About this Philanthropy Specialist role at Launchhousing
Launchhousing · Onsite · Collingwood, Victoria
Why join Launch Housing
Launch Housing is an independent Melbourne based community organisation passionately committed to ending homelessness. From providing high quality housing and an innovative range of support, education and employment services, we bring solutions to homelessness under one roof for thousands at risk of, or experiencing the crisis and trauma of homelessness. With over 400 staff working across 16 locations in metropolitan Melbourne, we combine direct action with advocacy, research and innovation to drive widespread change.
Our people are the backbone of our organisation and supporting their wellbeing and professional development is critical to our ability to help our clients and the community. We value lived experience and diversity in our staff, and provide high-quality training & supervision, wellbeing days, access to an Employee Assistance Program and much much more to ensure your career with us is fulfilling.
Don’t just walk past homelessness. Join the solution.
Our permanent and fixed-term employee benefits include:
• Contributing to useful and rewarding work and giving something back to the community
• Wellbeing days, ceremonial leave, carers leave and study leave
• Flexible working arrangements
• Purchased leave
• 17.5% leave loading
• 8 weeks’ gender-neutral paid parental leave after 12 months of service for both the primary and secondary carer
• Training and career growth opportunities across Launch Housing
• A portion of your income can be tax-free by salary packaging your personal expenses
• Additional tax-free salary packaging on dining and accommodation expenses
• Positive, supportive and progressive work environment
About the opportunity:
The Philanthropy Specialist plays a key role in supporting the growth of Launch Housing’s donation income by managing a portfolio of charitable trusts and foundations, stewarding high-value donors, and driving continual improvement and efficiency within the philanthropy team.
Reporting to the Group Manager - Fundraising & Philanthropy, the Philanthropy Specialist will use their thorough knowledge of the philanthropic grant-making process and Launch Housing’s mission and strategy to identify, qualify and cultivate granting opportunities, research, develop and write compelling grant proposals, and lead the process of acquitting successful grants.
Using their proactiveness, problem-solving and stakeholder management skills, they will work across the organisation to demonstrate the impact of donor support, including delivering impact reports, experiences, and other engagement opportunities for high-value donors. They will maximise the impact of the philanthropy team by implementing new processes to efficiently and accurately identify and cultivate donor prospects, steward high-value donors, and track progress towards income targets.
The Philanthropy Specialist will have a passion for continuous improvement, synthesising diverse and complex information into compelling, donor-centric communications and experiences, and developing meaningful donor relationships to help drive retention and growth in high-value donors.
Reporting to the Group Manager - Fundraising & Philanthropy, the Philanthropy Specialist will use their thorough knowledge of the philanthropic grant-making process and Launch Housing’s mission and strategy to identify, qualify and cultivate granting opportunities, research, develop and write compelling grant proposals, and lead the process of acquitting successful grants.
Using their proactiveness, problem-solving and stakeholder management skills, they will work across the organisation to demonstrate the impact of donor support, including delivering impact reports, experiences, and other engagement opportunities for high-value donors. They will maximise the impact of the philanthropy team by implementing new processes to efficiently and accurately identify and cultivate donor prospects, steward high-value donors, and track progress towards income targets.
The Philanthropy Specialist will have a passion for continuous improvement, synthesising diverse and complex information into compelling, donor-centric communications and experiences, and developing meaningful donor relationships to help drive retention and growth in high-value donors.
Launch Housing Leadership Framework
At Launch Housing, we believe that leadership is not defined by position or title – but by the mindset you bring and the actions you take. We also believe that leadership is learnable – that there is a body of knowledge, skills and dispositions associated with leadership that can be learned.
The Launch Housing Leadership Framework outlines the key expectations and behaviours required for effective leadership at every level. This role is aligned to the Leading Self proficiency level within the framework, reflecting the responsibility to demonstrate professionalism, personal accountability, self-awareness, and continuous development.
At Launch Housing, we believe that leadership is not defined by position or title – but by the mindset you bring and the actions you take. We also believe that leadership is learnable – that there is a body of knowledge, skills and dispositions associated with leadership that can be learned.
The Launch Housing Leadership Framework outlines the key expectations and behaviours required for effective leadership at every level. This role is aligned to the Leading Self proficiency level within the framework, reflecting the responsibility to demonstrate professionalism, personal accountability, self-awareness, and continuous development.
Permanent, full-time role (76 hours per fortnight) based at Collingwood.
What you'll be doing:
• Managing the grant lifecycle for charitable trusts and foundations, from identifying funding opportunities that have close alignment with Launch Housing’s strategy, to developing proposals and submitting applications, reporting and acquitting grants, and identifying opportunities to instigate and deepen relationships with donors.
• Working across Launch Housing with a range of client-facing and other specialist teams to translate projects into language that resonates with donors and fulfills their charitable purpose.
• Establishing, implementing and continuously improving internal processes to capture timely information from client-facing, Research, Evaluation and Data, and Finance Teams including key data, program successes and challenges, case studies, imagery and more.
• Planning and delivering a calendar of engagement opportunities for high value donors including bespoke events, site visits, and other creative ways to demonstrate the impact of their support.
• Delivering compelling donor communications including project-specific impact reports, a donor newsletter, and other tailored communications.
• Supporting the process of identifying and cultivating new major donor prospects. • Synthesising complex information and translating into accessible, donor-centric content to demonstrate evidence of impact and meet the needs and interests of high-value donors.
• Identifying gaps and opportunities to improve current processes to support the efficient and effective management of the grants cycle and relationships with high-value donors.
• Identifying gaps and opportunities to improve current processes to support the efficient and effective management of the grants cycle and relationships with high-value donors.
• Establishing and implementing new processes to improve the function of the Philanthropy Team, especially in relation to best-practice use of the CRM to identify, cultivate, and steward major donors, and track progress towards income targets.
• Supporting team members to achieve best practice use of the CRM for grants and relationship management.
What we're looking for (key selection criteria):
• At least three years’ experience in a similar role with responsibility for implementing and continually improving collaborative processes within and between teams.
• Strong interpersonal, stakeholder management and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesise complex information and produce compelling grant applications and reports within an agreed timeframe for a donor audience, including excellent writing skills.
• Ability to manage budgets and adhere to financial principles.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM (desirable).
• Passion for communicating social impact to drive increased giving and loyalty from supporters.
• Understanding of, or a demonstrated commitment to upholding, Child Safe Standards in the workplace.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrated commitment to the values of Launch Housing and our mission to end homelessness.
Applications close 24 July 2026.
For more information please contact careers@launchhousing.org.au
How to apply
To apply for this opportunity, please click on "Apply for this job" button. Please submit a cover letter addressing the key selection criteria and your CV.
For a copy of the position description please contact us at careers@launchhousing.org.au.
Launch Housing offers a wide range of career opportunities and employs a diverse range of talent. We strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons to apply! We acknowledge, respect and celebrate Aboriginal cultures, languages, connections to Country and heritage, customs and practices. We're committed to support Aboriginal peoples to obtain genuine and fulfilling career with us!
Launch Housing is a dog-friendly organisation, which allows dog owners to bring them in some of our sites, please contact the relevant Hiring Manager if you have any questions or concerns prior to your interview.
If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know at careers@launchhousing.org.au.
Launch Housing is committed to being a child safe organisation and has zero tolerance to child abuse. Our hiring process involves rigorous screening of applicants. All of our people including students, contractors and volunteers must hold a valid Working with Children Check and satisfactory criminal history record check.
Launch Housing is an Equal Opportunity employer and supports accessible working arrangements for all. This includes people with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse people, young people, older people, women, and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex or queer. We acknowledge Lived Experience as a unique expertise and encourage people with a Lived Experience of Homelessness to apply. All applicants must have the right to work in Australia.
Launch Housing is working to become more trauma informed and as a leading employer in the homelessness sector, it is important to let you know that you will hear stories of distress, hardship, trauma, or violence when working with us. We encourage you to reflect on how this may impact you when considering applying for the role.
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