About The Role
A Rocha UK is a unique Christian nature conservation charity, mobilising Christians and churches to care for the natural world. We are a member of the Worldwide A Rocha Family, a federation of Christian conservation charities, and we have sister organisations in 23 other countries. A Rocha UK has a staff of 25 and many volunteers. We run nature conservation activities on our own reserves, advise a national network of conservation partners, inspire Christians to protect nature and act on climate change through our Wild Christian scheme, and run the popular Eco Church scheme for local churches. Our office is close to overground and tube stations, with its own secure cycle and parking facilities.
A Rocha UK is engaged with a large Christian constituency (Nearly 23,000 individuals on its e-mail lists, over 9000 churches registered for Eco Church across 25 denominations, over 60 Partners in Action, ranging from Christian conference centres through to community farms, and over 8000 individuals in Wild Christian – for individuals and households looking to live more sustainably).
This role is focused on growing Individual and Church giving from this constituency. There is work to do on developing engaging supporter journeys and fundraising appeals. There is also opportunity to develop fundraising propositions and take creative approaches to growing new donors. As well as the opportunity to be involved in developing our Wild Christian programme.
Early focus of this role will be taking over management of Big Give matched fund appeals, donor development and retention and developing church mission partner packages, with later focus on mid-level donors and events strategies. A Rocha UK is small enough that the role will work closely with most other teams, including the Senior Management Team. The work will fit within a wider fundraising strategy with focus on major gifts, grants and legacies. The role will also work with our digital agency and copywriters.
Supporter Journeys: Developing journeys for Individuals and reviewing the existing journeys for Churches. Outcome: More “love” for A Rocha which will prepare the ground for giving
asks.
● Appeal writing and giving asks: Lead on appeals (including Big Give matched giving appeals) and develop the Eco Church Award Donation asks. Outcome: Increased response rates.
Increased average gifts. Improved return on investment.
● New Regular givers: Lead on growing the number of new regular givers from within A Rocha UK’s constituencies. Outcome: More regular givers at a lower cost of acquisition than the
charity norm.
● Proposition development: There are two areas for development: Regular giving and Church mission partnerships. Outcome: Growing numbers of regular givers and mission partners at a
lower cost of acquisition than the charity norm.
● Budgeting, monitoring and evaluation: Setting budgets in collaboration with the Head of Engagement. Monitoring lead indicators (e.g. supporter surveys) and financial results.
Outcome: Effective use of resources.
Essential skills and experience:
● Experience of delivering direct marketing fundraising appeals (including digital) with good attention to detail.
● Experience of delivering supporter journeys (thanking – reporting back – asking).
● Experience of proposition development.
● Experience of monitoring results and understanding the key drivers of financial return.
● Experience of using CRM systems (A Rocha UK uses Donorfy).
● Experience of creativity in fundraising approaches.
● IT proficiency in standard office packages (A Rocha UK primarily uses the Google suite, and Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
● Strong written and verbal communication.
● Project management skills, including stakeholder management.
Essential qualifications and attributes:
● Ability to work to deadlines whilst juggling competing demands.
● Proactive and outcomes focused, with the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a collaborative team.
● Keen to learn and quick to absorb new ideas.
● Higher Education qualification or equivalent experience.
● A practising Christian: A Rocha is a non-denominational Christian charity with a deep commitment to our faith, community and cross-cultural collaboration. This requires all staff to
participate fully in the spiritual life of the organisation, including regular collective prayer and reflection, annual staff residential retreat etc.
Desirable qualifications, attributes, skills and experience:
● Educated to degree level.
● A fundraising qualification.
● Experience of budget management.
● Experience in church fundraising and understanding of different church traditions.
● Experience of fundraising acquisition campaigns.
● Knowledge of the conservation field.
● Knowledge of wider environmental issues, e.g. climate change, sustainable living.
Equal Opportunities
The Diocese of London is committed to creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce which represents our context and wider community. We are aware that those of Global Majority Heritage/United Kingdom Minority Ethnic (GMH/UKME) and disabled people are currently under-represented among our clergy and workforce, and we particularly encourage applications from those with the relevant skills and experience that will increase this representation.