Community Fundraising Officer
The closing date is 01 December 2025
South Central Ambulance Charity is looking to recruit a proactive, experienced and dynamic Community Fundraising Officer for Hampshire. This is a 12‑month maternity cover post.
This role is focused on creating opportunities to fundraise within our local communities and to raise money through community engagement and third party fundraising. The postholder will be expected to spend time out in the local community.
With just seven NHS ambulance charities across the UK this is a rare opportunity to be part of a developing ambulance charity. We are the charitable arm of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. This is a regional role covering the Hampshire area of SCAS.
The role of Community Fundraising Officer is an important link between the NHS charity, the communities we support and our large cohort of over 750 volunteers. The Community Fundraising Officer for the Charity will be expected to actively support the current strategy to raise funds for the Charity's key objectives and to support our communications plan both internally and externally.
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Vanessa Casey - Charity CEO on 07766 800168; vanessa.casey@sca-charity.org.uk or Sarah Callaghan - Volunteer Manager on 07966 558040; sarah.callaghan@sca-charity.org.uk.
We will close the advert as soon as we reach the required number of applications - so don't delay apply now!
Main duties of the job
The Charity is ambitious to grow the support it can give SCAS in funding projects, equipment and programmes that are not funded by the NHS. The role of Community Fundraising Officer is key to us achieving this by raising unrestricted funds through an engaging community fundraising programme.
We are looking for someone who:
* Has experience in a Community Fundraising or other income generation role.
* Enjoys working as part of a small team and able to achieve new income for the charity.
* Is interested in inspiring people in our area to fundraise through proactive engagement within the community.
* Is self‑motivated and able to work on their own initiative.
* Has experience of working with fundraising CRM databases & Microsoft Office skills.
* Enjoys organising and planning.
* Can see the bigger picture and think outside of the box.
The successful candidate must be able to prioritise workload and manage own time effectively to meet deadlines while ensuring good working relationships with donors, volunteers, and colleagues. There is an expectation that the postholder will spend around 70% of their time out in the community.
About us
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) covers the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire. South Central Ambulance Charity is the charitable arm of SCAS. The Charity's vision is to inspire people to volunteer, donate or fundraise to ensure we are always here serving patients, their families and wider communities when they need us. Our dedicated team of around 750 volunteers are funded by the Charity to make a difference to the lives of those living in our communities.
As part of a small Charity team you will also work closely with our Community First Responder volunteers and the Community Engagement and Training Team. You will also work alongside the Community Fundraising Officer (Thames Valley). You will be able to build and develop excellent relationships with fundraisers and donors and will be able to deliver an excellent level of donor stewardship to all our supporters.
You will need to be flexible and able to travel across Hampshire with the ability to work from various sites as required. There will be a requirement to work evenings and weekends to support fundraising events and activities for which time off in lieu will be available.
This is a hybrid working position with homeworking and some requirement to attend SCAS sites in Hampshire for internal meetings. Further information about the Charity can be found at www.scascharity.org.uk or www.scas.nhs.uk for information about SCAS. Registered Charity 1049778.
Job responsibilities
Proactively create, initiate and develop relationships to maximise fundraising opportunities with individuals and community groups taking on their own challenge.
Work with the Community Fundraiser (Thames Valley) and the wider team to ensure the annual fundraising target for community fundraising is met by managing and creating fundraising initiatives within the community. Currently £165,000 with a view to increasing to £250,000 over the next 3‑4 years.
Grow our annual events, Outrun an Ambulance challenge and the NHS Big Tea to ensure community participation from across our region. To submit business plans to assess the financial viability of existing and proposed events to ensure the necessary return on investment can be achieved for all events. Leading on these projects in your area to generate wider participation and an increase in funds raised.
* Create and implement engaging marketing campaigns to promote and encourage third party fundraising events and to encourage participants to take part on behalf of SCAS Charity.
Create and maintain excellent relationships with external fundraisers who organise their own events to raise funds, motivating, supporting and encouraging their efforts to ensure maximum success for their event. Support their marketing efforts, engage with their fundraising and ensure they are thanked and supported.
* Create and implement a donor stewardship programme that ensures you are always providing excellent stewardship to our supporters that will encourage longer term support.
* Attend community events, including cheque presentations and photocalls, deliver talks to build relationships and engender support and to promote the charity.
Manage and coordinate the placement of charity collection tins across the patch, recruiting and managing local community volunteers to support this activity. Managing local collection opportunities and developing business relationships in the community for income generation.
* Deliver presentations and talks to community audiences as required working alongside volunteer responders to deliver CPR and defibrillation awareness sessions in the community and to build awareness of the role of the Charity, securing donations on our behalf.
Actively support our volunteers who fundraise on behalf of the Charity ensuring they have the correct materials to aid their activities and are compliant in current charity law and code of conduct. Apply for local council street collection licences, support the purchase of promotional goods and work with the team to create publicity materials.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
* Experienced based knowledge of charities and fundraising
* Advanced level word/excel/powerpoint
* Institute of Fundraising Certificate
* Presentation and public speaking experience and skills
* Degree or level 6
* Experience of working in a fundraising environment
Skills
* Excellent time management skills and the ability to manage multiple ongoing tasks
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills
* Demonstrate ability to prioritise
* Ability to proactively engage with volunteers and to develop good relationships with volunteers and the general public
* Able to demonstrate the ability to work on own initiative
* Excellent planning skills
* Experience of reporting financial performance against target
* Copywriting experience
Knowledge and Experience
* Relationship management or customer experience skills
* Experience of working with a CRM database
* Event planning knowledge and experience
* Demonstrable ability to raise annual income from a range of community fundraising initiatives and income streams
* Community fundraising experience within a charity environment
* Experience creating and implementing a fundraising plan to achieve target annual income
* Experience of creating newsletters, press releases and news articles
* Experience of working with volunteers
* Knowledge and understanding of amending and developing a website
* Previous use of Harlequin CRM database
* Knowledge and experience of working with community groups and organisations
Physical requirements
* Full valid UK driving licence and willingness to travel across the SCAS region to attend events
* Willingness to work from Thame office and home
* Willingness to work longer days/hours during event season
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Full‑time, Flexible working, Home or remote working
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