Grants Associate

We are thrilled to be growing the Artistic Fundraising Group team! If you are looking for flexible part-time remote work, have strong writing and project management skills, and you have an interest or early-career experience in grant writing and nonprofit development, we’d love to hear from you.

Application Email: hr@artisticfundraising.com
Please include the title of the role you are applying for in the subject line of your email.

Grants Associate
The Grants Associate will support a small grants portfolio for arts and humanities nonprofits among Artistic Fundraising Group’s client base. This includes the full execution of grants projects, such as the composition of letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports in addition to the compilation of accompanying attachments packages. In collaboration with a supervising Consultant, the Grants Associate will support cultivation and stewardship plans for clients’ institutional giving relationships and provide timely reporting on grants pipelines to both the client and internally to the AFG team.

Responsibilities
– Execute foundation, government, and corporate grant proposals and reports for arts and/or community engagement nonprofit organizations
– Write and edit proposal and report narratives
– Prepare attachments and other supporting materials
– Complete thorough prospect research for potential funder/client matches
– In collaboration with a supervising Consultant, support client relationship management for portfolios of current and prospective institutional funders
– Collaborate with both clients and fellow AFG team members regarding upcoming deadlines and deliverables to ensure timely completion of work in advance of project deadlines
– Maintain workflow and record projects in AFG systems such as Asana and Little Green Light
– Provide team support for high capacity clients by taking on additional grants projects as needed, collect and/or develop attachments, and support administrative tasks related to grants pipelines
– Meet regularly with clients and AFG team members via Zoom, during business hours.

Qualifications
Please note that we are open to candidates with a wide range of professional and lived experiences, as we understand that both hard and soft skills that are an asset to our team and our clients can be developed in a variety of settings. We encourage candidates to apply, even if they do not meet all of the qualifications listed here.

– Prior early career experience in nonprofit administration, development, grant writing, or copywriting/technical writing preferred
– High-efficiency writing and composition skills
– Experience in managing multiple projects at once
– Technical proficiency/ability to train in Google Drive/Microsoft Suite, project management software, and donor CRMs

Qualities
– Commitment to a culture of collaboration and continued learning
– Commitment to a culture of IDEAA and community-centric fundraising
– Background and/or enthusiasm for the arts, journalism, education, or human services
– Enjoyment in creative problem solving and critical thinking
– Excellent project management skills with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively on multiple deadline-oriented projects at once
– Ability to produce timely, quality work with thorough attention to detail

Hours, Compensation, and Work Environment
The Grants Associate will work part-time, providing 10-20 hours of work per week based on candidate availability and client need. We will take into consideration the regular capacity desired by our candidates as we develop this role’s portfolio. The Grants Associate earns $27.00 per hour. Work may be completed in a flexible/remote format, with the option to work at the Artistic Fundraising Group office in Chicago’s Fine Arts Building as desired. Requirements of the job include the ability to sit for extended periods of time, the use of a personal computer and company-provided software to complete and send deliverables, the ability to work swiftly and efficiently to manage multiple deadlines at once, and regular written and verbal communication with team members and clients. Please reach out with any additional accessibility questions.

Values
Artistic Fundraising Group is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to growing our team in alignment with our inclusive and equitable working practices, exemplified by our values of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Antiracism (IDEAA). All applicants will be considered without discrimination in regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, parental status, or ability. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment to IDEAA.

To Apply
Email hr@artisticfundraising.com with a cover letter, resume, and a brief writing sample relevant to your grant writing and fundraising work. Please note that AI-generated language will not be accepted. Please include your name and the title of the role you are applying for in the subject line of your email. In your cover letter, please share why working in the arts or the nonprofit sector is important to you.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, with priority given to those received by March 10, 2026

About Artistic Fundraising Group

Mission: We believe that the future of our cultural vitality rests in the hands of those building new opportunities for artmaking, collaboration, education, and public advocacy. We fundraise to build vital financial resources for these arts and humanities organizations in alignment with our commitment to advancing social change.

Artistic Fundraising Group was founded by Erica Bittner in 2018. After spending the formative years of her development career within large nonprofit organizations–alongside her work as a professional actor and writer–she recognized a profound lack of affordable, practical, and scaled fundraising resources for small and midsized nonprofits in the arts and humanities.

Today, Artistic Fundraising Group raises $20M+ annually for a wide range of nonprofit arts and humanities organizations that are committed to social change. The AFG team serves dozens of nonprofits each year, and our client base spans across all artistic disciplines and humanities sectors, including theatre, dance, music, independent film, creative writing, visual art, journalism, and artist residencies. Our work also extends beyond the cultural sector to include organizations that intersect with education, social services, mutual aid, health, and the disability sector. As part of our own aim to change the systems in which we operate, we also provide services to support grantmakers on their journey toward more equitable funding practices, most recently collaborating with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and the Press Forward fund at the Chicago Community Trust. While our focus is local to the Chicagoland area, we serve clients nationwide.

Our Work
We provide fundraising strategies and resources to nonprofit organizations with budgets ranging from less than $100,000 to more than $10 million in annual operating expenses with our own hybrid model of project execution and traditional consulting. In essence, we are skilled at scaling a full suite of development services to successfully meet the needs of grassroots nonprofits as well as major institutions. We are immensely proud that 100% of our clients to date have garnered new or increased funds within their first year of work with us.

Our Team
Our multi-hyphenate team brings the high-profile fundraising experience we’ve garnered at major institutions into the best practices we instill within each of our clients. We are also all professional artists and educators in addition to our work in nonprofit fundraising. As such, we are passion-driven individuals who bring an intimate, intersectional understanding of the arts and humanities to our work. This empowers us to present our clients to prospective funders and donors with an unparalleled competitive edge.