Grant Writer

Company Description

GiGi’s Playhouse Inc.’s was founded in 2003 and our mission is to change the way the world views Down syndrome through national campaigns, educational programs, and by empowering individuals with Down syndrome, their families and the community.  All Programs are free and are therapeutic in nature. Each program is designed to work on specific skill development, including speech and language, socialization and fine and gross motor skills.  GiGi’s Playhouse has 36 locations across North America and growing. 

Job Description

GiGi's Playhouse, Inc. is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic grant writer to research and draft local, regional and national grants in support of Playhouse programs, marketing campaigns and capacity building. Some research and drafting efforts may also include helping other Playhouses with their grant, as well as collaboration on grants that leverage the national office for local support criteria. This is a part-time position that we envision to grow into a full-time role with 6-12 months.

This position requires excellent writing, communication and organizational skills, as well as attention to detail and the ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a deadline-oriented environment. The grant writer will work closely with the Development Director, Marketing Director, Founder and other GiGi's staff as needed.

Qualifications

The individual filling the grant writer role must, above all else, have an exceptional work ethic and the ability to confidently manage and optimize research and writing efforts. Additional skills and key strengths include:

·         Demonstrated recent success in grant writing for non-governmental funding sources.

·         Self-motivated and disciplined.

·         Detail oriented and highly organized.

·         Ability to work well under pressure.

·         Strong research, analysis and reporting skills.

·         Experience with online grant research databases.

·         Experience with preparing project and proposal budgets.

·         Skilled at synthesizing information and communicating it in a compelling and succinct form.

·         Technology/computer savvy including familiarity with databases (Donor Perfect a plus).

Specific Accountabilities:

·         Ensure all grant proposals represent and communicate GiGi’s Playhouse mission and brand.

·         Maintain ongoing grant pipeline; documenting all grants in Salesforce at various stages of lifecycle.

·         Conduct foundation research, identify new funders and maintain a projected inform/award timeline.

·         Define a list of grants to target and maintain timelines to ensure timely preparation and submission.

·         Prepare all grant-related documents including letters of inquiry, program and project based cases for support, grant applications and proposals for support, and mid/post grant reports.

·         Ensure all grant-related data is collected, summarized and shared with funders as needed, including mid-grant term progress and year-end reports.

·         Fulfill additional grant-related writing projects (e.g. special correspondence with grantors, such as thank you letters and holiday cards).

·         Support the GiGi’s Playhouse network by providing grant templates, language and resources on shared server to ensure all are using the most current and effective grant language.

Additional Information

Competencies  

• Teamwork: Balances team and individual responsibilities; exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views; gives and welcomes feedback; contributes to building a positive team spirit; puts success of team above own interests; able to build morale and group commitments to goals and objectives; supports everyone's efforts to succeed. 

• Problem Solving: Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; gathers and analyzes information skillfully; develops alternative solutions; works well in group problem solving situations; uses reason even when dealing with emotional topics. 

• Written and oral communication: Ability to express ideas and thoughts verbally; expresses ideas and thoughts in written form; exhibits good listening and comprehension; keeps others adequately informed; selects and uses appropriate communication methods. 

• Adaptability: Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; changes approach or method to best fit the situation; able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events. 

• Innovation: Displays original thinking and creativity; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas; presents ideas and information in a manner that gets others' attention. 

• Planning/Organizing: Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; plans for additional resources; sets goals and objectives; organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; develops realistic action plans. 

• Quality: Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; applies feedback to improve performance; monitors own work to ensure quality. 

• Customer Service:  Manages difficult or emotional customer situations; responds promptly to customer needs; solicits customer feedback to improve service; responds to requests for service and assistance; meets commitments. 

• Technical Skills:  Assesses own strengths and weaknesses; strives to continuously build knowledge and skills related to technical tools. 

GiGi’s Playhouse Core Values: 
GiGi’s challenges all staff and volunteers to embody the following core values:  

• Enthusiasm: Bringing positive, high energy to our work  

• Best of All: Always looking to improve in all that we do. Challenge yourself every day.  

• Get It Done: Making things happen and blasting through barriers when needed  

• Believe: Believe in ourselves, believe in our mission, believe we can achieve all that we set out to achieve  

• Locally Concerned, Enterprise Minded: Bringing our Best of All to our local playhouse while being mindful of how our work affects the broader GiGi’s network.