Grants Manager (Trusts & Foundations)

Throughout our existence we have depended upon philanthropy to fulfil our mission to nurture and educate the world's brightest young string players and pianists. The role of Grants Manager plays a key role in building sustainable income through multi-year and one-off grants and funding partnerships. Reporting to the Head of Fundraising the Grants Manager will own the full grant life cycle and create imaginative and compelling cases for support, contributing to the long term financial sustainability of the School.

Key Duties and Responsibilities 

To support the achievement of the Yehudi Menuhin School’s strategic goals by securing grants from trusts and foundations and statutory sources, meeting agreed financial targets. The successful candidate will be an experienced and proactive grants fundraiser, able to balance creativity and tenacity with a methodical, process-driven approach. The Grants Manager will report to the Head of Fundraising and sit within the wider Development Directorate.

Fundraising 

• Responsible for a portfolio of trusts, foundations and statutory funders - including proactive identification, stewardship, relationship management and comprehensive impact reporting.
• Carry out prospect research, identify suitable prospects, analyse their giving potential and funding priorities and fulfil due diligence requirements.
• Write compelling funding proposals to support the School’s future plans.
• Implement effective systems for monitoring and tracking progress and success rates. 

Donor Stewardship and Development 

• Manage the Yehudi Menuhin School’s relationships with a portfolio of existing Trusts and Foundations, whose grants range from 4 to 6 figures.
• Create and regularly review tailored development plans for each allocated trust, identifying and analysing key information to inform actions aimed at maintaining or increasing these trusts’ support.
• Ensure invitations are issued to appropriate YMS events and accompany invitees to event. 

Financial monitoring 

• Monitor restricted spend alongside colleagues in the finance team and project leaders, to ensure all trust and foundation funds are spent in accordance with the terms of the grant
• Lead on preparation of robust project budgets in collaboration with relevant YMS colleagues.

Proposal Writing and Case for Support Development 

• Identify fundable elements of YMS’s work and create cases for support for funding proposals.
• Liaise with colleagues on the development of new projects, and secure trust and foundation funders for proposed new work. 

Planning and Reporting 

• Develop and monitor income and activity plans for donors and projects.
• Maintain accurate and complete records of donor details and communications on YMS’ fundraising database (currently Spektrix).
• Contribute to annual target and budget setting.
• Provide timely and accurate reports for the Head of Fundraising and Director of Development. 

General Responsibilities 

• Understand and support the mission and strategic aims of the Yehudi Menuhin School.
• Contribute to the development of the fundraising strategy for the Yehudi Menuhin School.
• Be aware of and abide by all Yehudi Menuhin School policies and procedures.
• Take appropriate responsibility for records held, created, or used as part of your work for the Yehudi Menuhin School (paper-based and electronic) as per the Data Protection Act 2018 and other relevant legislation and regulations, including GDPR and PECR.
• Undertake other duties as may be reasonably requested of your post.
• Adhere to fundraising compliance and best practice.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria 

• Demonstrable experience of trusts and foundations fundraising with a track record of securing grants (four-to-six figure) and meeting income targets.
• Experience of prospect research, funding assessment and due diligence.
• Excellent written communication skills, including persuasive proposals, cases for support and funder reports.
• Strong relationship-building skills across funders, senior stakeholders and internal teams.
• Experience of managing income plans, deadlines and a strong funding pipeline.
• Strong IT and financial acumen, including CRM and restricted grant monitoring.
• A proactive, methodical and collaborative approach, with excellent attention to detail.
• Knowledge of fundraising regulation, data protection and best practice.
• Commitment to The Yehudi Menuhin School’s mission and strategic aims.

Desirable Criteria 

• Experience of trusts and foundations fundraising in the arts, music, education, independent schools or another mission-led organisation.
• Experience of securing statutory funding and/or grants for major campaigns, capital projects or new programmes.
• Experience of contributing to annual target and budget setting.
• Experience of using Spektrix or a comparable fundraising CRM system.
• Experience of donor cultivation and stewardship through events.
• Knowledge and appreciation of classical music and music education.

The School is registered with the DBS and successful applicants will be required to complete successfully the Disclosure Procedure at Enhanced level.  It is an offence for a person barred from working with children to apply for this post.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.

Our full Safeguarding/Child Protection Policy can be found here.

The Yehudi Menuhin School is an Equal Opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

For full details about the role, please download the candidate pack.

If you would like to apply for the role, please contact Heather Burgess, Principal Consultant at Ashby Jenkins: heather@ashbyjenkinsrecruitment.co.uk / tel 020 3006 2787.

The deadline for applications is Monday 12 October at 12 noon. We reserve the right to appoint sooner and encourage early applications.