Overview
Grant Specialist Jobs in Rockford, IL at Prairie State Legal Services
Prairie State Legal Services is a nonprofit legal aid organization that provides civil legal services to low-income, elderly, and people with disabilities. PSLS has 11 offices serving 36 counties throughout northern and central Illinois. PSLS focuses its services on legal problems that impact the ability of our clients to meet their basic human needs, including physical safety, access to healthcare, adequate housing, and similar needs. It is the only legal aid organization in the majority of its service area.
The Grant Specialist is primarily responsible for overseeing a portfolio of approximately 50 grants from federal and state sources. This includes working to enhance funding models, identifying new sources of funding, writing grant proposals, and developing sustainable and effective grant programs. The annual budget of over $18M is largely funded by federal and state grants. We currently generate approximately 7% of our funding through charitable giving and seek to significantly increase this percentage through active efforts to increase private support.
Responsibilities
The Grant Specialist’s duties will include writing coherent, organized, and compelling proposals, preparing progress reports, engaging with donor agencies, and working with other internal stakeholders to ensure effective implementation and accurate reporting for grant purposes. Preferred applicants are deadline-driven team players with outstanding multitasking abilities.
To ensure success in this position, applicants need to write well, have proficient knowledge of fundraising methods, and be committed to the mission of Prairie State Legal Services. The Administrative Office is located in Rockford, Illinois, but this position may be based out of one of our other offices.
The Grant Specialist’s tasks will include:
Preparing proposals by determining concepts, gathering and formatting information, writing drafts, and obtaining approvals
Determining proposal concepts by identifying and clarifying opportunities and needs, studying requests for proposal (RFPs), and attending strategy meetings
Meeting proposal deadlines by establishing priorities and target dates for information gathering, writing, review, approval, and transmittal
Entering and monitoring tracking data
Developing relationships and collaborating with key internal and external stakeholders
Displaying adherence to the organization’s mission
Maintaining proficient knowledge of the organization’s history and programs
Assisting with the execution of the development department’s strategy
Identifying grant opportunities
Writing, submitting, and managing grant proposals
Furnishing prospective funders with supporting documents
Collaborating with staff to send funders newsletters and annual reports and to coordinate on-site visits
Collaborating with finance and programs staff to properly track the outcomes and accounting of grants for reporting purposes
Maintaining digital and hard records as required by funders
Salary and Benefits
The Grant Specialist position is a full-time position at 37.5 hours per week and will be located in the office that best suits the chosen candidate. The salary range for this position is $50,000 to $65,874 annually. The starting salary for the successful candidate will be determined based on prior relevant experience. PSLS is committed to providing an excellent, comprehensive benefits package to its full-time employees that includes:
Health insurance, including the opportunity to qualify for a wellness credit
Dental Insurance
Vision insurance
403b retirement plan, including employer contributions
Training and education program
PTO that starts at 3 weeks/year and increases with additional years worked at PSLS
Paid sick leave
6 weeks of paid parental leave after one year of employment
12 paid holidays
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree required
3-5 years of previous experience successfully acquiring and administering government grants
Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal
Strong people skills
Excellent organizational skills
Ability to meet deadlines
Understanding of and experience working within the legal community preferred
Demonstrated experience in meeting fundraising goals
Proven ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with high-level staff and funders
Proficiencies in fundraising software and project management software, preferably ClickUp and Raiser’s Edge NXT
A solid understanding of and commitment to the mission and philosophy of Prairie State
PSLS is an equal opportunity employer that strives to create a diverse and inclusive working environment. We recruit, employ, pay, and promote qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, national origin or citizenship, ancestry, religion, sex, disability, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, military status or unfavorable discharge from military service, or other characteristics protected by law.
Title: Grant Specialist
Company: Prairie State Legal Services
Location: Rockford, IL
