Individual Giving Administrator

The Orchestra

It is an exciting time in the Philharmonia’s history, as Santtu-Matias Rouvali's second season as Principal Conductor concludes. He is just the sixth person to hold that title since the Orchestra was founded in 1945. On his appointment, he said: “This is the start of a great adventure. The players of the Philharmonia can do anything: they are enormously talented and show an incredible hunger to create great performances… we will do great things together.”

Based in London at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, the Philharmonia creates thrilling performances for a global audience. Through its network of seven community-based residencies, the Orchestra has a national footprint, serving audiences and participants across England both in performance and through its extensive outreach and engagement programme.

With a dynamic board chaired by Lord Mervyn King, and CEO Thorben Dittes, fundraising at the Philharmonia is supported organisation-wide. As an orchestra with a truly international presence, the Philharmonia uses the latest digital technology to connect with audiences beyond the concert hall and are sector leaders in the production of immersive experiences and online media.

The Philharmonia is a registered charity. It relies on income from a wide range of sources to deliver its programme and is proud to be generously supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation, with funding renewed for 2023-26.

About the Role

The Philharmonia Orchestra is seeking a creative, motivated and highly organised person to lead the administration of the Friends Membership, devise innovative ways to grow the Membership and its income, and play a pivotal role in the success of the Development department.

The successful candidate will be a quick study and systems-focused, with the requirement to manage the efficient administration of the Friends and develop personal relationships with this critical part of the donor base, in tandem with the wider audience development strategy.

You will be supported in achieving these objectives by your line-manager, the Individual Giving Manager, and will work closely with the Senior Development Manager (Philanthropy) where necessary.

Key Responsibilities

As Individual Giving Administrator you will play a significant role in supporting the following key activities:

• Deliver an enticing and mission-led Friends Membership, offering meaningful engagement for members at all levels, underpinned by robust and streamlined CRM and data systems.
• Growth goals relating to the Friends membership including growth to >800 members by 2024/25
• An enriching calendar of Events and Stewardship for Friends and wider stakeholders.

Friends of the Philharmonia Orchestra

• Manage the day-to-day running of the Friends membership, including communications, benefit delivery, renewals and acknowledgements
• Administer renewals and new member acquisition across the Friends and Philharmonia’s audience, principally in London, Leicester and Bedford.
• Curate ongoing digital communications to drive acquisitions and, for current members, sustain engagement
• Support the Individual Giving Manager and Senior Development Manager (Philanthropy) in forecasting the annual financial, growth and acquisition targets for Friends membership
• Work in partnership with Marketing and Digital teams to promote the membership, and embed Friends messaging as a core part of Philharmonia promotional communications
• Proactively seek and devise opportunities to promote the Friends membership, such as via appeals or reciprocal partnerships with other organisations
• Personally account manage a portfolio of higher-level Friends members providing donor care and stewardship
• Work with volunteers to re-engage lapsed members
• Keep and maintain accurate membership and financial records on Tessitura (Philharmonia’s CRM system), and manage the Paperless Direct Debit System (appropriate training will be offered)
• Undertake research and work with the Individual Giving Manager to ensure the membership offer is competitive, with compelling benefits and is simple and easy to join;
• Generate monthly reports on the Friends membership, income and trends.

Friends events

• Curate the annual Friends events programme to include a mix of digital, in-person (free) and in-person (paid) events, and co-lead delivery with Development Events Manager
• Work with the Individual Giving Manager to plan and budget events programme to ensure profit
• Attend and manage Friends Events in London, Bedford and Leicester
• Schedule and manage open rehearsals at the Royal Festival Hall and Bedford Corn Exchange, liaising with venues, the Concerts team, and the Development Events Manager.

Individual Giving

• Create initiatives with the support of the Individual Giving Manager to recruit Friends, Donors and Patrons from audience members, and encourage year-on-year giving
• Work with the Senior Development Manager (Philanthropy) and Individual Giving Manager to identify prospective Patron members (£1,350+) from within the Friends membership, and through introductions from existing members.
• Manage and generate content for the monthly supporter e-newsletter
• Support the general administration of the Individual Giving team as required

Finance

• Process payments and financial data in Tessitura (Philharmonia’s CRM system)
• Coordinate monthly Direct Debits and quarterly Gift Aid claims (training will be offered)
• Liaise with the Finance department to facilitate and reconcile payments made by Direct Debit, bank transfer, cheque, Charities Aid Foundation, SmartGiving, and standing order.
• Report and analyse monthly Friends income from memberships, events, event donations, other donations and Gift Aid and make accurate projections of future giving levels

Required Skills & Qualities

Essential

• Knowledge of, and passion for orchestral music
• Ability to work on own initiative and to problem solve
• Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills
• Strong customer service skills with excellent interpersonal manner
• Confident communicator on the phone and in person
• A creative thinker
• A high level of competence in Microsoft Office, particularly Word and Excel
• Enthusiasm and self-motivation
• Highly efficient, organised and process-driven
• Ability to be calm and flexible in a fast-paced environment, prioritising workload accordingly
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• An understanding of budgets and cash flow
• A high attention to detail

Desirable

• Administrative and/or office experience
• Experience of working in a fundraising capacity
• Experience of using CRM databases
• Experience of using InDesign