Job Details:
Strategy and Fundraising Lead

Job Description

An exciting opportunity has come up to drive forward the vision and development of Seed Studios. We are looking for a new Strategy and Fundraising Lead who has a track record of successful fundraising to open up new income streams by building exciting projects informed by our community members’ vision. Our new Strategy and Fundraising Lead will be engaging new VCFSE, health and social care partners for collaborative work, as we strive to create new projects which address local health inequalities and pull down the health, social and financial barriers to creativity and support local people face.

Role title: Strategy and Fundraising Lead

Application Deadline: Monday 18th August at 12pm (noon)

Hours of work: 3.5 days a week, with potential for increase in hours worked subject to funding

Flexible working: The role is flexible regarding time of delivery, taking into account that the core activities take place during standard 9-5 Mon-Fri schedules, and some engagement activities may require evening or weekend working where possible.

Salary: £29,500.00 pro rata (£20,650.00 per annum)

Contract length: 2 years, extension subject to funding

Place of work: Hybrid, Old Trafford Wellbeing Centre, Broomwood Community Wellbeing Centre and Work from Home, with some travel across Greater Manchester

Beginning: ASAP

Seed Studios

Seed Studios is a music and mental health charity based at Old Trafford Wellbeing Centre and Broomwood Community Wellbeing Centre working with adults aged 18+. From our centres, we support positive mental health and culture in Trafford through...  

• our weekly volunteer-led Community Music Wellbeing Workshops, in which adults learn new instruments and disciplines in sessions proven to improve confidence, skills, connections and mental & emotional wellbeing
• our 1-to-1 music tuition and peer support which compliments support that individuals receive from our Trafford, Manchester and Salford health partners
• our inspiring and community-building events such as Open Mics and our annual Celebrate Seed Studios event
• our innovative partnership programmes, like our monthly workshop series with older adults charity String of Hearts

Our activities involve a diverse range of local people, including neurodivergent people, and individuals with varying levels of wellbeing and mental health. We help them identify and realise their goals for better social connections, wellbeing and creativity. We support them to attend our activity with others, share and connect through music. These people form and shape our Seed Studios community.

In 2025, we enable 88 hours of free volunteer-led sessions every month with a footfall of over 200 people as well as 24 hours of free, 1-to-1 music tuition support for referrals from our health partners every month.

Strategy and Fundraising Lead

Our new Strategy and Fundraising Lead will be in charge of transforming our unique community’s vision into action, developing our charity’s income and influence in the process.

Working closely with our Community and Operations Lead, you will complement the day-to-day studio management, volunteer coordination and beneficiary support they provide, with a strong vision for the charity’s development through solid fundraising plans, bold partnership building and robust governance support. You will balance cultivating our charity’s influence with public sector officials, health commissioners and VCFSE partners, with shaping innovative project plans from vital consultation with our community members.

You will use your experience of writing successful funding bids to take charge of income generation for Seed Studios, drafting an annual fundraising plan and budgets to secure the funding necessary to create new activity and redevelop our studios. You will be proactive in forging new strategic partnerships to create new activity, driven towards the charity’s mission of addressing local health inequalities and improving the diversity of our community.

With the Community and Operations Lead, you will assist in helping the charity to run smoothly, having a hand in day-to-day operations such as payroll and bookkeeping as well as developing our policies to ensure that Seed Studios is keeping up with best practice concerning safeguarding, data protection, volunteer coordination among many diverse but crucial topics.

You will show an understanding of how great marketing and communications expands our charity’s reach, by using simple tools to create eye-catching, accessible and inclusive posters and content to advertise new activity. Our social media channels, website and networks will be where you spread the word about our exciting new activity, you will maintain and develop these avenues for engagement with the help of the Community and Operations Lead. You will also use your ability to draft informative, persuasive and easy-to-understand communications to prepare board documents and present proposals at board meetings, supporting our volunteer trustees to make the best decisions for our Seed Studios community.

Our new Strategy and Fundraising Lead will be proactive and a self-starter, working with a high-level of autonomy, but will understand their role in making our community’s vision come alive. Working on an equal footing with our Community and Operations Lead, you will co-manage Seed Studios with them. You may not be a musician yourself, but you will understand how music can help people overcome the barriers they face to leading a positive life, as so many at Seed Studios do every week.