Grants and Stewardship Manager

THREAD INC•Baltimore, MD

3d•$56,300 - $84,500•Onsite

About The Position

The Grants and Stewardship Manager is the operational manager responsible for Thread’s development framework. Reporting to the Director of Development, this role leads the creation, submission, management, stewardship, and continuous improvement of foundation, corporate, government, and institutional grants, while ensuring exceptional funder experiences throughout the grant lifecycle. The Manager works with leaders across Thread to translate organizational strategy, program outcomes, financial information, and community impact into compelling proposals, reports, and stewardship communications. The role owns the systems, processes, calendars, reporting structures, and relationship management practices that strengthen institutional philanthropy and funder confidence in Thread’s mission and impact. The Manager leads institutional giving and grant administration from opportunity research through proposal submission, award management, reporting, renewal, and stewardship. They coordinate organizational inputs, manage deadlines and grant requirements, prepare staff and leadership for funder engagement, and maintain funder records in Salesforce. In collaboration with program, finance, communications, data, and executive teams, the Manager develops accurate and timely proposals and reports, tracks outcomes and compliance, and supports annual reports and other development initiatives. The role also develops dashboards, reports, tracking systems, and performance metrics; analyzes funding trends and results; and identifies opportunities to improve fundraising processes. It may leverage emerging technologies, including AI-assisted research and workflow automation, while maintaining accuracy, confidentiality, human judgment, and relationship-centered stewardship. The Manager contributes to a culture of collaboration, accountability, learning, innovation, continuous improvement, equity, and belonging, and completes other duties and strategic initiatives as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
At least four years of progressively responsible experience in grant writing, institutional fundraising, philanthropy, development operations, nonprofit management, or a related field.
Demonstrated success developing competitive grant proposals for foundation, corporate, and government funders.
Exceptional writing, editing, research, and storytelling skills, including the ability to communicate organizational impact through proposals and stewardship communications.
Strong project management and organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple complex projects and competing deadlines.
Experience using Salesforce or comparable CRM platforms, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and fundraising technologies.
Ability to analyze quantitative and qualitative information and translate complex information into compelling narratives.
Excellent interpersonal, presentation, facilitation, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to collaborate across departments and with external stakeholders.
Demonstrated commitment to equity, belonging, continuous learning, operational excellence, and relationship-centered philanthropy.
Ability to clearly communicate and consistently model Thread’s core values and core competencies.

Responsibilities

Serve as the operational owner of Thread’s development framework and align institutional fundraising with organizational priorities and long-term sustainability.
Research prospective funding opportunities and assess their alignment with organizational priorities and fundraising strategy.
Lead the creation, writing, and submission of grant proposals, letters of intent, funding applications, and renewal requests for foundation, corporate, government, and institutional funders.
Coordinate proposal development by gathering programmatic, financial, evaluation, and organizational information from staff across Thread.
Partner with the Director of Development to prioritize opportunities, manage institutional fundraising strategy, and strengthen the grants pipeline.
Manage the full grant lifecycle, from prospect identification through submission, award management, reporting, renewal, and stewardship.
Own and maintain the development calendar, coordinating proposal deadlines, reporting requirements, stewardship touchpoints, renewals, site visits, and internal milestones.
Coordinate timely, accurate grant reports with program, finance, communications, and data teams.
Develop implementation and reporting schedules after grant awards and monitor compliance with grant requirements and deliverables.
Participate in funder meetings, site visits, presentations, and stewardship activities, including preparation, follow-up, and documentation.
Coordinate stewardship activities and communications that strengthen relationships with institutional funders and strategic philanthropic partners.
Prepare meeting materials, relationship histories, briefings, talking points, and follow-up communications for Development staff and executive leadership.
Maintain accurate funder interaction, stewardship, relationship history, and engagement records in Salesforce.
Partner with program, finance, communications, data strategy and operations, and executive leadership to ensure proposals and reports reflect organizational priorities and measurable outcomes.
Support the annual report, strategic planning updates, institutional communications, and other development initiatives.
Coordinate tracking, acknowledgment, and reporting of in-kind contributions and maintain accurate records.
Contribute to Development Team initiatives that support fundraising, donor engagement, and organizational growth, and foster cross-functional collaboration.
Use Salesforce and organizational systems to monitor proposal activity, stewardship, reporting requirements, grant performance, and fundraising outcomes.
Develop dashboards, reports, tracking systems, and metrics to improve visibility into institutional fundraising performance and organizational capacity.
Analyze funding trends, grant outcomes, stewardship activities, and organizational performance to identify opportunities for improvement and inform decision-making.
Maintain documentation supporting compliance, forecasting, reporting, and strategic planning.
Evaluate fundraising processes, stewardship practices, reporting systems, and workflows for effectiveness and efficiency improvements.
Use emerging technologies, including AI-assisted research, proposal development, workflow automation, document management, reporting, and knowledge management tools, with appropriate attention to human judgment, accuracy, confidentiality, and relationship-centered stewardship.
Monitor philanthropy, institutional fundraising, nonprofit practice, and grantmaking trends to strengthen organizational competitiveness.
Foster collaboration, learning, innovation, and continuous improvement throughout the Development Team.
Model, teach, and coach Thread’s core competencies, engage authentically with colleagues across lines of difference, connect outcomes to organizational imperatives, and share personal and professional growth with young people, volunteers, collaborators, and staff.
Complete other duties and strategic initiatives as assigned.