The Merchants House is one of Glasgow’s oldest charitable organisations with a history dating back to 1605 and before. Today we make a positive impact on the lives and experiences of the people of Glasgow and the West of Scotland by providing grant support to, and partnering with, third sector bodies and by supporting individuals in need. The House manages substantial endowment funds, many of which have specific terms on the distribution of grants. Rental income is generated from the office suites of the Merchants House building owned and occupied by the House.

The present membership of the House is over 800. Up to thirty-six Directors, elected by the members, carry on the active work of the House.

The Head of the House is the Lord Dean of Guild, elected annually by its Members. The Lord Dean acts as Chairman of the House and delegates Convenorship of the different committees. The Office of the Dean of Guild ranks next to that of the Lord Provost of the City.

We are currently seeking applications from candidates to become Trustees of The House. A full role description can be found below.

RSPB Scotland is a leading nature conservation charity dedicated to protecting Scotland's wildlife and natural habitats.

We are looking for a Fundraising Officer to join our Fundraising Team in Scotland to help generate and maximise income from external funding sources (mainly charitable trusts and grants). This role is based in Scotland but flexible - The ideal candidate will be home-based unless there is a need for a reasonable adjustment.

Role involves:

• Researching and identifying potential funding opportunities and matching these with agreed priority work
• Writing compelling fundraising applications, as well as detailed and accurate evaluation reports and grant claims
• Collating relevant financial information for both funding applications and grant claims
• Communicating with project partners and other charities to share knowledge and experiences
• Accurately recording income and donor communications on a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system

The ideal candidate would have excellent writing skills as well as an attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple tasks. Fundraising is a dynamic area of work and an ability to re-prioritise workloads to meet tight deadlines is essential. The successful candidate must also be confident in building and developing strong relationships, both externally with funders and internally with RSPB staff from other departments and nature reserves, whom you will work with to draft applications and updates to funders.

This role is primarily responsible for fundraising to enable work undertaken by RSPB Scotland, and as such the successful candidate will ideally be based in Scotland. This role will be home-based; but will involve some infrequent travel to offices and reserves across Scotland.

Essential skills, knowledge and experience:

• Excellent writing skills in multiple formats and writing styles – experience in writing persuasive and compelling fundraising applications is desirable
• Ability to communicate confidently and professionally over email and phone, and develop good working relationships with both internal teams and external funders and partners
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent organisational and time management skills with the ability to prioritise work and meet tight deadlines
• Flexibility to adapt to changing priorities, often at short notice
• Capability to work both within a team environment and independently
• Strong numeracy skills – experience working with budgets is desirable
• Excellent data management skills are a necessity for this role, as you’ll be recording data on Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM’s)
• Competent user of the full suite of Microsoft Office programmes
• Awareness of, and interest in, the challenges facing the natural world

Over recent years, SCOTLAND: The Big Picture (SBP) has grown from a fledgling charity to an established and impactful organisation with an annual budget of over £1m in restricted and unrestricted funds.

Following the recent departure of our long-term Head of Fundraising, this new Fundraising Manager role will have responsibility for fundraising through trusts and foundations, major donors and individual giving, working with our Fundraising Officer.

The role will be focused on growing and diversifying our core funding, ensuring our projects are fully funded, managing the information and relationships relating to our funding, and reporting back to funders on the outcomes and impact driven by their support.

See the job description, available for download below, for the responsibilities associated with the role, as well as the experience, skills and attributes we are seeking.

Organisation profile

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture (SBP) is a charity that works to make rewilding happen across Scotland, as a solution to the growing climate and biodiversity crises, by influencing opinion and delivering practical change. Our vision is of a vast network of rewilded land and water, where wildlife flourishes and people thrive.

We are a small, friendly, agile and progressive team that works in a spirit of collaboration with many different interest groups to:

• Drive support for rewilding
• Commit more land and water to rewilding

Learn more about SBP and the way we work at scotlandbigpicture.com.

We are current looking for a Legacy & In Memory Manager. This is a hybrid role between home working and Scottish SPCA Headquarters in Dunfermline.

About the Scottish SPCA

As Scotland’s animal welfare charity, we have been on-hand to protect animals and prevent cruelty since 1839 – that’s over 184 years of creating a better world for all animals. We’ve grown to become a national charity which celebrates the strength of the human-animal bond and enriches the lives of animals and people. We are Scotland’s animal champions.

What does a Legacy & In Memory Manager do?

Legacies make up circa 42% of the Scottish SPCA’s income. This role is an exciting opportunity for a creative, driven, passionate and meticulous individual to support, steward and grow our pool of legacy donors ensuring the Scottish SPCA can respond to the changing needs of animals and their owners over the next decade.

Overview of main duties and responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

• Developing, implementing and driving forward an exciting new strategy to engage more supporters
• Provide advice, recommendations and assistance to the Senior Leadership Team on the management, administration and use of legacy income by the Scottish SPCA.
• Raise the profile of legacy and in-memory giving nationally and highlight its impact on the work of the Scottish SPCA.

Legacy Fundraising

• Discuss the value and potential of legacies left to Scottish SPCA with existing and potential new supporters on a one-to-one basis
• Develop and re-fresh the in-memory proposition at the Scottish SPCA enabling people to give on-line and in person at local centres in-memory of a loved one or loved companion animal.
• Work with colleagues to create and deliver inspiring campaigns for new and existing supporters engaging them in legacy and in-memory fundraising
• Promote a range of free Will writing offers as appropriate to supporters, staff and volunteers, with the aim of generating legacy pledges following up unrealised enquiries and generating future income.
• Plan and organise a series of Legacy Marketing in-person and virtually, annually, generating opportunities for new legacy enquiries and pledges and following up on these.
• Support with community talks where audiences fit a legacy profile.
• Engage key solicitor contacts, keeping them informed and supplied with up-to-date Scottish SPCA legacy information, visiting firm’s offices and liaising with fee earners.

Stewardship & Administration

• Develop Legacy Supporter Journeys with the Supporter Experience Manager
• Establish nurturing compassionate relationships with executors and next of kin ensuring the reputation of the Scottish SPCA is upheld and communicating and celebrating the impact of a loved one’s gift where appropriate.
• Work with colleagues in Finance and Supporter Experience to ensure a documented end to end process for the administration of legacies income and pledges
• Liaise with co-beneficiary charities building effective relationships to ensure the proper and timely receipt of funds.
• Work with our Finance team, and our solicitors (where appropriate) on the administration of complex cases including scrutiny of sales of properties and investments ensuring funds are maximised in line with the legator’s wishes.

Please see full Job Description link for more detailed information on the role.

What makes a good Legacy & In Memory Manager?

• Significant experience of administering legacies
• Experience of using a fundraising database to record legacies and in-memory income
• Experience of speaking with bereaved supporters and demonstrating compassion and sensitivity
• Experience of meeting or exceeding targets and KPIs
• Experience in organising and delivering successful events
• An excellent understanding of the legalities of the fundraising sector, particularly those that are relevant to Legacy fundraising, along with a grasp on the wider landscape of the sector.
• Ability to work independently and to manage time effectively
• Willingness to base decisions on insight and engage a diverse range of potential supporters with the Scottish SPCA