DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT/GRANT WRITER

Location: Providence, RI (Hybrid: In-person & Remote)
Position Type: Full-Time (40 hrs/wk preferred; Part-Time/Contract options available)
Salary: $54,000 – $58,000 (Depending on experience)
Benefits: Health benefits (FT), 3+ weeks vacation, 11 paid holidays, Simple IRA with employer match

Beautiful Day is a non-profit granola company with a mission to connect refugees to the community through business initiatives, job training, and public education. 

As a 13-year-old social venture, we have integrated adult and youth training programs and community education initiatives into the daily production and business activities of a gourmet granola and food company. We’re rooted locally in our state with a kitchen, fulfillment center, and offices located in Providence. We have an active board of directors and a diverse team of 12 full-time and 18 part-time staff, plus contractors and interns. We run an e-commerce store, ship products across the country, participate in farmers markets, and deliver to local grocery stores. Many of our employees are program alumni who understand the challenges our participants face. About 80% of our budget comes from foundations, grants, and private donations. For more information about our mission, vision, and products, visit our website at www.beautifuldayri.org.

Position Description:

We currently manage a donor base of about 500 individual supporters and 40 grants. The Development Assistant will support our Associate Director (who manages strategic partnerships and development) in fundraising and outreach activities to meet our 2.25M budget.

At heart, this job involves researching, writing, and managing grants. At the same time, our mission and approach to development is relational and involves building authentic partnerships. A candidate who enjoys engaging with community groups and then following up would have lots of opportunities to use those skills. We use Salesforce to manage our data and will train the right candidate. Attention to detail is critical. An appreciation for technology, data management, and reporting as strategic tools will be important.

The successful candidate needs to be a team player, able to think outside the box, and willing to step in to help as needed. We work hard, but we also have fun and enjoy each other. 

This position would be a great fit for someone who wants to work in a diverse collaborative environment and has a vision for using their fundraising skills to improve the lives of refugees in our state. We will consider candidates in the early stages of pursuing a career in development. 

Our preference will be to find a full-time candidate with strong writing skills who is also interested in the full scope of relational and administrative work. We will consider splitting this position to accommodate part-time availability and a more narrow focus (e.g., just grant-writing). You are welcome to apply for part of this position but please clarify this in your letter.

Specific Responsibilities:

  • Assist the Associate Director with grant writing: research grant opportunities and write proposals including budgets.
  • Manage existing grants: progress reports, phone calls, emails, detailed calendar and schedule maintenance.
  • Develop and maintain relationships with key contact people and individual donors to update them on events and happenings.
  • Assist the Associate Director with a wide range of administrative activities to develop and maintain partnerships with donors: fundraising campaigns, hosting special events, thank-you cards, phone calls, end-of-year receipts, outreach to potential donors.
  • Help write and publish our newsletter, and maintain the newsletter database.
  • Database management using Salesforce (training provided): Enter new donors and data, track donations, produce reports.
  • Public outreach and presentations to civic and faith-based organizations and school groups about Beautiful Day’s work with refugees.
  • Work with other staff members to organize visits to our facilities, special events or other activities designed to educate the public about refugees.

Skills and Experience:

  • Experience writing successful grants.
  • Able to connect with an authentic voice through writing. 
  • Adept at managing calendars, schedules, deadlines.
  • Comfortable with the writing process (first drafts, revising, editing, etc.). Able to accept constructive criticism.
  • Enthusiasm for engaging funders as real partners and listening to what they really want.
  • Research skills; able to find appropriate grants on our grant-search databases.
  • Able to work independently and plan and carry out projects from start to finish.
  • Comfortable speaking on the phone or zoom.
  • Teaching/public speaking experience is a plus.
  • A good team player. Good communication, collaboration, and networking skills.
  • Facility with technology. Familiarity with Salesforce a big plus, but we will train.
  • Good at building authentic cross-cultural relationships. Curious, resourceful, and not afraid to make mistakes.
  • A demonstrated commitment to social justice, refugee resettlement, community building


How to Apply:
Send a letter/email, resume, and writing sample to jobs@beautifuldayri.org with "Development Assistant" in the subject line. The letter you write is important. We’d like to have a good sense of your personal voice, personality, and motivations. Tell us if you know someone who knows us. For the writing sample, we would prefer (the non-proprietary parts of) a successful grant proposal. Please inquire if you have another type of relevant writing sample that you would prefer to submit.