Grant Writer

Led by young women of color movement organizers, the Youth Engagement Fund (YEF) is the only donor collaborative focused on deepening and expanding youth civic engagement led by and for young people of color. To this end, YEF aims to
1) increase funding support to strengthen and expand the ecosystem of youth of color led organizations advancing civic engagement efforts via state and national youth collaborations, focusing on organizations in the South and Southwest,
2) support state-based issue-based advocacy that fosters conditions for governing power led by and for young people of color, and their communities, and
3) direct its grants to organizations committed to amplifying the civic participation and voting agency of young people of color.

YEF centers youth and young adults of color 35 years old and under, and their communities, creating intentional pathways to dismantling structural racism and white supremacy, and engaging a new wave of politicized young people of color that expands the electorate and transforms American democracy. YEF’s grantmaking principles lead through a philanthropic leadership model that:
1) demonstrates commitment to racial equity;
2) supports the advancement and power building of youth of color;
3) adds value to building local infrastructure in key geographic areas with the largest and growing numbers of communities of color including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas; and
4) inspires young people to become life-long civic participants and voters by expanding resources to the issues and efforts that are most important to them.

Since 2007, YEF has been investing in building a culture of full civic participation among voting-age young people to ensure that their perspectives, issues, and solutions are part of democratic governance. Bringing together diverse donors both institutional and individual, working across issues, and in varied regions, YEF enables collaborative grantmaking towards the common goals of a more reflective and inclusive democracy.

Between 2007 and 2021, YEF provided nearly $30 million to youth engagement organizations. By 2024, YEF aims to be granting $10 million annually to its movement partners (grantees).

Reporting to the Director of People and Organizational Growth, the Grant Writer plays a critical role in the success of the Youth Engagement Fund’s fundraising program to enable greater growth and impact of YEF’s movement partners (grantees) and the broader youth civic engagement sector. The Grant Writer will be responsible for drafting and producing language for YEF funding deadlines including proposals, reports, and surveys.

The Grant Writer will additionally ensure that all key documents and YEF’s grant files are up to date. This position is fully remote with staff located across the country.

• Gather information for funding deadlines, background documentation, and impact data
• Draft narratives for proposals, make revisions, and finalize for submission
• Participate in meetings with the Executive Director, Impact & Learning Analyst, and Program Officer, as well as collaborating with the larger YEF team as necessary to gather impact and programmatic information
• Copyedit and proofread applications and written entries for length and content
• Create reporting and proposal templates for future use

• Track funder deadlines for all applications and reports
• Support the Donor Organizing Officer throughout the application process, including and especially in applications submissions to fiscal sponsor and funder deadlines and budget reports
• Support in preparing fundraising materials for boiler plates, website, information packets, concept papers, and brochures

Please email grant writer with the subject line ‘GRANT WRITER 2022 - YOUR FULL NAME’ and the following information about your grant writing experience in the body of the email:

• Length of time grant writing
• Profile description of type of organizations you have written grants for
• Highlight any experience writing grants / content for youth organizations, civic engagement and democracy organizations, and philanthropic organizations
• Available start date and available hours per week. Please note this position requires 15 to 25 hours per week.
• If available, please share your contract fees.

Please note that only prospective candidates invited for an interview will be contacted.