Grants Specialist

Summary

The Grants Specialist is responsible for managing the institutional giving pipeline, translating program metrics into compelling narratives, and ensuring absolute compliance with all application and reporting deadlines. While the Development Director leads external relationship cultivation and strategy, the Grants Specialist acts as the operational engine—driving database integrity, managing proposal workflows, and providing actionable funder intelligence. This is an ideal position for a professional who excels at both precise, data-backed writing and meticulous workflow management.

• Drafting & Editing: Author high-quality, compliant grant proposals, Letters of Inquiry (LOIs), and mid/end-of-year reports that accurately reflect Hale’s programs and strategic goals.
• Cross-Departmental Data Collection: Partner with program staff to gather qualitative stories and quantitative metrics required for robust submissions and compliance tracking.
• Collateral Management: Own the updates, formatting, and assembly of all required supplementary materials (e.g., project budgets, board lists, audited financials, and 501(c)(3) documentation).
• Portal Submission: Oversee the submission process across varied foundation and corporate portals, maintaining absolute accuracy regarding technical constraints, formatting guidelines, and character limits.

• Database Ownership: Act as the primary manager of the institutional giving pipeline within Hale’s CRM/database, ensuring timely record updates for prospects, pending proposals, and historical giving.
• Prospect Research & Vetting: Conduct initial desk research on prospective foundation and corporate partners. Filter leads against internal alignment criteria to prepare "Go/No-Go" briefs for the Development Director.

• Master Calendar Management: Maintain the master grants and sponsor ships calendar. Proactively build realistic project timelines and flag milestones to guarantee thorough internal draft reviews.
• Funder Intelligence: Produce concise, strategic briefing sheets for the Development Director prior to funder meetings, summarizing historical engagement, foundation priorities, and active requests.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications, English, Non-Profit Management, Business, or a related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).

Experience: 2–5 years of progressive experience in grant writing, fundraising operations, non-profit administration, or technical/persuasive writing. A proven track record of meeting strict deadlines and managing detailed data workflows is required.

Skills:

• Systems & Data Literacy: Strong proficiency in CRM/database environments (e.g., Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, Hub Spot, Little Green Light) and an unwavering commitment to data integrity. Advanced proficiency in spreadsheet management (Excel or Google Sheets) is essential.
• Communication Style: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills. Ability to weave programmatic data and narrative storytelling into precise, compelling institutional copy.
• Project Management: Superior organizational skills with the ability to balance multiple competing project timelines independently without sacrificing quality.
• Mission Alignment & Team Fit: High emotional intelligence and adaptability; comfortable executing tasks independently while collaborating seamlessly within a close-knit, passionate team environment dedicated to Hale’s community and environment.