PROJECT SPECIALIST

Position Summary

Position Purpose

The Grants Manager is responsible for managing the full lifecycle of foundation, corporate, and government grants for Youth for Christ of Northern Indiana (YFC). This includes prospect research, proposal development, submission tracking, reporting, and relationship support. The role ensures that grants are accurate, compelling, and timely, aligned with YFC’s ministry strategy and funding priorities.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Grant Strategy & Portfolio Management
• Develop and maintain a strategic grants calendar aligned with organizational funding priorities.
• Identify funding gaps and proactively pursue institutional funding opportunities to support Campus Life, Juvenile Justice Ministry, and City Life programming.
• Maintain a balanced portfolio of local, regional, and national foundation prospects.
• Track renewal cycles and recommend cultivation strategies for current funders.
• Grant Prospect Research
• Conduct ongoing research to identify new foundation, corporate, and government grant opportunities aligned with YFCNIN’s mission.
• Evaluate prospects based on fit, capacity, giving history, and likelihood of funding.
• Monitor foundation trends, RFP announcements, and community foundation cycles.
• Proposal Development & Writing
• Write compelling, accurate, and mission-aligned grant proposals.
• Translate ministry outcomes, 3Story engagement, and spiritual formation impact into measurable objectives and results.
• Collaborate with ministry staff to gather program narratives, testimonials, outcomes data, budgets, and implementation details.
• Work with Finance to develop and validate program budgets.
• Ensure proposals align with funder guidelines and submission requirements.
• Grant Reporting & Compliance
• Track all reporting deadlines and ensure timely submission of interim and final reports.
• Gather qualitative stories and quantitative metrics from ministry teams.
• Ensure grant compliance, including restricted funding usage tracking in collaboration with Finance.
• Maintain organized digital grant files for audit and board review purposes.
  
  

Fundraising Responsibilities

All leaders will be given the opportunity to be involved in the stewardship functions of YFCNIN. These opportunities could include fundraising events, YFC donor contacts, and other opportunities as provided.

Spiritual Responsibilities

Because the overriding religious purpose and mission of Youth for Christ USA is to communicate and introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ to young people and their families, and in that regard to make, educate and encourage lifelong disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is very important that you as an employee in the movement of Youth for Christ be recognized as an associate minister of the Gospel. As an employee of Youth for Christ and a minister of the Gospel, YFC expects all employees to:

• Seek God’s guidance and wisdom, through prayer and meditation, for the organization as a whole as well as for specific ministry initiatives.
• Participate and lead regular times of prayer, devotion and worship as a regular aspect of your role within YFC.
• Teach and preach from the Holy Bible at YFC staff meetings, conferences, camps and events.
• Model empathy, humility and care for all people. This includes promoting equity and inclusion in word and in the practice of faith expression.
  
  

Position Requirements

Knowledge & Skills

• Excellent persuasive and technical writing ability
• Strong organizational and deadline-management skills
• Detail-oriented with high compliance awareness
• Ability to translate ministry impact into measurable outcomes
• Research proficiency
• Collaborative communication skills
• Familiarity with nonprofit budgeting principles
• Ability to manage multiple projects under strict deadlines
  
  

Education & Experience

Preferred Qualifications

• 3 years of grant writing experience
• Demonstrated success in securing foundation funding
• Experience working with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce)
• Understanding of faith-based nonprofit environments
• Familiarity with outcomes measurement and program evaluation
• Preferred - Certified Grant Professional (CGP)
  
  

On the Job Training: Yes

Equipment & Software Utilized: Google Suite, Microsoft Office, Salesforce

Travel Requirements: Limited within Region

Manages Budget: No

Supervisory Responsibilities: No

EEO Statement

Youth For Christ (YFC) provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, age, handicap, marital status, or other unlawful discriminatory characteristics in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

YFC is classified as an Association of Churches and as such our hiring practices reflect that designation. As a religious nonprofit organization, YFC incorporates within each leader role, the requirement to model, teach, share and live the faith. The relationship between YFC’s mission and each of its leaders is its lifeblood and as such does at all times and in all instances reserve the right to make employment decisions based upon a person’s religious beliefs, personal character and lifestyle consistent with our understanding of the Bible or with our overall goals and requirements for Christian ministry.

We seek to create a workplace that is intentional about Kingdom Inspired Diversity. Our commitment to our employees extends to their opportunities for growth, development, promotion, training and compensation.

We will make reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with known disabilities, unless doing so would result in an undue hardship to the organization.

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