects, and provide life-changing opportunities for those who are often excluded from music education — including children from low-income families, students with Special Educational Needs such as Autism and ADHD, disabled students, and older adults aged 65+ who attend our classes to combat loneliness and support their mental wellbeing.

With sustainable funding in place, we can:

• Offer more subsidised places to low-income families
• Expand our dedicated SEN and disability support
• Grow our over-65s programme to reach more isolated older adults
• Provide more work experience placements and performance opportunities for young people
• Strengthen our role as a safe, inclusive space where people can build confidence, make friends, and discover their potential through music

Your expertise will ensure we are not just surviving — but thriving, able to grow, and recognised for the positive impact we bring to our whole community.

Additional information

You can download the following documents: