Grants & Institutional Funding Manager

Position Summary:

Say Yes Buffalo seeks a highly organized, strategic, and exceptional writer to serve as Grants & Institutional Funding Manager. This position plays a critical leadership role in advancing the organization's fundraising strategy by managing the full lifecycle of institutional funding opportunities—from prospect research and proposal development through grant administration, reporting, and systems management.

Working in close partnership with the Senior Director of Development and Strategy, this position serves as the operational backbone of the organization's institutional fundraising efforts, expanding organizational capacity by coordinating approximately 180–200 grant proposals and reports annually across a diverse portfolio of government, foundation, and corporate funding opportunities.

The Grants & Institutional Funding Manager will lead proposal production, maintain grants systems and infrastructure, proactively identify new funding opportunities, coordinate cross-departmental proposal development, and help build efficient organizational processes that strengthen Say Yes Buffalo's long-term fundraising capacity.

This position is ideal for an individual who enjoys both strategic thinking and meticulous execution, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and is passionate about using strong writing, organization, and project management skills to support meaningful work for children, youth, and families.

Primary Responsibilities:

Institutional Funding Strategy & Prospect Research

• Research, identify, and evaluate corporate, foundation, local, state, and federal funding opportunities aligned with organizational priorities.
• Maintain an active pipeline of prospective funding opportunities.
• Monitor recurring grant opportunities and emerging philanthropic trends.
• Prepare concise funding opportunity briefs and recommendations.
• Conduct funder research to support cultivation strategies.
• Maintain a comprehensive grants calendar and funding pipeline.

Proposal Development & Writing

• Draft compelling grant proposals, letters of inquiry, reports, concept papers, and supporting materials.
• Tailor proposals to align with funder priorities while maintaining organizational voice.
• Interview program staff and leadership to gather information needed for proposals.
• Develop first drafts of narratives, budgets in partnership with Finance, and supporting documentation.
• Edit and proofread submissions to ensure quality and consistency.
• Maintain proposal templates and organizational boilerplate language.

Grant Project Management

• Coordinate the full proposal development process from opportunity identification through submission.
• Develop proposal workplans and internal timelines.
• Coordinate contributions from program, finance, evaluation, executive leadership, and external partners.
• Monitor internal deadlines and proactively follow up to ensure timely completion.
• Assemble complete submission packages and submit proposals through funder portals.

Grants Administration & Systems Management

• Maintain grants management systems, databases, and electronic files.
• Track proposal submissions, awards, reporting deadlines, and compliance requirements.
• Maintain institutional documents, attachments, and organizational profiles.
• Develop systems that improve efficiency, consistency, and knowledge management.
• Ensure accurate grant records and documentation.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Coordinate programmatic and financial grant reports.
• Collect outcome data, success stories, and evaluation information.
• Work with program staff to ensure timely reporting.
• Recommend improvements to proposal development processes and grants systems.
• Support development of stronger organizational evaluation and impact reporting.

Salary 77,000 K 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred.
• Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in grant writing, fundraising, nonprofit management, communications, project management, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success writing competitive grant proposals.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Outstanding project management and organizational abilities.
• Ability to manage numerous concurrent projects with competing deadlines.
• Strong analytical and research skills.
• Experience with grants management software, CRM systems (we use Salesforce currently), and online grant portals.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills; experience with Salesforce preferred.
• Experience coordinating work across multiple departments.
• Budget development experience preferred.

• Valid NYS Driver’s License.
• Believe and practice Say Yes Racial Equity Statement, “Equity will be achieved when we can all just wake up and live freely; be valued and respected; live free from structural impediments based off of perceived racial characteristics; and, have fair representation and opportunity.”