Company description

The mission of California FarmLink is to invest in the prosperity of farmers and ranchers through lending, education, and access to land. We value equitable access to opportunity, resilient working landscapes, fairness and accountability, and learning from diverse farmers and ranchers. For more info, and to learn about FarmLink’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

https://www.californiafarmlink.org/dei-principles/

Job description

JOB SUMMARY

The Grant Writer will play a critical role in executing FarmLink’s annual Development Plan. Working closely with the Director of Development and Impact, this position will provide key support that includes, but is not limited to, researching grant opportunities, crafting compelling written proposals and approaches to foundation, government and corporate sources of funding, collecting and verifying supporting documentation, working with program staff to design compelling approaches, and managing a grant lifecycle and funder relationship cultivation process across various funders. This position will work closely with the Development Team to find grant opportunities, and contribute to an overall strategy to secure new and diversified revenue sources.

This position will serve as a member of the Development and Communications team, and will be supervised by the Director of Development and Impact to steward a segment of FarmLink’s revenue portfolio secured primarily from federal, state and foundation sources. This position is responsible for “project managing” the grant proposal development and submission process, and providing follow-up reporting to funders and donors. The position is expected to successfully work independently, and collaboratively with team members from across the organization, and support the full range of Development and Communications as directed.

During the initial stage of employment engagement, a successful candidate will be expected to accomplish the position’s essential duties and responsibilities under direct supervision, for a deliberate segment of FarmLink’s 140+ donor and investor relationships. As the employee grows within the organization, opportunities to take on more responsibility across the organization’s revenue and investment portfolio will be made available. These opportunities may include greater independence in stewarding funder and donor relationships, increasing the number of those relationships under the employee’s management, and developing creative approaches to new sources of revenue and investment. Successful completion of the following duties, while proactively approaching these new opportunities will provide for a pathway to advance within the organization.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Development and Fundraising

• Research grant opportunities that support the organization's mission and Provide research briefings to Director and CEO and make recommendations about prospects.
• Write structured, articulate, and persuasive proposals that make a strong case for fundraising.
• Prepare successful and timely proposal requests (including supporting documentation) to private foundations, banks and federal and state programs.
• Collaborate with Finance and Operations to prepare grant proposal budgets, and present them as part of the proposal request.
• Maintain FarmLink’s pipeline for all aspects of grant submission and reporting efforts with development and senior program staff.
• Maintain funder, donor and investor records to facilitate and track correspondence and stewardship activities in a “Moves Management” framework.
• Request relevant information, feedback, and staff support for grant proposals as needed.

Reporting and Accountability

• Collaborate with the Data and Impact Manager to produce timely, accurate data across FarmLink’s database to inform program reports and other communications needs.
• Collaborate with Program Managers for program updates on activities and outcomes to inform grant reports and other funder and investor communications.
• Produce clear, accurate reports for funders, government Collaborate with Program leadership and other staff as necessary.
• Maintain FarmLink’s grant reporting calendar to ensure reporting and other due diligence requirements are met in a timely manner.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS & CORE COMPETENCIES

• 3+years of relevant proposal writing or technical writing for fundraising and program development experience.
• Demonstrated experience in grant writing to produce successful proposals, and budgets, for projects/programs of $100,000 minimum scope. Equivalent experience in successful project management can also be considered.
• Proficiency with project management software, including Asana, Google and Microsoft Office software suite, with an emphasis in utilizing spreadsheets to present budget requests and interpret non profit financial statements.
• Experience using fundraising database software or Customer Relationship Management software. Experience utilizing Salesforce a plus.
• Ability to communicate technical subject matter through the written and spoken word to colleagues with tact, diplomacy and/or authority at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and priorities, while meeting external deadlines.
• Ability to handle stressful situations with calmness and courtesy, while meeting deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience providing “solutions-oriented” problem-solving to execute project activities toward timely and successful completion. Project management experience highly preferred.
• Experience in the fields of agriculture, real estate, CDFI or small business lending, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, and/or community development finance experience a plus.
• Spanish-language fluency a plus.
• Minimum Associate Degree (B.S. a plus) or undergraduate degree in business or public administration, marketing, analytics, technology or related field, or the equivalent combination of education and work experience.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $20/hr +

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline