Consultant – Fundraising Operations Consultant – Edinburgh (Office Based/Remote)

**Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organisation powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

A vital part of the Fundraising team, the Fundraising Operations (FO) team is responsible for the database at Mercy Corps Europe (MCE), managing all donations and the reconciliation of income with Finance and providing data to enable on and offline fundraising appeals, reporting and analysis. FO is also the lead on Supporter Care, with the aim of ensuring that every interaction with Mercy Corps is a positive one.

The current FO team (made up of an FO Manager, FO Officer and FO Assistant) is about to undergo a full changeover and Mercy Corps requires a Fundraising Operations Consultant (FOC) to support the period of transition and a review of the team structure. As an interim solution, a short term structure is to be put in place, recruiting a FOO and FOA on temporary, six month contracts – both of these roles will be line managed by the Interim Senior Fundraising Manager (ISFM). There are no plans to recruit a replacement FOM at this time.

Purpose / Project Description:

The Fundraising Operations Consultant (FOC) will provide expertise, guidance, training, coaching and, when necessary, hands on support to Fundraising Operations during a period of strategic review and team transitions. The FOC will ensure critical business as usual (BAU) processes are completed to maintain smooth functioning of the wider Fundraising team within MCE, as well as develop observation-led insights to advise on the future structure of the FO team. They shall support the ISFM with immediate recruitment of temporary FO team positions whilst directly bridging any gaps within the team to maintain critical BAU, for example, essential database management, financial reconciliations, management of month end processes, income reports, critical data selections and analysis, telephone and email management and gift processing and thanking.

Consultant Objectives:

• Utilising existing procedures, maintain critical Business as Usual functions and processes of the Fundraising Operations team, gap filling as required during team recruitment and onboarding.

• Support the ISFM in the recruitment of temporary FO team members.

• Ensure gift receipt and thanking and Gift Aid processing are managed efficiently and that supporters receive stewardship of the highest quality and value.

• Work with the wider fundraising team, providing accurate segmented data selections, campaign analysis and income reports.

• Work with the Fundraising Management team to understand FO capacity and develop a longer term resource plan and appropriate role descriptions to meet future needs.

Consultant Activities:

In order to ensure efficient delivery of business as usual work, the Consultant will predominantly be home based; however, regular planned and ad-hoc office visits should be anticipated to:

• Participate in a handover with outgoing FO Officer (if recruited prior to 15th Oct).

• Support Fundraising Management with the recruitment of temporary FO team members.

• Support the onboarding of the temporary FO team with MCE FO processes and procedures.

• Ensure adherence by all FO team members to existing processes and procedures.

• Provide hands on cover and back-up as and where required.

• Keep up to date with UK and EU data protection legislation and UK fundraising regulations and make necessary implementations.

• Be the point of contact for fundraising related GDPR queries and input expertise to the ongoing GDPR compliance process.

• Participate in a FO team meeting weekly and participate in other meetings as requested.

• Measure capacity of each FO role and accuracy of existing role descriptions.

• Share observations with the Fundraising Management team throughout.

Consultant Deliverables:

The Consultant will:

• Ensure the smooth running of critical, day to day, business as usual FO activities.

• Develop a resource plan and appropriate role descriptions to meet future needs.

• Input expertise to ongoing GDPR compliance process.

Timeframe / Schedule:

We are seeking a consultant to commence at the earliest opportunity, ideally before 15th Oct 2021, for a period of approx. 3 months.

Mercy Corps’ standard working week is 40 hours, and we anticipate this consultancy requiring approx 16-20 hours per week.

The Consultant will report to:

Debbie Hunter, Interim Senior Fundraising Manager

The Consultant will work closely with:

Fundraising Management and the wider Fundraising team, Finance team, Data Protection Manager

Required Experience & Skills:

Experience as follows is essential:

• Minimum 5 years’ as a manager in a charity fundraising operations role.

• The FOC must be an expert on the Raiser’s Edge database, ideally including the Events package.

• Comprehensive knowledge of MS excel, MS Access or other data manipulation packages.

• Managing and producing selection briefs and running data segmentation and selections for mailing and e-mail campaigns.

• Cleaning, manipulating and importing data to be used in mass market communications.

• Providing RE training and support for team members.

• Experience of processing gifts and Gift Aid.

• Detailed practical knowledge and understanding of the Data Protection law/GDPR and how it relates to fundraising

• Team management (desirable)

• Project management (desirable)

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.**