Are you looking for an opportunity to take your first step within the fundraising or development space whilst working in a fun, supportive, and busy team?

Development Assistant 

Salary: £27,787 per annum

Location: Cambridge, St Edmunds College

Contract type: Permanent, Full Time

Please click here to find Development Assistant Job Description 25

 

St Edmund’s College is hiring an Development Assistant to work within the Development team. As a Development Assistant you will provide administrative support to help ensure the College maintains a positive relationship with Alumni, Donors and Friends, which helps to secure the financial future of the college through fundraising.

The successful candidate

The successful candidate will have an excellent command of verbal and written English, with an ability to understand and articulate the aims of the College, whilst handling confidential information.

They will remain calm under and resilient under pressure, with excellent attention to detail and organisational skills.

The successful candidate must have:

  • Previous experience in an administrative role.
  • Understanding of databases (ideally CRM databases)
  • Previous experience of producing written communications, including newsletters, invitations, letters and publications.
  • Previous experience of fundraising, and preferably in an education context. (desirable)
  • An understanding of the Collegiate University environment. (desirable)

If you feel that you fit most but not all of the above criteria, we would still love to hear from you.

Key duties & responsibilities
Fundraising

  • Assisting the Development Officer (DO) in the preparation, running, and follow-up stages of mass participation fundraising appeals including but not limited to telephone campaigns, crowdfunders, and other appeals.

Marketing and Communications

  • Collaborating with the DO in producing regular external communications to alumni, donors, and friends of St Edmund’s, using printed mailings, e- newsletters, social media, and publications.
  • Supporting the DO in maintaining and updating the relevant sections of the College’s website.

Stewardship

  • Creating the Annual Donor Report in collaboration with the DO and Development Director (DD).
  • Implement an agreed stewardship strategy that involves acknowledging donations and drafting thank you letters for the DD, Master and other staff as necessary.
  • Sending updates to donors after fundraising appeals.
  • Collating donor and recipient testimonies for reporting.

Alumni Engagement

  • Being a first point of contact for alumni by telephone, email, or in person.
  • Liaising with other College departments in passing information to alumni, e.g. Careers Tutor, Senior Tutor, and the VHI.
  • Providing administrative support to the DO in implementing the Alumni Engagement Strategy (i.e through organisation of events and production of communications).
  • Providing administrative support to the St Edmund’s Alumni Society Committee, including arranging and minuting meetings and supporting their events.
  • Providing ad-hoc administrative and logistical support for a range of Development Office and College events.

Other

  • Providing ad-hoc administrative support to the team in fixing meetings, arranging overseas trips and overseeing the office diary.
  • Maintaining confidentiality of all information acquired while undertaking duties.
  • Ensuring General Data Protection Regulation compliance.
  • Work with colleagues to share best practise and ensure policies are adhered to
  • Ensure the upkeep of the College, report any problems as necessary and help to keep the College litter free.
  • Suggest and implement new ways of working and ideas, be an advocate for Continuous Improvement.
  • Adhere to Health and Safety policies and procedures
  • Complete ad hoc tasks as required

As well as a great salary and friendly team you will also receive:

Working daily allowance for food and drinks*
Free car parking (where available)
25 days holiday plus bank holidays (increasing with length of service)
Generous pension contributions
Discounts at restaurants, shops & more
Outdoor gym
Death in service
Access to LinkedIn Learning & Business Disability Forum

About St Edmund’s College

St Edmund’s College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. Our vibrant student body is made up of around 420 post-graduates and 130 mature undergraduates. With over 260 senior members – academics working at the cutting edge of their field or eminent members of their profession – and around 90 staff, you will be joining a dynamic and growing College with an ambitious vision for our role in shaping the future of higher education and collaborative research.

The maturity of our community means that we have earned a reputation as the friendly college. Relaxed, non-hierarchical and diverse, we pride ourselves on being a place in Cambridge where people of all backgrounds are welcomed, will feel at home and can flourish. Therefore, we welcome all candidates regardless of their demographic characteristics such as gender, race, disability, neurodiversity, religion, age, sex & sexual identity to apply for our opportunities.

How to apply

To apply, please send a copy of your CV and covering letter to hr@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk.

Closing date for completed applications: 09 June 2025

If you have informal enquiries about the post, please email the the Development Officer, William Edwards on we228@cam.ac.uk

 

In applying for this role, you will provide personal data which the College will process in accordance with its data protection obligations and its Data Protection Policy: http://www.stedmunds.cam.ac.uk/data-protection

 

Any offer of employment is subject to evidence of your right to work in the UK and the receipt of satisfactory references.

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