Job Description
www.firststory.co.uk
Role:
Reports to:
Hours:
Compensation:
Fundraising Assistant
Fundraising Officer
Full time, twelve month contract
£18,000
THE POSITION
First Story is a small, growing charity that has ambitious expansion plans. This is a key new role in the
charity, and it offers the opportunity to support the Fundraising Officer in helping to shape the
organisation’s fundraising strategy and to have a critical influence on future development. We are
looking for a highly motivated, organised and enthusiastic Fundraising Assistant who is committed to
First Story’s vision.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Responsibilities
The Fundraising Assistant will be responsible for the following activities:
Donor relations
 Assist the Fundraising Officer to research new major donors including trust and foundations
and corporate donors.
 Support the Fundraising Officer in researching, drafting and following up on grant
applications.
 Support preparation for meetings with new donors/partners.
 Coordinate Christmas card and anthology mailings.
 Support the fundraising efforts of ad hoc fundraisers (e.g., marathon runners, etc.).
Communications
 Draft letters of thanks to donors and keep track of communications.
 Update First Story’s website and social media sites.
 Coordinate fortnightly Friday Story, including managing database and drafting emails.
 Provide support to the Fundraising Officer in developing communications, such as the
quarterly e-newsletter.
 Offer ad hoc marketing and PR support.
Event management
 Assist the Fundraising Officer in providing logistical and practical support to the First Story
Events Committee.
 Assist with other ad hoc events as needed, including evening events.
Office Administration
 Update the contacts database with new contacts and new donations.
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Assist the Fundraising Officer in supporter care, such as answering telephone calls, emails
and letters from donors.
Post and arrange invoicing of First Story anthologies.
A share of general administration as required.
Relationships
First Story has two full-time employees and two part-time employees. The Fundraising Assistant will
report to the Fundraising Officer and will interact on a regular basis with the following:
 Executive Director, National Director and Trustees;
 the Events Committee;
 current and prospective donors;
 writers, school teachers and school students;
 other charitable organisations with whom First Story has developed links;
 external agencies such as accountants, publishers, marketers and the media.
Skills and qualities
Essential
 Interest in education and creative writing;
 Self-motivated individual willing to get involved and help out;
 Excellent written and oral communications skills;
 High level of common sense and creativity;
 Ability to quickly become a key member of a busy, highly motivated but small team;
 Flexible and able to work occasional evenings and weekends;
 Strong attention to detail and highly organized;
 Ability to work to deadlines;
 Up-to-date IT experience;
 Eligible to work in the UK;
 Willing to travel in the UK as needed.
Location
First Story, 4 More London Riverside, London SE1 2AU.
Benefits Include:
A fulfilling job, working on a range of challenging issues with a diverse team. Flexible working, 25
days annual leave per annum plus all public holidays, and a defined contribution pension scheme for
all employees.
Salary: £18,000
To apply:
Please send a cover letter (with ref: Fundraising Assistant in the subject line) and your CV to Kirstie
Miller: kirstie.miller@firststory.org.uk by Friday, 19th October 2012. Interviews will be held in
central London.
Please note:
Only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.
First Story welcomes applicants regardless of race or colour, nationality or national or ethnic origin,
religion or religious belief, sex or marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age.
ABOUT FIRST STORY
We arrange and pay for acclaimed authors to be writers-in-residence in challenging state schools
across the country.
The programme operates in schools in which more than 50% of pupils are considered deprived
according to the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) or in which GCSE results fall in
the lowest third of the national distribution. We aim to celebrate and foster creativity and literacy in
young people, teachers, writers and surrounding communities, and we strive to create new
audiences for the written word. We're cheerleaders for books, stories, reading and writing. We've
seen how creative writing can build students' self-esteem and self-confidence.
In each school, groups of up to sixteen students (aged 14–18) attend weekly, extra-curricular
creative writing workshops with an internationally renowned author. The sustained contact they
have with the writer, who becomes a mentor figure, is unique and powerful. Each school publishes
its own professionally produced book and holds a public reading and book launch, and we are
piloting new projects and workshops around further supporting creativity in school communities.
Since September 2012, we have had thirty-two residencies under way at schools in London, Oxford,
and the East Midlands. We are looking to develop a model for scaling up into new regions
throughout England in the next five years.