Head of Major Donor Fundraising (MDF)

What will you be doing?

Key Responsibilities

• Create, manage, develop, nurture and lead a Major Donor Fundraising (MDF) team.
• Create an MDF strategy, including targets and outcomes.
• Seek new donor prospects, researching donor capacity and cultivating warm prospects.
• Develop strategies for cultivating donors.
• Tell compelling stories of EVC's impact in Uganda.
• Cultivate relationships with high net worth individuals, leading them to donate five-figure-plus amounts.
• Gain introductions to high net worth individuals by finding and opening up networks.
• Identify and engage with cold prospects.
• Lead on marketing and identify our donor audience.
• Create compelling cases for support and outstanding funding proposals.
• Coordinate and manage fundraising approaches to major donors.
• Assess donors' values and what they want to achieve through their philanthropy.
• Listen carefully to donors' needs and guide them.
• Manage complex supporter relationships, meeting their needs and coordinating with colleagues.
• Manage donor stewardship.
• Constantly improve communication with donors and the quality of their experience of EVC.
• Work effectively with Trustees and other key volunteers, advising them on their fundraising activity.

What are we looking for?

Person Specification

• Must be a strong Christian.
• Experience of leading a successful MDF team.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to build long-term relationships with donors, potential donors, Trustees and key volunteers, maximising their potential.
• Proven ability to ask for and secure large gifts of five figures and above.
• Proven experience of managing the full donor cycle from first donation to legacies.
• Able to listen carefully to donors' needs, hopes and values.
• Able to put in place, manage and develop a Major Donor Database.
• Understanding that MDF is a process and not a sales pitch.
• Patient and committed to the long game.
• Qualities of perseverance, determination and persistence, with the ability to deal positively with setbacks.
• Proven ability to inspire trust and integrity.
• A proven team member and leader.
• A mindset that sees problems as opportunities for learning and development.
• A can-do attitude.
• Good IT skills.
• Ability to use AI tools would be useful, but not essential.

What difference will you make?

Major Donor Fundraising has the potential to be truly transformational for EVC Uganda. A single five-figure gift can fund a classroom block, a dormitory, a nursery or a water borehole - facilities that change the lives of hundreds of desperately poor children for generations to come.

At present we raise the majority of our income through child sponsorships and church appeals, both of which are well established and highly successful. However, to achieve our five-year vision - completing our school campus at St Matia Mulumba, establishing our own offices and accommodation in Uganda, and placing ever more children into education - we need to develop new and significant income streams. Major Donor Fundraising is central to that ambition.

As our volunteer Head of Major Donor Fundraising, you will build this programme from the ground up, creating a strategy, assembling a team and opening doors to donors who have both the capacity and the desire to make a lasting difference. You will work alongside a committed and experienced Board of Trustees and a highly effective staff team on the ground in Uganda, who will provide you with the stories, evidence and impact data to make a compelling case for support.

The children we serve have no safety net. Many go to bed hungry. Their families have no running water or electricity. Education is their only real hope, and your work will directly determine how many children we are able to support. Every major gift you secure brings more children out of poverty and closer to a future they could not otherwise have imagined.

This is a rare opportunity to use your skills and experience for a cause that genuinely matters, within a charity that is trusted, transparent and utterly committed to the children it serves. Your contribution will not just help EVC grow - it will help transform young lives in Uganda for years to come.

Before you apply

Please apply via the Reach website and we will be in touch promptly to acknowledge your application.

Your application

Please ensure your CV is up to date and clearly sets out your relevant major donor fundraising experience, including teams led and gifts secured. A LinkedIn profile link is also welcome.

The process

Following a review of your application, we will arrange an initial informal conversation with our Chairman, Ted Fawcett. If both parties wish to proceed, you will be invited to a formal interview conducted by two Trustees, by arrangement and at a mutually convenient time. If offered the role, two independent professional references will be required.

Get in touch

Further information about our work can be found at www.evcuganda.org.

EVC Uganda, Chapel Corner, 1 Church Road, Willington, Bedfordshire MK44 3QD. Registered Charity Number 1158189.