The Grants Manager writes and refines foundation proposals and reports in collaboration with Potomac Conservancy’s programmatic staff. Potomac Conservancy seeks a part-time employee or a contractor with an interest in a long-term commitment to the role. Foundation and corporate support are a significant and growing income source fueling Potomac Conservancy’s mission to protect the Potomac River and ensure clean water for all in our community.

This is a new position; it will help launch the next phase of Potomac Conservancy’s expanding engagement with our foundation and corporate supporters and our growing staff team. This role reports to the Director of Institutional Giving and will be guided by the VP of Development as a part of our four person development team.

Potomac Conservancy is the region’s leading clean water advocate. Founded in 1993, we believe the foundation of healthy, sustainable, and vibrant communities starts with clean water. We shape the broader effort for water protection in the Potomac River watershed, from the highlands of Virginia and West Virginia to Maryland and the District of Columbia to ensure the Potomac boasts clean drinking water, healthy lands, and connected communities.

As Grants Manager, you will craft proposal and report materials with a focus on meaningful content and accountability metrics. Whether for foundation grants of $10,000 or $1,000,000, materials you create will foster commitment to the cause of a protected Potomac River and clean water for all. You will use your knowledge of Potomac Conservancy’s programs and impacts to bring strategies to life. You will become fluent with the challenges facing the Potomac River’s recovery, the science of water quality, the local impacts of the climate crisis, and the local community and policy environment to bring context to each proposal and report.  You will help maintain our high standard for timeliness and accuracy in data capture by maintaining updated foundation and corporate donor records.

The program staff you partner with are working on land protection, clean water advocacy, forest protection, community engagement, volunteer management, and communications. You will follow project progress, connecting regularly with team members online, in the field, and through regular team updates. Each product will build on past proposals and reports, as well as from knowledge gained in discussions with donors.

This position is part-time and allows for a hybrid work environment with in-office work balanced with remote work. While hours must include typical office hours to facilitate meetings with team members, our organization culture prizes responsible flexibility for life needs and work-life balance. There will be some seasonality to the work with some work-intensive months and less intensive months. An average of not more than 20 hours per week will be maintained across the balance of the year.

Specific Duties: 

Fundraising – report and proposal drafting (85%)

  • Develop proposals for foundation, corporate, and government grants of $10,000 to $1,000,000 assisted by outlines provided by and with your team members.
  • Create fresh and compelling information on Potomac Conservancy programs and impacts. Work on between 30 and 40 proposals and reports a year, with a hands-on role of varying scope depending on the project.
  • Learn from program staff about the challenges, strategies, and program results relevant to each donor in regular updates, program files, and field visits.
  • Attend start-work meetings with each significant funded initiative.
  • Maintain a disciplined and consistent approach to results monitoring and reporting.
  • Edit the work of others, asking questions and adding detail to enable increasing clarity.
  • Ensure timely production of each stage of a project, which may require mid-course adjustments, from outline to draft to feedback and final text, supporting the Director of Institutional giving in the finalizing of proposals and reports for submission.

Organization Engagement (10%)

  • Attend at least 2 of the 4 annual board meetings in person.
  • Help to implement the Potomac Conservancy’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice plan by participating in learning sessions, discussions, and participating in the evolving application of our DEIJ vision to programs and communications.
  • Mentor others on the team, sharing your knowledge and skills in fundraising, proposal and report writing to continually enrich the whole organization’s donor stewardship skills.

Fundraising Program Management (5%)

  • Maintain high standards of accuracy with donor data by recording new information, in collaboration with the Data and Administration Manager

Qualifications*

  • Excellent writing skills.
  • A Bachelor’s degree and three to five years of experience writing fundraising proposals, including documented success with grant proposals to foundations, including response to detailed application requirements, and metrics reporting.
  • Attention to detail, including editing for grammar as well as substance, and attentiveness to detailed application requirements.
  • Strong research skills and knowledge of how to find new information sources.
  • Experience and comfort with SharePoint and suite of Microsoft platforms for reviewing, editing, and making changes/comments in documents.
  • Able to work independently and manage time to meet sometimes overlapping deadlines.
  • Curiosity and willingness to learn.
  • Inclination to ask questions and probe for answers.
  • A problem-solving mindset, and capacity to create solutions within a team environment.

Preferred Skills and Abilities:

  • Topic oriented experience including knowledge of any/most of the following: environmental conservation, water issues, climate change impacts, advocacy and community organizing.
  • Fundraising experience in the DC metro region.
  • Database experience. We use EveryAction, a similar model to most CRM databases.
  • Passion for our environment.

*This position uses a wide variety of skills. We encourage you to apply if you think you would be a good fit, even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications.

Compensation

  • Salary range is by hour ($23/hour). Or the part time equivalent of a salary of $50,000 per year.
  • Time off on summer Friday afternoons and one week in January.
  • Flexible work schedule. Work can be remote most of the time with occasional in-office learning and planning sessions (in our Silver Spring, MD office).
  • Travel reimbursement for work-related trips.
  • Working with bright, fun coworkers; and interacting with a supportive board of directors.
  • As a part-time employee or contractor this position does not include health or retirement benefits.

To Apply

Email a cover letter and resume to Olivia Guerra at guerra@potomac.org with “Grant Manager” in the subject line. Applications are only accepted electronically. The position will remain open until filled. Applications submitted before February 1 will be given first consideration. Potomac Conservancy is an equal opportunity employer.

We recognize the environmental movement has not been an inclusive one and has a history of excluding historically discriminated communities — including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), people from working class backgrounds, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. Because of this, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other communities that have been historically excluded from the environmental movement.

For the health and safety of our employees, their families, and our community, all Potomac Conservancy staff are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This mandatory vaccine requirement applies to all staff working remotely, in a hybrid work arrangement, and on-site. Effective June 2, 2022, new hires will be required to provide proof of full vaccination with a government-approved vaccine as a condition for employment. Requests for reasonable accommodation or exceptions (medical or religious reasons) will be considered. Candidates are NOT required to state their COVID-19 vaccine status in their application.