The Governors and Headmaster of More House School seek to appoint a highly skilled, senior fundraiser to design and implement our non-fees related income strategy, securing the future delivery of our charitable mission for children with Special Educational Needs.

Description

The Governors and Headmaster of More House School seek to appoint a highly skilled, senior fundraiser to design and implement our non-fees related income strategy, securing the future delivery of our charitable mission for children with Special Educational Needs.

Our Mission: To empower our pupils to transform their futures.

Our Shared Values: Kindness, Spirit, Responsibility

Letter from Jonathan Hetherington, Headmaster:

Dear potential applicant,

Thank you for your interest in More House School and our Development Director position. I very much hope this information pack inspires you to consider this unique opportunity within an incredible school.

Our School:

An internationally recognised specialist independent school and UK-registered charity (Gard’ner Memorial Ltd), More House School is the largest and leading school for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. With an 85-year history, the School has seen rapid growth in pupil numbers over the last thirty years, from 65 to 500, and has repeatedly been graded Outstanding in successive Ofsted inspections over the past decade.

Located on a 30-acre estate in Frensham, on the edge of the Surrey Hills AONB, the School provides residential boarding and day places to a mix of privately funded (40%) and local authority funded (60%) pupils from across the South-East and beyond, and delivers a programme of outreach support and training to schools and educational trusts in both the independent and state-maintained sectors. London Waterloo is one hour away by train from close-by Farnham railway station, and there is easy access to the M25, M3 and A3 major routes. Guildford is twenty minutes’ drive away, Basingstoke twenty-five, and Southampton an hour.

Despite often arriving with little self-belief, our pupils develop self-esteem and high aspirations for their futures. In spite of their special educational needs, they realise success above national averages in public examinations and a majority gain entry to university, whilst others follow more vocational routes to further education and employment.

This is an exciting time; the School is planning its next phase of campus development, ensuring the quality of facilities and pupil-experience for the future, and is exploring potential opportunity for significant expansion, so that many more children and young people can access our unique model of education, especially girls.

Our projects:

Our on-campus ambitions comprise capital development projects to refurbish and replace some of our older teaching and learning facilities, investing in the future. They include:

The Coach House – expanding the school’s medical surgery and providing a dedicated wellbeing and therapeutic counselling suite;

St Matthew’s – replacing earlier wooden classrooms with three new science laboratories;

Don Bosco – replacing wooden classrooms with modern facilities for the teaching of Mathematics and Computer Science;

Sports – construction of an all-weather pitch accompanied by changing rooms and a new roadway.

Beyond our campus, we are currently developing ambitious plans for significant expansion of our provision in order to afford access for many more children with special educational needs, including for female pupils.

The role:

The new role of Development Director reflects our trustees’ commitment to increasing revenue beyond that derived from school fees. We believe our charitable mission, outreach programme, expertise and external validation, inspirational pupil outcomes and market position mean we are well placed to attract philanthropic investment. Supported by our Core Leadership Group and Board of Governors, and reporting directly to the Headmaster, our new Development Director will bring their extensive professional fundraising experience and expertise to design and lead our fundraising strategy, enabling us to raise £2.5m over five years in order to support the realisation of our planned projects.

I hope that this opportunity, to become a key player in the delivery of our charitable mission, excites you and that you are interested in learning more. Potential applicants are warmly invited to visit the school on an informal basis, and I look forward to meeting you.

Jonathan Hetherington

Headmaster

Main areas of responsibility

Fundraising Strategy and Operations - You will lead the communication of the case for financial support, defining the School’s capital fundraising needs, creating compelling campaigns, propositions and proposals for both high net worth individuals and trusts.

You will develop and implement operational plans to deliver capital campaign income – prioritising major gifts and trusts.

You will build and manage relationships with high net worth prospects and donors, taking responsibility for face-to-face asks, cultivation, stewardship and the direction and briefing of senior volunteers, to secure gifts.

You will manage a systematic approach to trust fundraising, writing bids, forming partnerships and reporting on grants received.

You will implement a legacy fundraising programme to a nascent alumni database.

You will devise and deliver a range of innovative and inspiring engagement events to motivate, cultivate and steward donors, making best use of the School’s assets.

You will engage the School staff community behind the philanthropic efforts to strengthen the School.

Senior Volunteer Engagement - You will ensure that structures are in place for Senior Volunteers to receive the levels of communication and support necessary to maximise their commitment to and support for the capital fundraising campaigns.

Cultivation and Stewardship - You will act as a public face of the School in relation to the fundraising campaigns, articulately communicating our mission, impact and priority fundraising requirements at public events and in one-to-one meetings.

You will develop and strengthen the understanding of fundraising and its potential for impact on the School community amongst internal stakeholders, shaping a donor centric culture where everyone in the organisation supports development objectives.

Management - You will manage the professional development and workload of the part-time Fundraising Officer.

You will prepare and deliver quarterly fundraising progress reports and key performance indicators KPIs)s to the Headmaster.

You will support the Headmaster and Board, providing expert advice and advising of any associated risks in regard to all fundraising activity.

You will shape and refine the systems and processes for an effective fundraising operation. You will adhere to and implement the approved School policies in relation to fundraising as well as apply the Chartered Institute of Fundraising standards of best practice and Fundraising Regulator guidelines to fundraising activity.

The above list of responsibilities is not exhaustive, but provides an indication of the main areas of responsibility of the role. The post-holder may be asked to fulfil any other additional duties as deemed appropriate by the Headmaster. This role-description is subject to periodic review by the Headmaster.

Your working relationships:

The Development Director will work very closely with the Chair of Trustees, a governor leading the fundraising efforts, the Headmaster and the Chief Operating Officer (from September 2024). All these posts recognise their involvement in supporting fundraising for the trust.

The Trust has, over the past year, been working with a fundraising consultant who has supported us in reviewing our fundraising, defining our case for support, securing Board commitment to long-term investment in fundraising, and developing a strategy for priority income streams. With this appointment, the consultant will step back but be available for onboarding.

There may be the possibility of future development resource depending on the needs of the capital campaign. The Development Director will have the opportunity to define and recruit this resource should it be required.

Person Specification:

Essential

Director and managerial level fundraising experience.

Proven and personal track record of securing significant philanthropic investment at five and six figure gifts.

Evidence of face to face major donor relationship development and proactive stewardship.

Experience of capital campaign leadership and successful conclusion.

Experience of trust fundraising, bid-writing and reporting.

Evidence of success within a small or medium-sized organisation.

Knowledge of fundraising best practice, and data legislation and best practice.

Terms and conditions:

Salary – within the region of £65,000 - £75,000 per annum (commensurate with experience)

Hours of work – 8.30 am-5.00pm, full time; attendance at School events outside these hours from time to time, including Founder’s Day (last Saturday of the academic year; 13th July in 2024)

Place of work: minimum three days per week at School; two days working from home (within the first year, four days per week at School)

Pension – Defined Contribution Scheme with employer’s contribution of 6%, irrespective of personal pension contributions

Annual Leave – Five weeks’ paid annual-holiday entitlement, in addition to public holidays

Training – we encourage self-development, training and conference attendance through an organisational training budget.

Sick-pay

Employee Assistance Programme;

Parking – Free on-site parking within the School’s beautiful grounds;

Meals – Excellent meals, fully funded, in the School’s refectory;

Gym – Free use of the School’s recently-refurbished fitness and gym facilities.

Diversity statement:

More House School is committed to being an inclusive employer with a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, cultures and experiences – including people with disabilities and ethnic minority candidates. Our aim is that our employees will be representative of all sections of society and each person feels respected and able to give of their best.

Safeguarding:

This role is deemed to be one of working in regulated activity, meaning that the post-holder may expect to come into unsupervised contact with children and young people frequently in the discharge of their duties on-campus. As such, the expectations of conduct, required of all adults working at More House School, apply to this position, as does a full Safer-Recruitment vetting process of any appointee. A key responsibility of all adults working within the School is that of ensuring the effective safeguarding of all children and young people, through adherence to the School’s policies; full-training is given.

To Apply:

Please visit our website and complete the online application form More House School – More House School - Support Staff Application Form

Interested candidates are welcome to make an appointment to visit the school for an informal visit in order to learn more about the role and setting.

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 14th May 2024 at 5.00 pm

Interviews expected to be held on: W/C Monday 20th May 2024

Should suitable applications be received in advance of the closing date, the School reserves the right to short-list, conduct interviews and make an appointment earlier than the above closing date. Those interested in applying for the post are urged to submit their applications early.

Data Protection Statement:

Information provided by you as part of your application will be used in the recruitment process. Any data about you will be held securely with access restricted to those directly involved in dealing with your application and in the recruitment process. Once this process is completed the data relating to unsuccessful applications will be stored for a maximum of 1 year then confidentially destroyed.

If you are the successful candidate, your application form will be retained and form the basis of your personal record. Information provided by you in the recruitment process will be used to monitor More House School Equal Opportunities in employment.

This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS clearance and the receipt of satisfactory references before a formal job offer is confirmed.

More House School is firmly committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.