Head of Public Fundraising

Acorns Children s Hospice provides specialist care and support for babies, children, and young people who are life-limited or life-threatened. When time is short, every moment is precious. Acorns helps children and families fill the time they have together with love, fun, and laughter to create lasting memories.

Palliative care for children aged 0-18 is delivered at Acorns hospices in Birmingham, Worcester, and Walsall, as well as in family homes or elsewhere in the community. Their holistic, tailored approach meets each child s clinical, emotional, cultural, religious, and spiritual needs. Supporting over 750 children and nearly 1,000 families annually, Acorns is a vital lifeline for families across the West Midlands and Gloucestershire during unimaginably difficult times.

This is a brilliant opportunity to take on a high-performing team at a time when Acorns is really moving forward. Supported by strong internal resources, the Head of Public Fundraising will drive growth across Individual Giving, Legacy, In-Memoriam, Digital and Prize-led Giving in the context of a highly collaborative, whole-organisation approach to fundraising.

The immediate focus will be on making the most of existing programmes, strengthening audience insight, and getting the team ready to play a major part in the organisation-wide appeal launching in 2025.

Growing Individual Giving income from £1.6 million to £2 million over the next two years will be a central priority, alongside expanding digital and prize-led fundraising and sharpening supporter journeys across the board.

As Head of Public Fundraising, you will:

• Develop and implement a data-driven strategy for all areas of public fundraising to meet growth targets.

• Lead the Individual Giving portfolio, ensuring growth across direct mail, face-to-face acquisition, mid-value development, and telemarketing.

• Oversee the successful delivery of cash appeals, ensuring they meet both income and ROI targets.

• Drive the expansion of digital fundraising and prize-led giving, including managing the growing digital fundraising portfolio and prize-led initiatives.

• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including Marketing & Communications, to ensure campaigns are well integrated and aligned with the overall fundraising strategy.

• Manage and develop a high-performing team, providing leadership, coaching, and clear performance metrics.

• Collaborate with senior leadership and internal stakeholders to drive the strategic direction of public fundraising.

About you

The role needs someone who s as comfortable setting long-term plans as they are getting hands-on when needed, whether that s developing appeals, working with agencies or supporting new product ideas. Collaboration across fundraising, care and supporter engagement teams will be essential to making this happen and building an even stronger supporter-first culture at Acorns.

If you re a senior Individual Giving expert who s ambitious for supporters and income, this is a chance to take ownership of a strong portfolio, drive innovation, and make a real impact on Acorns future.

You will have:

• Extensive experience in Individual Giving (substantial direct marketing experience is essential), Legacies, In-Memoriam, Digital, and Prize-led Giving.

• A history of successfully leading fundraising teams and delivering significant income growth.

• Strong strategic vision, with the ability to adapt and innovate based on data insights and audience understanding.

• Exceptional team leadership skills, able to inspire and engage your team to deliver exceptional results.

• Experience in working collaboratively across teams to achieve shared objectives.

• Excellent communication and networking skills, with the ability to build strong relationships internally and externally.

Hybrid working

This is a mostly home-based role, with c.2 days per week in the (Birmingham) office. If you require flexibility around this, please don't hesitate to apply - we can discuss options during the briefing call.

Employee benefits

Benefits include:

• 31 days annual leave including bank holidays, rising to 35 days after 3 years service
• 7.5% employer pension contribution
• Life assurance scheme (2 x annual salary)
• Retail discounts (including the Blue Light card)
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Access to expert financial health and wellbeing support