Senior Grant Writer, Principal & Institutional Giving

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 104,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work policy

Competitive salaries

Benefits package

Paid time off

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

NRDC is seeking a Senior Grant Writer to join the Development team in New York, Washington DC, or Chicago. You will craft fundraising materials for foundations and corporations, translating complex programs into compelling proposals and reports.

You’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams, ensure adherence to funder guidelines, and help manage budgets and financial narratives for proposals and grants. NRDC values DEI and mission-driven work.

Qualifications

• Minimum 4-7 years of experience writing for a high-volume non-profit Development department

Responsibilities

• Support efforts to maintain and grow revenue from institutional donors by writing fundraising materials—including concept notes, letters of intent, proposal narratives, program updates, and narrative grant reports.
• Collaborate with U.S. and international program teams, capacity teams, and front-line fundraising strategists, assessing complex information to develop narratives that align with funder priorities and follow guidelines, templates, and forms.
• Create project plans and timelines, coordinate and facilitate communication between internal teams to provide input for funder documents.
• Compile and integrate complex information about NRDC’s issues and programmatic work, reconciling inputs to describe activities clearly.
• Develops effective fundraising materials for a range of funders, focused on foundations and corporations.
• Lead complex writing assignments from planning through submission, synthesizing technical, financial, and programmatic information; coordinating contributors across teams
• Finalize required financial documents for proposal and report submissions, including budgets and expense reports.
• Provide copy editing support for fellow writers to ensure clarity and messaging consistency.
• Serve as lead writer on select deliverables for Principal Gifts donors during high-volume periods and stay updated on NRDC initiatives.
• Maintain knowledge of funder interests and expectations and lead submission processes with deadlines.

Skills

Grant writing

Nonprofit fundraising

Proposal writing

Editing

Team collaboration

Microsoft Office

Salesforce

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook

Salesforce

Job description

NRDC is seeking a Senior Grant Writer to join the Development team in New York, Washington DC, or Chicago. You will craft fundraising materials for foundations and corporations, translating complex programs into compelling proposals and reports.

You’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams, ensure adherence to funder guidelines, and help manage budgets and financial narratives for proposals and grants. NRDC values DEI and mission-driven work.