Find & Apply For Fundraising / Development Specialist Jobs in Paducah, Kentucky

Job Summary Lifeline Recovery Center is seeking a proactive, strategically minded Grant Specialist to drive our mission forward by expanding our funding pipeline and cultivating key donor relationships. In this role, you will act as a primary resource developer—actively locating new funding streams, identifying strategic growth opportunities, and crafting compelling proposals to secure vital revenue. You will be instrumental in identifying potential foundation, corporate, and government partners, building strong institutional relationships, and managing the entire proposal lifecycle. This position offers an exciting opportunity to directly influence our organization's financial growth and community impact through targeted research and innovative resource development. Pay is competitive and based off experience and education.

Responsibilities Fund Opportunity Location & Research:

Actively search, locate, and evaluate new local, state, federal, and private grant opportunities that align with organizational goals and program expansion.

Pipeline Development & Strategy:

Build, map out, and maintain a robust pipeline of potential funding prospects, establishing strategic timelines for submission and engagement.

Proposal Development & Crafting:

Write, develop, and tailor persuasive grant proposals, concept notes, budgets, and supporting materials that effectively communicate project impact to prospective funders.

Relationship & Funder Cultivation:

Initiate and foster relationships with program officers, foundation representatives, and corporate giving managers to align our needs with their funding priorities.

Lifecycle & Submission Management:

Oversee the complete lifecycle of grant submissions—from initial prospect identification and outreach to application submission and follow-up.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

Partner with program, clinical, and financial directors to gather program metrics, design scalable project models, and build realistic grant budgets.

Tracking & Data Management:

Maintain up-to-date prospect tracking, application status, and funder communications in our CRM/database (e.g., Raiser's Edge or equivalent).

Compliance & Deliverables:

Collaborate on post-award handoffs to ensure grant deliverables, reporting requirements, and compliance standards are clearly mapped out for program teams.

Experience & Qualifications Resource Development Expertise:

Proven track record in locating new grant opportunities, prospect research, and successfully developing high-yield proposals in a nonprofit setting.

Strategic Pipeline Building:

Demonstrated ability to build and manage a funding pipeline from scratch, turning newly identified prospects into active funding sources.

Funder Knowledge:

Deep understanding of grant search engines, foundation directories, government funding portals, and institutional giving strategies.

Persuasive Writing & Communication:

Strong technical and persuasive writing skills, with the ability to translate complex program models into clear, high-impact funding requests.

CRM & Database Proficiency:

Experience utilizing donor databases/CRMs (e.g., Raiser's Edge) to track prospect pipelines, deadlines, and interaction histories.

Project Management & Initiative:

Highly self-motivated with exceptional organizational skills to manage multiple prospect timelines simultaneously.

Benefits:

401(k) 401(k) matching Health insurance Life insurance Paid time off Application Question(s): Are you willing and able to pass a drug screen? How many years of experience do you have in grant writing?

Work Location:

In person