Grant Writer

Department: Development

Employment type: Full-Time basis

Location: Berlin, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; San Jose, Costa Rica; New York City, United States

The Organization and Role

About Access Now

Access Now defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk. As a grassroots-to-global organization, we partner with local actors to bring a human rights agenda to the use, development, and governance of digital technologies, and to intervene where technologies adversely impact our human rights. By combining direct technical support, strategic advocacy, grassroots grantmaking, and convenings such as RightsCon, we fight for human rights in the digital age.

About this role

You are an exceptional writer and researcher who is passionate about human rights and excited to support a mission driven organization by helping to secure core and project-based funding from foundations, governments, and other institutional funders. This role will report to the Deputy Director of Development, and work closely with other members of the Development team, including Development managers.

What you will do

As Grant Writer, you will contribute significantly to the writing and editing of compelling grant fundraising materials to foundations, governments, and other institutional stakeholders who might support Access Now’s work. You’ll work with a diverse team and will have the opportunity to assist Access Now program staff in developing and transforming program or research ideas into well-organized and persuasive grant proposals. Key duties include:

Support for external donor relations (70%)

• Authoring donor-facing content, including reports, proposals, and donor correspondence and briefing materials
• Writing progress reports and preparing presentations to communicate the major accomplishments of Access Now’s programs and initiatives
• Performing prospect research to identify new prospective funders
• Maintaining a working knowledge of the interests and expectations of the organization’s major funders

Support for internal institutional resources (20%)

• Contributing to the development, maintenance, and expansion of core grant writing resources, including grant application materials, outcomes case studies, and program summaries
• Coordinating with programmatic staff on grant-related developments as needed, including the tracking of outcomes for reporting purposes through the year

Administrative & data management (10%)

• Tracking and monitoring major grant deadlines, and helping manage related timelines from submission to final decision to closeout
• Supporting the administration of fundraising systems and infrastructure, including processing and filing grant agreements, and maintaining donor communication records

Skills, education, and mindset you will bring

• Exceptional writing and editing skills
• Ability to write clear, structured, articulate, and persuasive proposals
• Ability to collect, synthesize, and recycle large amounts of writing
• Attention to detail and ability to track and meet deadlines
• Knowledge of and passion for Access Now’s mission and work
• Strong contributor in team environments
• Comfortable working in cross-cultural contexts
• Experience working in remote contexts, with globally distributed team members, and demonstrating self-motivation and autonomy in task management
• 2-4 years’ experience with proposal writing and institutional donors preferred. Prior experience with government funding requirements is helpful.

The Details

Location

This is a full-time position, with preference for our current office locations. The successful candidate must possess the right to work in the location in which they will be based. At this time most Access Now Team Members are working through hybrid office arrangements, combining remote at-home work with intermittent use of offices and/or co-working spaces.

Remuneration

Access Now offers competitive compensation and benefits packages that align competitively with locations and regions around the world. Location-specific examples of initial placement within the salary range for this role include:

• €4554.75 EUR gross monthly (Belgium)
• $3570.00 USD gross monthly (Costa Rica)
• €5274.00 EUR gross monthly (Germany)
• $5340.00 USD gross monthly (United States)

Benefits for this specific role are tied to the location, and will vary. Regardless of location, all Team Members benefit from a strong global culture aligned around:

• Work-life balance…including a generous paid time-off program between 36 and 40 days annually
• Access to supplem