Grants and Partnerships Coordinator

The Fayette Education Foundation; Lexington (KY); Hybrid; USD 30,000 - 39,000; Part time

Job summary

The Fayette Education Foundation in Lexington, Kentucky seeks a part-time Grants and Partnerships Coordinator to support donor stewardship, grant management, and program development.

Working with the Executive Director, the coordinator will maintain donor databases, track reporting, and build relationships with teachers, schools, and funding partners. This role emphasizes both people and systems, with opportunities to own projects and improve processes.

Qualifications

• Professional experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, education, community engagement, communications, project management, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain grant and partnership tracking systems with timely communication and follow-up.
• Serve as primary contact for teachers, schools, and recipients of FEF grants and initiatives.
• Help navigate grant requirements, purchasing procedures, documentation, and reporting.

Skills

Fundraising

Donor relations

Communications

Project management

Nonprofit development

Tools

Bloomerang

Job description

The Fayette Education Foundation (FEF) is seeking a highly organized, relationship-focused professional to serve as its part-time Grants and Partnerships Coordinator.

About The Fayette Education Foundation

The Fayette Education Foundation is an independent nonprofit in Lexington, Kentucky, that brings together donors and community partners to support Fayette County Public Schools. Through classroom grants and other initiatives, we help educators bring new ideas to life, remove barriers to learning, and expand opportunities for students.

Working closely with the Executive Director, this position will help strengthen FEF’s relationships with donors, community partners, educators, and schools while managing many of the systems that support the Foundation’s growing fundraising, grantmaking, and partnership work.

A key responsibility of this position will be to own and maintain FEF's donor stewardship and partnership-management systems, ensuring donors, grant recipients, and funding partners receive timely communication, reporting, recognition, and follow-up.

The ideal candidate enjoys both people and systems: someone who can communicate professionally with a donor, help a teacher navigate a grant requirement, dig into fundraising data, research a prospective funder, and make sure important details and deadlines don't fall through the cracks.

The coordinator will have the opportunity to take ownership of important areas of FEF's work, improve systems, contribute ideas, and help build the fundraising and partnership infrastructure of a growing education foundation.

Key Responsibilities

Partnership and Grant Management

• Own and maintain FEF's grant and partnership tracking systems, ensuring grant recipients and funding partners receive consistent communication and follow-up.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for teachers, schools, and other recipients of FEF-funded grants and initiatives.
• Help grant recipients navigate purchasing procedures, documentation, project requirements, recognition requirements, and reporting.
• Track grant awards from approval through completion, including deadlines, expenditures, deliverables, reports, and follow-up.
• Gather project outcomes, participation information, stories, photos, and other documentation that demonstrates impact.
• Coordinate reporting to corporate, foundation, and individual funding partners.
• Help ensure FEF meets donor and grant reporting requirements and deadlines.
• Maintain organized records of FEF grants, programs, partnerships, and funding commitments.
• Identify stories and outcomes that can be shared with donors and the broader community.

Donor Stewardship and Development

• Own and maintain FEF's donor stewardship system, ensuring donors receive timely acknowledgments, communication, recognition, reporting, and follow-up.
• Manage FEF's donor database and fundraising platform, Bloomerang, with an emphasis on using its capabilities to strengthen fundraising and donor retention.
• Maintain accurate donor records, giving histories, relationships, notes, and contact information.
• Develop and maintain donor segments, lists, reports, dashboards, and tracking systems.
• Coordinate regular donor stewardship communications, renewal reminders, acknowledgments, and other touchpoints.
• Help identify opportunities to deepen relationships with existing donors and partners.
• Conduct research on current and prospective individual, corporate, and foundation donors.
• Maintain prospect information and help track donor cultivation and follow-up.
• Support fundraising campaigns, sponsorships, special events, and other development initiatives.

Grants and Resource Development

• Assist with—and, as experience allows, take responsibility for—preparing grant applications, letters of inquiry, reports, and supporting materials.
• Gather program data and information needed for proposals and funder reports.
• Research prospective corporate and community partners and identify potential opportunities for engagement.

Communications and Digital Support

• Make routine updates to the FEF website, including program information, news, events, donor recognition, and giving opportunities.
• Help develop donor newsletters, email communications, appeals, and stewardship materials.
  Maintain accurate contact lists and audience segments for donor and community communications.
• Coordinate with FEF's communications and marketing partners as needed.
• Help ensure information across donor communications, the website, grant reports, and fundraising materials is accurate and consistent.

Organizational and Project Support

• Develop and maintain efficient systems, calendars, templates, and processes that support FEF's continued growth.
• Track key deadlines, commitments, and follow-up items.
• Assist with major FEF fundraising events and initiatives.
• Support preparation for Board and committee meetings as needed.
• Take ownership of special projects based on organizational priorities.
• Identify opportunities to streamline processes and improve the way FEF manages donor, grant, and partnership information.

Because FEF is a small and growing organization, this is not a narrowly defined support role. The Grants and Partnerships Coordinator will have opportunities to take ownership of projects and systems, contribute ideas, solve problems, and help shape FEF's approach to donor stewardship, fundraising, and community partnerships.

Schedule and Flexibility

FEF recognizes that talented professionals may be seeking meaningful work that fits alongside family responsibilities, consulting or freelance work, retirement, or other commitments. While some daytime availability will be necessary for meetings with schools, donors, and community partners, this position offers flexibility in scheduling and the opportunity for a hybrid work arrangement.

The position is designed around accomplishing the work and meeting organizational needs while providing reasonable flexibility in when and where much of that work is completed.

What We're Looking For

The strongest candidate will be someone who is comfortable working independently, takes initiative, and enjoys making organizations and systems work better.

Candidates should have:

• Professional experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, education, community engagement, communications, project management, or a related field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, relationships, and deadlines independently.
• Strong interpersonal skills and comfort communicating with donors, educators, community partners, and Board members.
• Comfort learning and using technology, databases, and online platforms.
• Experience with a donor CRM, fundraising platform, or other database preferred; Bloomerang experience is a plus but not required.
• Ability to work with data and generate useful reports and tracking information.
• Strong judgment and discretion when working with donor and organizational information.
• Grant research or grant-writing experience is a plus.
• Familiarity with public education, philanthropy, or the Lexington community is a plus.

This position may be an especially good fit for an experienced professional who wants meaningful, mission-driven work without a full-time schedule.

The successful candidate will enjoy variety and being part of a small organization where their work has a visible impact. They should be equally comfortable building a relationship, managing the details behind a project, learning a new technology, and figuring out a better way to do something.