Grants Manager

For over 27 years, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) has provided local, long-term technical training to smallholder farming families in Central America. Our proven model equips and empowers farmers with the resources to implement sustainable alternatives to environmentally destructive practices. Through our program, farmers learn to grow an abundance of healthy food, heal and sustain the land for the future, halt tropical deforestation, and start a small business.

Position Summary

We are in a period of growth, anchored in our Million Farm Transformation initiative, with the ambitious goal of supporting a million farms by 2030 to transition to regenerative organic practices. The Grants Manager will play a significant role in this plan for scale by managing the growth and diversification of a comprehensive grants program that predominantly includes family, corporate, and other foundations. This person will proactively manage and support the full grants cycle: identifying potential funders, stewarding relationships with funders, maintaining a funding pipeline and portfolio, and the timely submission of compliant and compelling applications and reports. The person in this role will be responsible for an increase in grant funding year-over-year.

Additionally, the Grants Manager will support other staff as they steward and secure private sector and institutional partnerships and funding.

Primary Responsibilities

• Co-create, with the Director of Development and other staff, a comprehensive, proactive grants plan that aligns with the SHI’s fundraising objectives and is focused on growing and diversifying funding. 

• Monitor the prospecting, application, compliance, administration, reporting, and renewal of grant contracts. 

• Work closely with the Director of Development, Director of Programs and Partnerships, and other staff to identify SHI’s funding needs and find aligned opportunities.

• Manage and support grant prospect research to identify new opportunities and stay up to date on current funders in the fields of international nonprofits, small-scale agriculture, regenerative agriculture, Central America, environmental and human impacts of climate change, and deforestation.

• Create and co-create compliant and compelling proposals that include input from key staff. 

• Manage efficient editing and review processes that include other staff. Ensure the quality and consistency of grant proposals and reporting by adhering to SHI’s branding.

• Maintain a high-quality stewardship process for funding prospects and grant makers. 

• Maintain knowledge of SHI’s current programming, initiatives, and impact.

• Maintain knowledge of SHI’s external and internal communications to inform grant writing and streamline messaging.

• Maintain knowledge of current events, trends, and news that may impact funding.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, and a minimum of 5-7 years of demonstrated successful grant writing experience.

• Bilingual English and Spanish with excellent grammar and English writing skills.

• Research-driven, persuasive writer.

• Demonstrated ability to write grants and proposals for a range of funding levels and types.

• Experience in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of funders.

• Familiarity with institutional funding compliance.

• Knowledge of international nonprofits, small-scale agriculture, regenerative agriculture, Central America, environmental and human impacts of climate change, and/or deforestation.

• Ability to travel within the U.S. and internationally if required. A US Visa is required if applying from outside of the United States.

• Demonstrated ability to take primary responsibility for a diverse number of projects and to complete them in a timely manner with limited supervision.

• Self-motivation and discipline to regularly set and achieve work goals.

• Ability to thrive in a highly collaborative, remote environment. 

• Ability to maintain a high level of poise and professionalism in all circumstances.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe PDF. Working knowledge of Google Mail, Slack, Raiser’s Edge, and cloud-based storage and file sharing systems are highly desired.  Experience with grants management systems is highly desired.