Grant Writer

Mission Statement

Minds Beyond Measure (MBM), a nonprofit, strives to inspire purpose and passion, to empower and cultivate great minds in children, youth and teachers to improve educational outcomes in New York and developing countries.  

Background of Our Organization 

Minds Beyond Measure (MBM), is a nonprofit, newly established in 2019. It was birthed from the founder's traveling experiences and living abroad across Asia, and seeing a lack of educational resources and the lack of access to education in some very impoverished communities.  The journey included  training teachers, teaching children and youth, visiting rural schools with limited or no resources, experiencing children and youth who were hungry for small things, often taken for granted in the Western world, such as pencils and paper to write and books to read. This experience then evolved into a passion to serve the underserved, at risk and provide access to quality education for both teachers and students through pathways that inspire for life.  This is when MBM was born.

Job Description

What if you could go to your place of employment with a renewed sense of purpose and direction, confident in the knowledge that the work you do contributes to a great cause? When you work with us in the role of Grant/Proposal Writer, this could be your life. The Grant Writer develops proposals, identifies prospective funders, and manages grant cycle reporting for both foundation and government funding sources. They will research trends in the field, support stewardship of existing foundation donors, identify and strategize around new private funding sources, and help to cultivate prospective donors.  Writing and relationship building skills is vital to this role as is the ability to effectively engage, communicate and partner with future donors.  Grow to understand our prospective pool of funders and eligible grants/proposals that are available, and you will hold a vital role in helping us move toward our goal of inspiring and empowering students and teachers. A commitment to our organizational values and vision is key.  You will work closely with the CEO/Founder, to assign, meet and exceed grant/proposal goals, and in turn, grow and improve your communication and leadership skills and organizational capabilities in this pivotal role. A recommendation/reference letter will be provided for you.

Essential Job Functions:

• Researches and identifies both prospective government and private foundation grant makers, and researches whether and how their funding interests relate to Minds Beyond Measure’s  programs;
• Determines proposal concept for MBM, by identifying and clarifying opportunities and needs, and studying requests for proposal (RFPs);
• Prepares proposals: writes, reviews, edits draft copy and submits final proposals;
• Develops a grant/proposal program plan, which includes goals, proposals & submission deadlines, and creates a development process for the application of foundation/government proposals from start to finish

Job Skills & Qualifications

Required Knowledge and Skills:

Our ideal candidate will possess the following:

• A passion for philanthropic work (preferably in Education) and commitment to the nonprofit sector
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in communication, business, marketing, public relations, public policy, journalism or related/applicable area 
• Previous experience in grant/proposal writing in a nonprofit or similar philanthropic organization.
• Exemplary communication abilities
• Exceptional written skills– the successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to capture the purpose, importance, and impact of programs and projects
• Strong interpersonal and team skills - ability to form relationships with diverse groups of people.
• Excellent research and data management skills - working knowledge of database usage and reporting.
• Excellent organizational abilities and strong attention to detail
• Minimum commitment of 2 hours per week

Preferred:

• Experience working with a non profit organization;
• Minimum of one year of direct experience in grant writing, preferably from both public and private sources;
• Familiarity with local and national foundation donors and funding trends