Director of Institutional Partnerships & Grants

YMCA of Greater Louisville•Louisville, KY

1d•$70,000 - $75,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Institutional Partnerships & Grants serves as the YMCA of Greater Louisville’s lead strategist and relationship manager for institutional partnership and funding, including foundation, corporate, local government, state government, and federal funding opportunities. Reporting directly to the Chief Development & Philanthropy Officer, this position is responsible for supporting and implementing comprehensive institutional partnership strategy and funding that helps to advance the YMCA’s as directed by leadership. The Director provides leadership for all phases of the grant and institutional funding lifecycle, including opportunity assessment, relationship development, proposal strategy, grant writing, submission oversight, compliance, reporting, stewardship, and renewal planning. This position serves as a key cross-functional leader, working collaboratively with branch executives, program leadership, finance, operations, and development staff to ensure funding opportunities are strategically aligned, operationally feasible, financially sustainable, and positioned for long-term success. The Director is responsible for strengthening institutional funding systems, expanding government funding capacity, and ensuring the YMCA maintains a diversified and sustainable funding portfolio. The Director may supervise grant management and grant writing staff, interns, consultants, or contractors as assigned.

Requirements

5 to 7+ years of professional experience in grant writing, nonprofit development, fundraising, or communications.
Knowledge of Community landscape and funding opportunities.
Demonstrated experience in foundation and federal grant development, submission, and compliance.
Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
Curious self-starter who looks for new and collaborative paths for grant fundraising.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Raiser’s Edge, DAXKO, and Instrumentl.
Ability to build consensus and collaborate with staff across all levels of the organization.
Ability to manage multiple deadlines with flexibility, professionalism, and attention to detail.
Commitment to the mission and values of the YMCA and a passion for community impact.

Responsibilities

Lead grants annual and multi-year planning efforts for institutional partnership revenue growth.
Evaluate grant opportunities to determine in collaboration with Leadership team, Executives, Program Directors, Development and Finance mission alignment, organizational readiness, program capacity, financial sustainability, and likelihood of success.
Maintain systems that ensure no funding opportunities, renewals, reporting requirements, or compliance obligations are missed.
Monitor local, state, federal, corporate, and foundation funding trends and proactively identify emerging opportunities.
Serve as the association's primary lead for federal, state, and local government grant opportunities.
Research, assess, write, coordinate, and oversee complex government funding proposals and applications.
Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local grant requirements, regulations, and reporting expectations.
Create open dialogue to ensure understanding across key internal stakeholders regarding grant request budgets, financial reporting processes, and grant management systems.
Manage a diversified portfolio of foundation, corporate, government, and community funding partners.
Oversee Grant process from intake form, preparation, review, and submission of grant applications, letters of inquiry, reports, to stewardship materials.
Lead proposal development efforts by gathering data, outcomes, narratives, budgets, and supporting documentation from internal stakeholders.
Ensure consistency, quality, and strategic alignment across all institutional partnership funding submissions.
Develop annual grant calendars, funding pipelines, and renewal schedules.
Cultivate and strengthen relationships with foundation leaders, government agencies, corporate partners, community organizations, and funding stakeholders.
Coordinate site visits, impact presentations, stewardship reports, funding briefings, and partnership engagement opportunities.
Represent the YMCA of Greater Louisville at meetings, community events, conferences, and funder engagements.
Partner with branch executives and program leaders to identify funding priorities and develop competitive funding strategies.
Convene and facilitate internal grant planning and review meetings.
Schedule hand-off meetings with key internal stake holders to ensure funded programs have clear implementation plans, measurable outcomes, assigned ownership, and reporting structures before applications are submitted.
Collaborate with finance staff to ensure accurate budgeting, grant tracking, revenue forecasting, and compliance management.
Work closely with development and marketing staff to support donor communications, recognition efforts, and impact storytelling.
Supervise grant management, grant writing, and institutional partnership staff as assigned.
Provide training, coaching, and support to program staff responsible for grant implementation and reporting.