East African Community Services (EACS) is a growing, community-driven nonprofit organization serving children, youth, adults, and families throughout King County. Through culturally responsive programming, EACS advances educational achievement, economic mobility, family well-being, youth leadership, workforce development, and affordable housing opportunities.
Our programs include Early Learning, Home Visiting, Afterschool and Summer Learning, Youth Mentorship, Sports and Recreation, Family Engagement, Youth Justice, Workforce Development, and Affordable Housing Development. EACS currently manages a diverse portfolio of public and private grants and contracts while pursuing ambitious growth and community impact goals.
EACS is seeking a highly motivated, strategic, and results-oriented professional to lead grant development, fundraising efforts, donor engagement, and funder stewardship across the organization.
Position Summary
The Grants, Fundraising & Donor Relations Manager is responsible for leading EACS's grant development, fundraising, donor stewardship, and institutional funding strategies. This position manages the full funding lifecycle from prospect research and relationship cultivation to proposal development, award management, compliance monitoring, reporting, and donor stewardship.
The successful candidate will serve as a key member of the leadership team and work closely with the Executive Director, CFO, Program Managers, Board of Directors, and community partners to secure and sustain funding that advances EACS's mission.
This is a highly visible position responsible for helping EACS achieve annual revenue goals, expand strategic partnerships, and strengthen relationships with foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual donors.
Key Responsibilities
Grants Strategy & Prospect Development
- Develop and implement an annual grant and fundraising strategy aligned with organizational priorities.
- Research, identify, and evaluate local, state, federal, foundation, corporate, and
- philanthropic funding opportunities.
- Maintain a comprehensive funding pipeline and prospect database.
- Conduct ongoing prospect research to identify new funding opportunities and emerging funders.
- Lead go/no-go decision-making processes for grant opportunities in partnership with leadership.
- Maintain a master grants and fundraising calendar with all application, reporting, and stewardship deadlines.
Grant Writing & Proposal Development
- Lead development of competitive grant applications, letters of inquiry, concept papers, proposals, budgets, and supporting documentation.
- Write compelling narratives that effectively communicate EACS's impact, vision, and funding needs.
- Collaborate with program and finance staff to develop budgets, outcomes, performance measures, and evaluation plans.
- Coordinate proposal development timelines and ensure all submissions meet funder requirements.
- Review and edit all grant materials for quality, consistency, and compliance.
- Maintain a library of organizational narratives, impact stories, program descriptions, and boilerplate content.
Fundraising & Donor Relations
- Support implementation of EACS's annual fundraising plan.
- Cultivate and steward relationships with foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual donors.
- Coordinate donor communications, stewardship activities, impact reports, and acknowledgments.
- Assist with donor cultivation events, community engagement opportunities, and fundraising campaigns.
- Develop funder briefing materials and donor presentations.
- Track donor engagement activities and maintain accurate donor records.
- Work with leadership to identify opportunities for multi-year, unrestricted, and capital funding support.
Grant Management & Compliance
- Manage the organization's grant portfolio from award through closeout.
- Monitor grant deliverables, reporting deadlines, budgets, and compliance requirements.
- Coordinate monthly, quarterly, and annual grant reports.
- Ensure program and finance teams understand funder requirements and contractual obligations.
- Facilitate grant kickoff meetings and grant closeout processes.
- Track grant performance measures and outcomes in partnership with program teams.
- Maintain accurate grant files and documentation.
- Support audits, site visits, monitoring reviews, and funder inquiries.
Cross-Department Collaboration
- Work closely with managers across Education, Early Learning, Mentorship, Sports, Family Engagement, Youth Justice, Workforce Development, and Housing programs.
- Gather program outcomes, participant stories, and impact data for proposals and reports.
- Support leadership in developing funding strategies for new initiatives and expansion opportunities.
- Collaborate with finance staff on grant budgets, reimbursement requests, and expenditure monitoring.
- Provide technical assistance to staff regarding grant requirements and reporting expectations.
Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement
- Manage and maintain EACS's grant tracking and fundraising management systems, including Monday.com and Apricot.
- Ensure all grant opportunities, submissions, awards, reporting deadlines, funder contacts, and deliverables are accurately tracked and updated in organizational systems.
- Develop and maintain grant and fundraising dashboards that provide leadership with real-time visibility into funding pipelines, proposal status, award activity, and reporting requirements.
- Produce monthly funding pipeline reports summarizing submitted proposals, pending opportunities, awards received, reporting deadlines, and revenue projections.
- Collaborate with program managers to ensure participant outcomes, performance metrics, and impact data are accurately captured within Apricot and available for grant proposals and funder reports.
- Work closely with finance and program teams to monitor progress toward annual fundraising and revenue goals.
- Maintain organized electronic grant files, donor records, proposal archives, and compliance documentation.
- Identify and implement process improvements that strengthen grant management, fundraising effectiveness, data quality, and organizational compliance.
- Train and support staff on grant tracking procedures, reporting requirements, and documentation standards within Monday.com and Apricot.
- Support the development of organizational dashboards and reporting systems that demonstrate program impact across Education, Early Learning, Mentorship, Sports, Family Engagement, Youth Justice, Workforce Development, and Housing initiatives.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
- Minimum 5 years of successful grant writing, fundraising, or development experience.
- Demonstrated success by securing foundation, corporate, and government funding.
- Experience managing grants from proposal through reporting and closeout.
- Exceptional writing, editing, and communication skills.
- Strong project management and organizational skills.
- Experience managing multiple deadlines simultaneously.
- Ability to work collaboratively across departments.
- Experience developing and monitoring grant budgets.
Preferred
- Experience working in nonprofit organizations serving diverse communities.
- Experience with affordable housing, education, youth development, early learning, workforce development, or community services funding.
- Familiarity with federal, state, county, and municipal funding sources.
- Experience with donor management systems, CRM platforms, Apricot, Monday.com, Salesforce, or similar databases.
- Knowledge of King County and Washington State philanthropic and public funding landscapes.
Core Competencies
- Grant Writing Excellence
- Fundraising Strategy
- Donor Stewardship
- Relationship Building
- Budget Development
- Project Management
- Strategic Thinking
- Compliance Management
- Data Analysis
- Cultural Responsiveness
- Communication and Presentation Skills
Why Join EACS?
This is an opportunity to help shape the future of one of the region's leading community-based organizations serving East African and immigrant families. The Grants, Fundraising & Donor Relations Manager will play a critical role in expanding educational opportunities, strengthening families, advancing youth success, supporting economic mobility, and helping EACS deliver transformative affordable housing and community development projects throughout King County.
Benefits
EACS offers a competitive benefits package that may include:
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Paid holidays
- Paid time off (PTO)
- Sick leave
- Professional development opportunities
Benefits are subject to organizational policies and eligibility requirements.
Work Environment
This position operates in a hybrid office and community-based environment and may require occasional evening and weekend work to attend community events, donor meetings, fundraising activities, and organizational functions.
Occasional travel between EACS locations and community partner sites throughout King County may be required.
Equal Opportunity Employer
East African Community Services (EACS) is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute.
EACS does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, organizational needs, and business requirements.
Safeguarding & Professional Conduct
EACS is committed to maintaining a safe environment for children, youth, families, staff, volunteers, and community members. All employees are expected to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct, ethics, confidentiality, and accountability.
Employment is contingent upon successful completion of required background checks, verification of credentials, and compliance with organizational policies and procedures.
Pay: $85,000.00 - $95,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply
Work Location: In person
