Humane Society International is one of the largest and most influential animal protection organizations in the world. Humane Society is striving for a better future for animals and people through advocacy, education, and hands-on programmes.

Our global headquarters are based in Washington, D.C., but we work on a wide variety of animal welfare issues in more than 50 countries in close cooperation with local organizations and national governments with whom we share our knowledge, expertise, and experience. We endeavour to place animals on the political agenda and to raise greater awareness of animal protection issues.

We pride ourselves on the high degree of specialist scientific and technical expertise within our organization. HSI's approach is to always strive to be part of the solution, rather than to simply protest against animal welfare problems or abuses.

Our strategy is leading to strong growth worldwide, which is why we are expanding our visibility and presence in Europe and we are looking for a Senior Manager, Major Gifts to support our expansion. The Senior Manager, Major Gifts will develop and manage Humane Society International’s institutional funding, corporate, and major donor programmes, in Europe to increase revenue for global animal protection programmes.

Primary responsibilities

This role reports directly to the Senior Fundraising Director EU/UK and is under the functional guidance of senior leaders within the Marketing and Philanthropy departments at HSI’s global headquarters in Washington DC. The job holder will have the following key responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver Major Gift (institutions, corporations, and high net worth individuals) fundraising, to generate funds for our global animal protection programmes.
• Acquire, develop, and maintain relationships with new high-value prospects, leading to ongoing financial support. Initiate, manage, and develop relationships with corporations, trusts, and foundations.
• Identify and qualify new prospects in order to meet set income targets.
• Develop and produce compelling and accurate cases for support for HSI’s campaigns and projects. Liaise with international colleagues to prepare tailored fundraising documents including grant applications and project proposals, and other supporting materials as required.
• Ensure provision of tailored updates to high value donors, including managing any specific conditions attached to grants or donations.
• Manage the major gifts consultant to ensure all work is delivered in time and to budget.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues to manage comprehensive information in donor records, ensuring compliance with all relevant data protection and privacy regulations and adhering to best practice guidelines from the Fundraising Regulator.
• Oversee institutional funding and major gift budget expenditure and income.
• Select and monitor external fundraising contractors and services to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• Continually monitor progress towards agreed revenue targets and report on progress.
• Monitor changes in the external fundraising environment to ensure HSI’s compliance with laws (including data protection) and best practice frameworks.
• Represent HSI externally to donors, potential donors, and key contacts at meetings.
• Proactively engage in opportunities to ensure continuous professional development and improvement.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Education and experience

• University degree or equivalent work experience required.
• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience in major gift fundraising, with at least three years within a high value income team required.
• Professional fundraising qualification (desirable).
• Experience producing fundraising materials which have proven compelling and effective.
• Proven experience generating significant income from high value individuals, trusts, and or corporate prospects.
• Proven experience of making successful applications to trusts/foundations and knowledge of assigned region trusts and foundations of relevance to animal protection interests (desirable).
• Experience managing relationships through CRM systems.
• Experience with accurate revenue and expenditure forecasting, and budget management.

Necessary knowledge and Skills

• Excellent organisational skills and ability to plan workload to manage fundraising programme priorities and meet agreed targets.
• Excellent communication skills, able to tailor messaging and asks (written and oral) to be persuasive to a range of potential donors.
• Knowledge and understanding of data protection regulations (including, ideally, an understanding of GDPR), Institute of Fundraising Codes of Practice, and a commitment to quality and best practice.
• Ability to interpret data to improve understanding of donor behaviours and create tailored, effective fundraising propositions and journeys.
• Able to handle sensitive information in a confidential manner.
• Excellent computer skills.
• Willing and able to travel, stay away overnight, work out of hours and at the weekend, as necessary.
• Fluent written and spoken English, another EU language desirable.
• An understanding of and commitment to animal protection issues (desirable).