Grants Manager

Organization Overview

Casa Chirilagua’s mission is to develop relationships with families to see the Chirilagua neighborhood transformed by Christ. Casa Chirilagua began as an intentional community in 2007, when the founders moved into the community of Chirilagua to learn from their Central American immigrant neighbors what it means to ‘love God and love your neighbor as yourself’. In 2011, Casa Chirilagua officially became a 501(c)(3).

We seek to live incarnationally among our neighbors, positioning ourselves to be the hands and feet of Christ daily. We seek relationship, recognizing that transformation occurs through Christ-centered connections, that programs serve as access points rather than ends in themselves. We seek, live, and profess a message of restoration between God and people and between individuals. We highlight these values in what we call the 5 R’s. These values guide our decisions and focus for the future and growth of our organization; 1) Reliant on God, 2) Rooted in the community, 3) Relational is all we do, 4) Reconciliatory toward God and one another and, 5) Regenerative, investing in the regeneration of individuals and our entire neighborhood.

Touch points with families begin within our Leadership Pipeline, which consists of our elementary (1st to 5th grade) after school program Kids Club, our middle school (6th to 8th grade) program Teens Club, our high school (9th to 12th grade) program Casa to College, our Bible studies for middle and high school students, and our one-on-one Mentoring program. Currently, there are 105 families enrolled in our Leadership Pipeline.

In 2023, Casa Chirilagua is entering a new strategic direction which focuses on our Leadership Pipeline. This new direction consists of seeing every family unit in our Leadership Pipeline 1) understand the power of the Gospel and be invited to participant in the building of God’s kingdom, 2) support their child as they learn and practice vital leadership skills, 3) support their child in graduating high school and 4) create a post-high school plan alongside their child throughout their Leadership Pipeline journey that propels them into college, a trade school, and/or an entrepreneurial career.

Learn more at casachirilagua.org.

Position Summary

The part-time Grants Manager identifies, drafts, and submits grant proposals toward achieving the mission and vision of the organization with an annual budget of $845,000.

Key Accountabilities

Grant writing

• Identify, draft, and submit high-quality community and foundation grant proposals in line with Casa Chirilagua’s mission and vision and the requirements and guidelines of the funding agencies.
• Generate revenue for Casa Chirilagua’s programs through the timely submission of well-researched, well-written and well-documented grant proposals.
• Increase the number of grants the organization applies for in a calendar year.

Reporting

• Submit accurate and timely reports for all of Casa Chirilagua’s existing grants to the Executive Director and Development Director.
• Improve and update the grant language bank in accordance with the organizational growth.
  Collect and monitor outcomes data based on the organization’s programs and services.

Prospecting

• Research grants and/or requests for proposals (RFPs) where Casa Chirilagua is a strong grantee candidate.
• Research and contrast national and regional data against the organization’s data as evidence of programmatic success.
• Have a strong understanding of the city of Alexandria and the wider DC/Northern VA area and the grants and RFPs available.

Key Competencies

• Communication: Ability to write clear, structured, articulate, grammatically correct, and persuasive proposals.
• Experience: Have a proven record of securing at least two grants of $1,000 or more with certifiable references from a non-profit agency or organization; have knowledge of the grant application process, scoring criteria and funding cycles.
• Prospecting: Possess strong research skills to find the best-fitting grants for the organization.
  Fiscal responsibility: Have two or more years of experience creating and/or implementing a budget, demonstrating fiduciary stewardship.
• Detail-oriented: Highly organized and manage time well with the ability to implement systems and follow-up processes.
• Technology: Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office Word, Access, PowerPoint and Excel), and database management skills.
• Motivated: Continually look for ways to improve themselves, processes, systems, and the way their team works together. A hard worker who is self-motivated, diligent, and practices self-care (tending to their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs). Proactive in bringing ideas for individual and corporate improvement to their supervisor.
• Creative: Exhibits the ability to think outside of the box and problem solve with fun, innovative and new ideas.
• Culturally competent: Has a demonstrated ability to listen to and learn from a community that differs from the one they were raised in. Ability to identify potential assumptions or biases and proactively seeks feedback in their learning.
• Christian faith: Manifest evidence of personal faith in Jesus Christ, actively pursuing spiritual mentorship and community, and a theological perspective that aligns with Casa Chirilagua’s Core Values.

Education/Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field
• Minimum two years of experience in grant writing, grant budget development, and management