Assistant Director of Institutional Giving

Nonprofit Professionals Now; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) in the Portland metro area seeks an Assistant Director of Institutional Giving to lead research, writing, and stewardship for grants from private foundations, corporations, and government agencies. The role supervises staff and coordinates with Advancement, Programs, and Finance to align funding with NACF’s priorities.

The ideal candidate excels in proposal development, storytelling, and program impact reporting, with strong writing and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of nonprofit grant writing and institutional fundraising experience.
• Experience researching, developing, writing, and submitting grant proposals.
• Experience managing grant reporting, compliance, and deliverables.
• 3+ years with federal grants and government reporting.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading skills.
• Experience stewarding relationships with funders.
• Translate complex program information into clear proposals and reports.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to work across departments and staff.
• Experience using CRMs or grant management systems.

Responsibilities

• Research and identify foundation, corporate, and government funding opportunities.
• Maintain an active institutional grants pipeline and calendar.
• Lead development, writing, and submission of grant proposals and reports.
• Coordinate with Programs, Finance, and Communications on proposals.
• Ensure funder guidelines are met and deadlines are kept.
• Supervise Grants Specialist and manage related staff.

Skills

Grant writing

Nonprofit fundraising

Research

Project management

Communication

Tools

CRM systems

Grant management software

Job description

Assistant Director of Institutional Giving

Salary Range: $85,000-$95,000 annually, plus benefits
Status: Full-time, 40 hours per week
Reports to: Senior Director of Advancement
Location: Portland Metro Area, Oregon, with hybrid working options

Organizational Overview

The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is a Native-led national organization dedicated to promoting the revitalization, appreciation, and perpetuation of indigenous arts and cultures. Our mission is to advance equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change with American Indians, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Native people in the United States. Through our program initiatives, NACF supports Native artists, culture bearers, and projects that are focused on environmental, cultural, and social change.

We support artists to create new work, develop their arts practice, and produce projects in collaboration with communities. Support includes financial resources, artist training, and professional development, presenting and promoting artist work, and project management. NACF will continue with community engagement across the continental 48 states, Alaska, and Hawaii as it pertains to raising the visibility and availability of Native resources and knowledge to address cultural equity and help strengthen Indigenous communities, arts, and cultures.

NACF also owns and is continuing to develop the Center for Native Arts + Cultures (CNAC), a historic building in Portland, Oregon, that serves as a home for Indigenous artists, cultural practitioners, community engagement, exhibitions, events, and NACF's broader national work. The development of CNAC represents an important area of organizational growth and investment.

Position Overview

The Assistant Director of Institutional Giving is a key member of NACF's Advancement team and is responsible for the development and management of institutional grant funding from private and family foundations, corporations, and government agencies at the local, state, and federal levels.

The position leads grant research, prospect development, proposal writing, submission, reporting, and grant stewardship. The Assistant Director of Institutional Giving works closely with the Senior Director of Advancement, Programs, Finance, and other staff to align institutional funding opportunities with NACF's strategic priorities, programmatic needs, operating needs, and organizational goals.

The Assistant Director of Institutional Giving manages NACF's institutional grants pipeline and calendar and ensures that proposals, reports, budgets, supporting materials, and other grant deliverables are accurate, compelling, complete, and submitted on schedule.

The successful candidate will be an exceptional writer and project manager who can translate complex organizational and programmatic information into clear and compelling grant proposals and reports. This position is responsible for supervising one full-time staff and consultants as needed. The candidate will also demonstrate strong research, organizational, relationship-building, and collaboration skills.

Essential Responsibilities

Funding Strategy and Prospect Research

• Research and identify foundation, corporate, and government funding opportunities at the local, state, and federal levels that align with NACF’s mission, programs, strategic priorities, and funding needs.
• Maintain an active institutional grants pipeline, tracking prospective funders, deadlines, anticipated funding amounts, eligibility requirements, relationship history, and strategic alignment.
• Conduct research on prospective institutional funders and maintain accurate funder profiles and relationship information.
• Develop recommendations for prospective funders and grant opportunities in collaboration with the Senior Director of Advancement and relevant staff.
• Monitor foundation, corporate, and government funding trends and identify emerging opportunities relevant to NACF.
• Support the development and implementation of multi-year institutional funding strategies.

Proposal Development

• Lead the development, writing, editing, and submission of grant proposals, letters of inquiry, applications, and related materials.
• Coordinate proposal development with Programs, Finance, Communications, and other relevant staff, including gathering programmatic information, organizational data, budgets, outcomes, and supporting materials.
• Develop and maintain institutional narratives, organizational information, program descriptions, boilerplate language, and other materials used in grant proposals and fundraising.
• Ensure proposals respond to funder guidelines, communicate NACF’s impact and priorities clearly, meet submission requirements, and are completed on schedule.
• Coordinate internal proposal review and approval processes.
• Manage complex and multi-year proposals, including significant institutional funding requests.

Grant Reporting and Compliance

• Manage NACF’s institutional grant reporting calendar and ensure narrative, financial, interim, and final reports are completed and submitted on time.
• Lead the preparation and writing of grant reports in collaboration with Programs, Finance, and other relevant staff.
• Collect and synthesize program outcomes, financial information, data, stories, and other materials required for grant reporting.
• Monitor grant agreements, restrictions, requirements, deliverables, and deadlines to support compliance with funder expectations.
• Maintain accurate information on grant awards, restrictions, reporting requirements, budgets, and deliverables.
• Identify potential grant-related issues or risks and communicate them proactively to the Senior Director of Advancement and relevant staff.

Funder Stewardship and Grant Operations

• Establish and maintain professional relationships with foundation, corporate, and government funders, and support funder cultivation, stewardship, renewal, and ongoing communication.
• Prepare correspondence, funder updates, briefing materials, talking points, and other materials to support funder engagement.
• Coordinate funder communications and meetings in collaboration with the Senior Director of Advancement and organizational leadership.
• Track funder interactions, relationship information, proposals, awards, and communications in NACF’s CRM and other systems.
• Maintain NACF’s institutional grants calendar and tracking systems, and keep grant information and deadlines current and accessible to relevant staff.
• Maintain complete and accurate electronic grant files, including proposals, reports, agreements, correspondence, budgets, and supporting documentation.
• Support accurate institutional giving projections, pipeline reporting, fundraising updates, and Advancement planning.
• Manage and supervise a full-time Grants Specialist.
  

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in nonprofit grant writing, institutional fundraising
• Demonstrated experience researching, developing, writing, and submitting successful grant proposals.
• Experience managing grant reporting, compliance, and grant deliverables.
• 3+ years of experience with federal grants and/or government grant reporting.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading skills.
• Experience stewarding relationships with foundation and government funders.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex programmatic and organizational information into clear, compelling proposals and reports.
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Experience using CRMs or other systems to track grants, prospects, funders, deadlines, and relationships.
• Strong technical skills and the ability to learn and adapt to new systems and technology.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across departments and with staff at varying levels of an organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in, for, or with Native communities, organizations, artists, or cultural institutions.
• Experience working for a national nonprofit organization.
• Experience managing complex or multi-year institutional grants.
• Familiarity with fundraising databases, grant management systems, and project management tools.
• Experience with grants supporting arts, culture, community development, Indigenous communities, or related fields.
• Supervisory/managerial experience preferred but not required.

Company Rights

The above information has been designated to indicate the general nature and level of work performed for this position. It is not to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of the employee assigned to this job. This job description does not constitute an employment contract. Reasonable accommodation will be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.