Application Guide

How to Apply for Supporter Care Manager

at Ashby Jenkins Recruitment

🏢 About Ashby Jenkins Recruitment

Barnardo's is the UK's largest national children's charity with over 150 years of history, working directly with vulnerable children, young people, and families. This role is through Ashby Jenkins Recruitment, which specializes in charity sector placements, offering the opportunity to contribute to Barnardo's mission of supporting children facing disadvantage through a remote, flexible position that impacts fundraising and supporter engagement.

About This Role

As Supporter Care Manager, you'll lead the team handling all supporter interactions—enquiries, complaints, stewardship, and fulfilment—ensuring exceptional service that strengthens loyalty and meets regulatory standards. You'll collaborate across Fundraising, Marketing, Retail, and Finance to shape supporter journeys and drive continuous improvement, directly supporting Barnardo's ability to create life-changing impact for children.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might start by reviewing team performance metrics and supporter feedback, then leading a virtual stand-up with your remote team to prioritize enquiries and complaints. You could spend the morning collaborating with the Fundraising team on a new campaign's supporter journey, followed by analyzing data trends to identify service improvements, and end the day preparing reports on complaint resolution rates for senior management.

🎯 Who Ashby Jenkins Recruitment Is Looking For

  • Has 3+ years experience managing a customer/supporter-facing team in a fast-paced charity or nonprofit environment, with proven ability to handle high-volume enquiries and complaints
  • Demonstrates strong stakeholder management skills, with examples of collaborating cross-departmentally (e.g., with Fundraising, Marketing, Finance) to improve processes or supporter experience
  • Shows a proactive, data-driven approach to service improvement—able to analyze performance metrics, identify trends, and implement solutions that enhance supporter care while ensuring GDPR compliance
  • Possesses excellent communication skills tailored to charity supporters, balancing empathy with efficiency in written and verbal interactions

📝 Tips for Applying to Ashby Jenkins Recruitment

1

Tailor your CV to highlight specific experience managing supporter/customer care teams in the charity sector—mention metrics like response times, satisfaction scores, or complaint resolution rates

2

Research Barnardo's current fundraising campaigns (e.g., 'See, Hear, Respond') and reference how your skills could enhance supporter engagement in their specific context

3

In your application, use terminology from the job description like 'supporter journeys,' 'stewardship,' and 'data-protection standards' to show alignment with Barnardo's priorities

4

If you have experience with charity-specific systems (e.g., Raiser's Edge, ThankQ), mention them—otherwise, emphasize transferable CRM or database management skills

5

Address the remote nature of the role by highlighting your experience with remote team management, virtual collaboration tools, and self-motivation in a home-based setting

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

["Your passion for Barnardo's mission—explain why you're drawn to supporting vulnerable children and how supporter care contributes to this impact", 'Specific examples of leading a team to improve supporter/customer experience in a fast-paced environment, quantifying results where possible', 'Experience ensuring regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR, Fundraising Regulator standards) in a supporter-facing context', "How you've successfully collaborated with cross-functional teams (like Fundraising or Marketing) to align supporter care with organizational goals"]

Generate Cover Letter →

🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • Barnardo's current strategic priorities and recent campaigns (e.g., their 'Keep Caring' campaign or annual reports)
  • The charity's supporter demographics and fundraising methods (e.g., regular giving, events, retail)
  • Regulatory frameworks affecting UK charities (Fundraising Regulator, GDPR, Charity Commission guidelines)
  • Barnardo's public-facing communications and tone—review their website, social media, and donor materials to understand their supporter engagement style

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Describe a time you improved supporter/customer service processes—what metrics did you use, and how did you ensure stakeholder buy-in?
2 How would you handle a situation where a supporter complaint reveals a systemic issue in Barnardo's fundraising or marketing materials?
3 What strategies would you use to motivate and manage a remote supporter care team to maintain high service standards?
4 How do you balance delivering personalized supporter care with efficiency and data-protection requirements?
5 Tell us about a time you had to collaborate with a difficult internal stakeholder (e.g., Finance or Marketing) to resolve a supporter-related issue—what was the outcome?
Practice Interview Questions →

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Submitting a generic application that doesn't reference charity sector experience or Barnardo's specific mission—avoid focusing solely on commercial customer service
  • Failing to address the remote/part-time aspects—not demonstrating how you'll maintain team cohesion and performance management without in-person oversight
  • Overlooking regulatory compliance—not showing awareness of GDPR, fundraising standards, or data protection in a charity context

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Ashby Jenkins Recruitment!