Literacy Minnesota | Saint Paul, MN
Salary Range: $60,000 - $70,000
Position Summary:
The Foundation Relations and Grants Manager (FRGM) is integral to the successful of the organization’s mission, vision and strategic plan, particularly in identifying, cultivating and securing diverse support from institutional funders such as foundations, corporations and government entities. The FRGM is constantly identifying new and building current relationships, quickly assessing fit, working with program leaders and writing grant applications to support Literacy Minnesota its priorities. The FRGM will innovatively communicate Literacy Minnesota’s stories, goals and urgency. The FRGM will build relationships and meet with grant officers to understand their priorities and best align to Literacy Minnesota’s strategic goals.
This position reports to the Development Director.
Work Environment: Consists of a typical office environment. Ability to travel in metro area and nationally as required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Manages full grant life cycle from research and identification, to writing the application, to post-award grant management and reporting, collaborating with internal teams through the process.
- Writes and submits a majority of all grant applications for Literacy Minnesota according to the guidelines and timelines established by funding sources and handles communications as necessary. Provides editing support on others’ applications and reports.
- Maintains an overall grant calendar and project management procedures to track all grant activity and timelines.
- Identifies new corporate, foundation, government and other funding sources that match Literacy Minnesota’s strategic objectives, programs and services.
- Partners with program staff to understand program priorities and build an effective case for support in grant proposals.
- Works collaboratively with a grants management team in creating proposals and positioning new program ideas.
- Creates grant proposal submission strategies and presents to leadership for approval before submission.
- Negotiates contractual provisions with potential partners.
- Coordinates with the finance team on proposal budgets and financial reporting obligations.
- Establishes a quality review process and ensures grant proposals and reports are complete and in compliance with all requirements.
- Engages and works with contract grant writers as needed.
- Researches and remains up-to-date on current issues relevant to Literacy Minnesota strategic priorities and programs.
- Represents Literacy Minnesota at community meetings and events that will enhance funding opportunities for the agency; creatively engages with both local and national funders.
Other
- Support organizational DEI goals by fostering an inclusive environment, holding supervisees, accountable for qualitative and quantitative DEI goals, and maintaining and achieving personal DEI goals.
- Collaborate with the development team on events and other fundraising activities.
- Assist with the creation and editing of Literacy Minnesota print and electronic communications.
- Attend regular staff and department meetings. Attend other meetings as requested.
- Assist with special projects as needed and as time allows.
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
- Minimum 5 years of successful grant writing experience, with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Effectively communicates with diverse audiences.
- Proficient in researching, interpreting and analyzing diverse data.
- Ability to tell compelling stories through data and participant experiences; aligns stories to funders’ requirements.
- Previous grant budget development and management.
- A self-starter who can work independently with minimal oversight and takes initiative; is flexible, adaptable, self-manager and organized; has a strong attention to detail and high degree of professionalism and confidentiality; thrives in an ever-changing, fast-paced environment.
- Able to work effectively without positional authority.
- Demonstrated experience using CRM. Experience using Salesforce is a plus.
- Demonstrated high-impact experience using Microsoft Office products, especially Excel with knowledge of how to create tables, insert basic functions and perform basic analysis.
- Comfortable working on remote servers, navigating cloud environments and navigating multiple applications at the same time.
- Ability to work a flexible schedule, including some evenings and weekends as required by position responsibilities.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Track record of writing successful federal grant applications and monitoring compliance throughout the grant period.
- Experience working in and supporting educational programs (Early Childhood Education, Adult Basic Education, etc.)
- Demonstrated DEI-focused management style, including helping supervisees and the organization achieve DEI goals.