Head of Fundraising

**Closing date for applications is Monday 24th November** 

About Us:  

GOAL has responded to the world’s major humanitarian crises since its founding in 1977, working with vulnerable communities in 14 countries across the globe with a dedicated team of personnel. While GOAL continues to be an agile first-responder to humanitarian crises, it is also committed to working with vulnerable communities to help them survive crises and support them on the road to recovery. 

Job Purpose: 

The Head of Fundraising is key role within our HQ leadership, you'll be  responsible for developing and leading a high-performing fundraising strategy to secure sustainable, diverse, and growing income streams for GOAL. This role requires a highly developed commercial mindset, a proven ability to cultivate and leverage relationships across donor categories, and a strategic approach to embedding data-driven decision-making in fundraising. The successful candidate will drive innovation in donor acquisition, retention and stewardship, with a particular focus on individual donors, high-net worth individuals (HNWIs), and corporate partners. 

**Please note this role will be based on our Dublin HQ in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, we operate a Hybrid working policy and require employees to attend the Office minimum 2 days per week **

Key Areas of Responsibility:  

Strategic Leadership 

• Review and revise GOAL’s current fundraising strategy to secure sustainable and diversified sources of income that supports the organization’s humanitarian mission.
• Position fundraising as a strategic enabler of organizational growth, aligned to GOAL’s global strategy and impact ambitions.
• Lead a culture of innovation, agility, and data-driven decision-making within the fundraising team.
  
  Key areas of strategic focus in 2026:
• Strengthening GOAL’s sport positioning proposition and deepen GOAL’s brand awareness and ‘cut through’ with the sports world and the general public
• Cultivate and expand corporate partnerships, aligning fundraising opportunities with their ESG strategies and sustainability goals.
• Revive GOALs digital giving strategy and devise a programme for implementation. 
• Re-invest in GOAL legacy giving campaign.
• Ensure GOAL’s Donor Care Journey is comprehensive, relevant and streamlined that maximizes lifetime donor value, loyalty, and advocacy.
• Drive AI-enhanced CRM end-user competency amongst all team members. 

Team Leadership & Capacity Building 

• Lead and mentor a multi-disciplinary fundraising team, fostering a high-performance, target-driven culture.
• Drive professional growth and talent development across the team, with a focus on building capacity in digital fundraising and data analytics.
• Provide strategic and operational guidance to maximize performance across all fundraising channels.
• Ensure strong systems, processes, and compliance to safeguard fundraising integrity and donor trust. 

Income Generation & Donor Care 

• Drive ambitious income growth across multiple streams: individual giving, corporate partnerships, trusts/foundations, major donors/HNWIs, digital, and events/community fundraising.
• Champion the use of data analytics, segmentation, and predictive modelling to enhance targeting, retention, and ROI across fundraising activities.
• Lead the development of compelling propositions, cases for support, and campaigns that inspire individual and institutional donors. 

Success Measures 

• Growth in annual unrestricted and restricted income year-on-year.
• Increased donor retention, lifetime value, and satisfaction across individual donors.
• Growth in high-value partnerships (corporates & HNWIs).
• Demonstrable use of AI-enhanced data insights to drive fundraising decisions and outcomes.
• Enhanced brand visibility within the fundraising market and brand ‘cut-through’ with the general public, across the island of Ireland. 

 Key Requirements 

• Commercial & Sales Mindset: Demonstrated track record of delivering ambitious income targets in a competitive fundraising, sales, or business development environment.
• Strategic Fundraising Leadership: Proven experience in leading and scaling diverse fundraising portfolios, preferably in an INGO or mission-driven organization.
• Donor Care Strategy: Expertise in designing and executing donor journey strategies that maximize donor loyalty, engagement, and lifetime value.
• Data Utilization & Analytics: Strong skills in fundraising analytics, segmentation, forecasting, and leveraging CRM/tech tools to optimize performance.
• High-Net Worth Engagement: Experience cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts from HNWIs.
• Corporate Engagement: Proven ability to secure and manage high-value corporate partnerships, with deep understanding of ESG drivers and shared value creation.
• Leadership & Influence: Outstanding people leadership, with the ability to inspire teams and influence internal and external stakeholders.
• Communication & Storytelling: Exceptional ability to articulate humanitarian impact with clarity, passion, and credibility to diverse audiences. 

Desirable: 

• Experience in international development or humanitarian fundraising.
• Global or multi-country fundraising exposure.
• Familiarity with digital fundraising innovations and emerging trends. 

GOAL commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: 
GOAL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive environment for all employees. We foster an inclusive culture where all voices are heard and valued, we are particularly eager to receive applications from women (and other underrepresented groups). We know that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. 

All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling GOAL’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and equal treatment. GOAL does not discriminate against any employee or volunteer; or any applicant for employment or volunteering on the basis of age, gender identity, ancestry, political opinion, civil status, medical condition, ethnic background, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. 

Accountability within GOAL 

A commitment to GOAL values and GOAL’s integrity framework is critical to working with GOAL. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability: 1) Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols; 2) Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area; 3) Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner. 

 Safeguarding 

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with GOAL as a result of our activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates. 

 General Terms and Conditions 

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document.