Grants & Fundraising Associate
The Grants Associate plays a vital role in the success of the Philanthropic Investment Team by supporting the effective management and stewardship of the organization’s institutional funding portfolio. This entry-level position combines project management, content development, and cross-functional coordination to ensure high-quality proposals and timely reporting to institutional funders. Under the supervision of the Director of Institutional Philanthropic Investments, the Associate will collaborate closely with Institutional Grant Managers and other members of the Philanthropic Investments team to advance shared fundraising goals. This role offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in institutional fundraising and grants management, with mentorship and growth pathways alongside seasoned development professionals.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Support Managers and Director of Institutional Portfolio to ensure successful proposals, reporting, and stewardship plans are implemented
- Serve as the project manager for the institutional grants portfolio
- Ensure investor deadlines are met and well-managed
- Ensure fidelity of proposal and investor data in Salesforce
- Manage grant deliverables and deadlines using applicable software
- Ensure submission of complete and accurate deliverables within external deadlines
- Collect and/or create where necessary content for reports and grant attachments
- Understand upcoming deadlines and deliverables and coordinate what will be needed based on the goals/proposal
- Understand investor audiences and build content to concisely and successfully influence successful proposals
- Conduct prospect research to identify, cultivate and solicit new grants and investments, provide recommendation on eligibility and alignment of opportunities with the rest of the team
- Update and maintains the grants and contracts calendar
- Work collaboratively with the team on all fundraising activities including stewardship events
- Participate in meetings, conferences, and other events for the purpose of conveying and/or gathering information required to perform functions.
- Performs other duties as assigned. '
$60,000 - $78,000 annually
Education Required
- Associate degree in English, Communications, Journalism, Marketing, or other related field
Qualifications and Skills Required
- Administrative experience (e.g. office assistant, customer service representative, etc.) including proven track record of preparing documents, filing, and gathering/reporting information
- Strong project and time management skills
- Experience and comfort working within project management systems
- Strong writing skills
- Proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office, Adobe Acrobat
- Experience in fundraising
- Experience with Salesforce
The Associate generally works in an office environment but may occasionally be required to perform job duties outside of the typical office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.
Job Requirements
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
About The Commit Partnership:
Our Mission
We believe that through our actions, Dallas County – which educates 10% of Texas and 1% of the nation– can be an inclusive and prosperous region where economic opportunity is shared equitably. That’s why our true north goal is that by 2040 at least half of all 25-34-year-old residents of Dallas County, irrespective of race, will be provided the opportunity to earn a living wage.
To increase living wage attainment, we must equitably increase educational success aligned with high-demand jobs, maximizing the cumulative impact from early education all the way to college, career, and/or military readiness and accessing and completing a strong postsecondary education. Our staff aligns community stakeholders around this shared future roadmap – analyzing data to lift up strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding that grow our community’s capacity to serve every student more effectively.
Our Story
Founded in 2012, this partnership is the nation’s largest educational collective impact organization, composed of backbone staff and over 200 partners across Dallas County and the state of Texas working collaboratively to solve systemic education challenges. Our staff aligns community stakeholders around a shared future roadmap – analyzing data to lift up strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding that grow our community’s capacity to serve every student more effectively.
Together, we work to advocate for excellent and equitable public education that ensures all students – regardless of race, place, or socio-economic status – have the power to determine their future and earn a living wage. We do this work through several ventures including Early Matters Dallas, North Texas Tutoring Corps, Dallas County Promise, Texas College Bridge, Dallas Thrives, Commit’s Policy Team, the Texas Impact Network, and several coalitions.
True North Traits
Our True North Traits creates a mission-driven environment and champions us to do our best work each day.
Systemic Impact: You understand the barriers and lived experiences that our students face and are skilled at delivering systemic solutions at scale that address these needs. You achieve significant, sustainable results that increase equitable outcomes through your work (including the reallocation or improvement in public funding), and you recognize the difference between activity and impact.
Judgment: You exhibit a relentless “students first” focus by thinking strategically about what data must be collected, analyzed, visualized, and activated (and what steps must be taken, in what order) to cause resources to be reallocated and actions to be taken to systemically overcome the root causes hindering achievement of the Partnership's mission.
Communication: By listening to understand before seeking to be understood, you’re able to build trust and facilitate collaboration across lines of difference, recognizing that both are essential to our success. You are also able to find common ground with diverse stakeholders and can tailor the organization's message to different audiences as needed to influence meaningful change.
Innovation: You can create or meaningfully contribute to the design and execution of a systemic and transformational strategic plan to solve complex problems, often at scale, that improves organizational effectiveness and/or closes equity gaps for our students and families.
Equity and Inclusion: You intentionally create spaces where relevant stakeholders have a seat or voice at the table, ensuring that each person at the table's thoughts and perspectives are shared, valued by all others at the table, and reflected in our work. You're excited to help build and/or contribute to teams where everyone feels welcomed, respected, valued, and highly supported.
Joy: You recognize that people are central to our work, striking a balance between people and process, and you inspire others with your optimism and thirst for substantive change in service to the mission.
Integrity: You admit mistakes openly, share learnings widely, and elevate bad news quickly, also capable of making difficult decisions in all situations to ensure the success of the organization.
The Commit Partnership is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to hire individuals with backgrounds similar to that of the stakeholders they serve. As an organization that embraces equity and inclusion, all employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Commit does not sponsor visas of any kind.