Volunteer Placement: Donor-Facing Content & Briefing

Placement Volunteers at the British Red Cross are highly valued for the skills and energy they bring. We aim to provide our placement volunteers with an insight into the daily workings of the world’s largest humanitarian organisation. The successful candidate will have access to relevant in‑house training and development opportunities during their placement. There may be some ad‑hoc opportunities to get involved in other areas of activity.

Your role as a placement volunteer will help make a great contribution to the work of the British Red Cross. You will take responsibility for achieving specific objectives that are agreed with you within one of the various departments across the UK. You will have a real responsibility and place in the department, bringing some of your skills and experience to the role;

you will also have the chance to develop workplace skills.

While we don’t offer voluntary internships, we are happy for you to describe yourself as an intern on your CV, if you feel that would be helpful.

About the role:

We are looking for a motivated volunteer to help bring the impact of the British Red Cross' international work to life for our supporters. Our fundraisers need clear, compelling and donor‑friendly information about our programmes so they can engage high‑value, philanthropy and partnership donors with confidence.

In this role, you will help transform complex programme reports, operational updates and budget information into concise, engaging summaries that showcase activities, outcomes and impact. Your work will help connect donors with the people and communities supported through the British Red Cross and the wider Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people who are curious about international humanitarian and development issues and are keen to learn more about topics such as climate change, conflict, health and disaster response.

The expected start date for the placement is 29 July 2026 and the placement will run for 12 weeks.

Typical tasks on the placement may include:

• Reviewing programme reports, operational documents and budgets from British Red Cross international programmes.
• Producing concise, engaging programme summaries for fundraising teams working with major donors, philanthropists and corporate partners.
• Translating complex technical and operational information into clear, accessible and inspiring donor‑facing content.
• Identifying key achievements, impact stories, beneficiary outcomes and funding needs from programme documentation.
• Working with colleagues across fundraising and international teams to gather information and ensure content is accurate and up to date.
• Supporting the development and maintenance of a library of programme summaries and donor‑facing resources.
• Helping ensure fundraising materials reflect the scale, impact and value of British Red Cross international work.

We would like you to have/be:

• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to write clearly, accurately and engagingly for different audiences.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to understand and summarise complex information.
• Good organisational and time‑management skills, with the ability to meet deadlines.
• Confidence working with a range of documents, including programme reports, operational updates and budgets.
• Ability to translate technical, operational or financial information into simple, donor‑friendly language.
• A proactive approach, with a willingness to learn, ask questions and take initiative.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word and Excel.
• An understanding of, or strong interest in, international humanitarian and development issues, including climate change, conflict, health and resilience.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.

Bursary Scheme

The British Red Cross offers a bursary scheme to those placement volunteers from low‑income households. Eligibility will be determined through a separate application process open to all short‑listed candidates. All British Red Cross volunteers are entitled to out‑of‑pocket reasonable expenses. For this scheme we are defining low‑income…