Grants Manager (Fractional) @Unknown

Role Description

RIVET is seeking an experienced fractional Grants Manager to support our Youth Impact Fund: a funder collaborative aimed at family foundations interested in supporting youth-led social innovation, next gen philanthropic leadership, and relational learning. Managed by RIVET’s Director of Philanthropy, and working closely with the CEO and Impact team, you will provide the essential scaffolding for successful foundation relationships: prospect research, proposal development, and impactful reporting. While traditional grant proposals will be part of this role, with our focus on family foundations this role will involve more high-level concept development and less filling out long proposal forms.

This role focuses on three key areas:

1. Prospecting: deepen and broaden RIVET’s network of foundation funders by researching prospects (assessing incoming leads from CEO networking and identifying prospects whose interests overlap), developing tailored outreach strategies (draft outreach notes for CEO, write LOIs, etc.), and tracking moves management in our CRM.
2. Proposal Development: translate RIVET’s model, data, and impact into clear, compelling funding opportunities. This means working cross-functionally to design thematic or geographic investment pathways, crafting concept notes and proposals (like this Youth Mental Health Campaign), and iterating current concept notes. 
3. Reporting and Integration: ensure reporting deadlines are tracked and met, work closely with Impact team to design concepts and report on progress, and partner with Finance team to ensure accurate financial data. 

You will join a dedicated, low-ego team in launching a first-of-its-kind philanthropic movement led by youth. As an internally focused role you will have the freedom to largely set your own hours, being available as needed for collaborative work with the team.

Time Commitment: Approximately 20 hours per week, flexible and variable depending on needs. 

Compensation: $4,000/mo USD 

For non-US candidates, salary will be adjusted based on local market data. 

Start Date: September 1, 2026

Location: Candidates can be based anywhere in the world, with availability 10am – 2pm ET for occasional collaborative work.

Core Responsibilities:

This role requires a strategic storyteller. Someone who can translate RIVET’s vision, impact, and data into compelling funding opportunities while helping build a strong pipeline of foundation and institutional partners. You’ll work cross-functionally to shape investment opportunities, craft high-quality proposals, and ensure funders receive an exceptional stewardship experience via reporting and communication. This is how those tasks break down:

Prospecting & Pipeline Development (30%) Identify, research, and prioritize institutional and family foundation prospects aligned with RIVET’s mission and funding priorities.

• Build and maintain a qualified pipeline of foundation opportunities.
• Research funding priorities, giving histories, and key decision-makers.
• Develop tailored cultivation strategies and briefing materials for outreach.
• Track deadlines, opportunities, and next steps within fundraising systems.

Grant Strategy & Proposal Development (50%) Lead the development of compelling grant proposals and investment materials that clearly communicate RIVET’s vision and impact.

• Write persuasive grant proposals, concept notes, LOIs, and funding applications.
• Translate program strategy, data, and impact into compelling investment opportunities.
• Partner with the CEO, Director of Philanthropy, and Impact team to develop customized proposals for priority funders.
• Maintain and continuously refine core grant language and proposal assets.

Stewardship & Reporting (10%) Support meaningful, long-term relationships with foundation partners through thoughtful communication and reporting.

• Develop high-quality grant reports, updates, and stewardship materials.
• Contribute to the design of quarterly learning experiences and communications for Youth Impact Fund partners.
• Coordinate with internal teams to gather stories, outcomes, and impact data for funder communications.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Systems (10%)

Collaborate across fundraising, impact, and operations teams to ensure alignment and timely execution.

Maintain grant calendars, reporting schedules, and proposal workflows.

Ensure proposal materials, funder records, and reporting are organized and current.

History & Current State:

RIVET will eventually be powered by GenZ and the $3T they control as consumers. In the near-term, philanthropic supporters will play an absolutely critical role helping RIVET fully launch. In the long-term, we see tremendous power of philanthropy as a catalytic and companion resource to our consumers-driven strategy: covering overhead and expanding reach. 

RIVET’s Philanthropic History: RIVET was founded at the end of 2021. To launch, a group of individual donors inspired by RIVET’s mission and model, provided $2.5M in philanthropic startup capital. In mid-2024 we designed our current philanthropic strategy focused on families, foundations, and firms, hiring our first full-time fundraiser in early-2025 to test and refine the strategy. Since her departure in March, we have had a team of consultants working to sharpen the offerings, strengthening systems, and building robust donor programming. This role has emerged from that work.

Annual Foundation Fundraising Goal: $1.5M

• Current commitments: $1M. 
• Potential in pipeline: $1.2M.

Resources: 

• Our CEO is a relentless networker and excels at top-of-the-funnel pipeline development. He reliably follows through on fundraising actions and is deeply committed to building relationships with donors and prospects. His strength is selling the mission of RIVET in a compelling way to funders. 
• Our administrative team consistent of our Operations Manager and Administrative Assistant provide critical administrative support to fundraising efforts, including prospect research, CRM data management, gift processing, event coordination, and integration with our finance team.
• Our Chief Impact Officer works closely on family foundation pitches, from design to joining calls.
• The Senior Impact Manager supports on impact reporting and stories of young social innovators.
• The rest of the team is ready to support, along with a passionate group of youth speakers.
• Monday.com is our CRM system, which is built and widely used for fundraising.

Who we’re looking for:

We recognize that no one candidate will possess every qualification and welcome candidates from different professional backgrounds who bring many of these qualifications and personal attributes:

Mission-aligned. You’re passionate about authentic youth leadership and accelerating youth-led social change.

Experience Developing Winning Grant Proposals. You have a track record of writing successful grant proposals, concept notes, and reports that secure philanthropic investment. You’re able to quickly understand a funder’s priorities, synthesize complex information, and craft compelling narratives that inspire confidence and action.

Experience with Family Foundations. You understand how family foundations make funding decisions and enjoy partnering across teams to develop thoughtful investment opportunities. You can translate strategy, impact data, and program design into clear, customized funding cases while helping cultivate long-term relationships with institutional partners.

Strategic Collaborator. Your interpersonal and organizational skills allow you to work effectively across a global, remote team. You enjoy partnering with colleagues to gather information, refine ideas, and deliver exceptional work.

Startup Fit. You thrive in an early-stage environment where priorities evolve quickly. You’re proactive, resourceful, highly organized, and comfortable creating clarity amid ambiguity.

Exceptional Communicator. You’re an outstanding writer with excellent attention to detail and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and persuasively.

Faqs:

This is an ever-growing list based on questions that come in from applicants. If you have others, please ask!

Q: The application portal has questions to answer. How important are those? Very! Think of this as an opportunity to share more about you and your experience. It gives us a much more useful set of information than a resume alone (and, ooph cover letters are a nightmare). While we don’t expect you to write volumes, we do read the responses to understand more about your experience and how you communicate via writing. Please be thoughtful about how you use AI (we can often tell).

Q: Can candidates really be based anywhere? Absolutely. Our global team is a key strength. Our CEO is based in Boston. We have team members from Los Angeles to Portugal to South Africa. 

Q: The term “startup” can mean a lot of different things. Where is RIVET in its growth? Still early stage but, after almost five years, we have strong frameworks and models. Everything that is awesome about a start-up (opportunity to create, move quickly, iterate, and make an impact) is especially true at RIVET. Same for everything that is hard (nascent systems, lack of institutional memory, the need to pivot and re-prioritize with new data). Gut-check if this environment is right for you.

Q: What is the culture really like at RIVET? We are a fun and committed team. We invest a great deal in relationships and we lead with gratitude. We are accountable to, and supportive of, each other. As a global and remote team, we create opportunities to bond, while respecting times zones and boundaries. Right now we are a team of twelve.

Q: Do you offer benefits? If so, what kinds? Not yet. We are in the process of defining and securing benefits for the team through a PEO and articulating key policies and procedures for the team. We hope to have these in place in the next six months. We have unlimited time off and people are pretty good at taking what they need to stay healthy and grounded.

Our hiring process*

We value your time and energy. 

Look, we know applying for jobs can be a terrible, soul-crushing experience. Some of this we can fix and some of it is the nature of trying to vet lots of candidates as fairly and quickly as possible with a small team. We aim to create a humane process by providing as much clarity as possible. We will always be available to answer questions about the status of your application and next steps. 

RIVET is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, age, ancestry, or disability.

Apply on our portal here

Come on, give it a try! This will include a written submission of a recent grant proposal. 

2. Interview with RIVET Team Member
   An interview where we’ll get to know more about your background and experiences, and for you to deepen your understanding of RIVET and the role.

3. Interview with CEO
   One-on-one conversation with CEO to assess fit, vision, and alignment.

Final Interview and Alignment
You will get to meet other core members of RIVET and have a conversation to explore fit, strategy, and vision with your core collaborators.