Institutional Giving and Grant Manager

Who We Are

Dream Yard Vision:
Building Artists
- Building Community
- Building Dreams
- To change the world.

Dream Yard (DY), founded in 1994, is a Bronx-based organization that uses the arts, social justice pedagogy, and digital and connected learning to inspire youth, public schools, and communities. Dream Yard’s yearlong arts programs develop artistic voices, nurture young people's desire to make change, and cultivate the skills necessary to reach positive goals. By committing to sustained learning opportunities along an educational pathway, with 45 partnering public schools K-12th Grade, with our own DY Prep HS School and at the Dream Yard Art Center in Morrisania, Dream Yard supports young people as they work toward higher learning, meaningful careers, and social action.

We seek to be effective locally while having a national and international impact through partnerships, collaboration, and learning exchanges.

At Dream Yard, we commit to being an anti-racist organization. We lead with race because we operate in a country founded on the genocide of Indigenous people, the enslavement of African people, and the oppression of countless others. We acknowledge the role this history plays in perpetuating inequity and dominant white culture.

Dream Yard is focused on the Bronx, a borough that possesses incredible cultural, human and economic assets. In addition to working throughout the Bronx, Dream Yard partners with local, national and international communities to utilize the arts to build bridges to opportunity. The organization believes that the arts are a necessary part of developing our local assets to their greatest potential.

The Manager of Institutional Giving plays a key role in the solicitation and stewardship of the organization’s portfolio of institutional grants and sponsor ships from foundation, government, and corporate supporters. The Manager of Institutional Giving reports to the Director of Development.

• In partnership with the Director, develop and implement the institutional fundraising strategy, and manage a $4.5MM portfolio of foundation, government, and corporate funders, including city contracts and discretionary funding opportunities.
• Create compelling and comprehensive grant applications and sponsorship proposals.
• Identify and research prospective institutional donors and develop innovative approaches to raising institutional support for operating and capital needs.
• Alongside Executive leadership and the Director of Development, work with representatives from corporations, foundations, and the government, in the cultivation, application, and stewardship of grant dollars.
• Manage Institutional partner contracts, ensure organizational compliance, and complete all required reporting deadlines.
• Develop and refine language for grant proposals and reports for Institutional funders, including annual boilerplate as well as project-specific narratives.
• Liaise across the organization, including frequently with the Program Teams and Finance, in the creation of necessary reporting, integrated materials, maintenance of up-to-date language, and financial information.
• Drive the Development Team in the creation and timely execution of our grants calendar for Corporate, Foundation, and Government grants.
• Support maintenance of institutional donor profiles in Little Green Light, and ensure timely gift entry and acknowledgment of all grants.
• Strategize cultivation events and opportunities for Institutional funder stewardship.
• Other work as assigned by management.

• Candidates must have at minimum, an associate degree.
• 3+ years of successful grant management experience. City, state, and/or federal government contract experience is a plus.
• Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel) and Google Suite.
• Strong project management and implementation skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong Writing Skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills.
• An action-oriented, adaptable, and innovative approach to work.
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to gracefully manage tight…