Development Assistant (part-time)

YIMBY Action and Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) are seeking a detail-oriented and resourceful Development Assistant to provide research, administrative, and writing support to growing the pro-housing movement.

YIMBY Action and Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) are affiliated 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that work together to advance policy change that will increase the supply of housing in high-opportunity cities and towns. We advocate to increase the supply of all types of housing, including market-rate, subsidized affordable, and public housing. Our organizations envision an integrated and environmentally sustainable society where every person has access to a safe, affordable home near jobs, services, and opportunity.

What we're looking for

The Development Assistant will research funding opportunities, including grants and sponsorships, resourcefully and creatively identifying opportunities to turn important ideas into funding. The Assistant will also support prospect research of individuals, leveraging prospecting tools to identify and strategize a path to high capacity political and philanthropic donor connections. The Assistant will support fundraising writing, including drafting emails and writing grants, 1-pagers, and other fundraising collateral. The Assistant will be part of the Development team and report to the Associate Director of Development.

Responsibilities

Prospecting and Research (4 hours/week)

• Strategically research and identify aligned foundation grant and corporate sponsorship opportunities.
• Leverage prospecting tools to identify high-potential individual donors in the YIMBY network or accessible via the YIMBY network; work with the fundraising team to identify paths to connect to prospects.
• Research networks of Board members and other connectors to identify high-potential prospects, leveraging LinkedIn and relevant directories.
• Help all front-line fundraisers prepare for meetings by conducting background research on prospect funding priorities.
• Maintain a thorough and accurate database of prospects by entering information in Airtable.
• Help evolve our current tools and identify new ones to increase efficiency and productivity in both submitting proposals and connecting with prospects.
• Improve the quality of our existing prospects and donor database, identifying ways to find like-prospects and update contact information as needed

Administrative Support (3 hours/week)

• Maintain an organized queue of tasks and projects; gathering prospecting, administrative, and writing tasks from YIMBY Action’s 3-person development team and working with the Associate Director of Development to prioritize and work through tasks each week.
• Update fundraising database with meeting notes and dates; learn different team members’ systems and provide note-taking in alignment with various needs.
• Process corporate memberships and issue invoices to corporate partners.
• Support ongoing data clean up of database.

Writing Proposals and Reports (4 hours/week)

• Write foundation grant proposals and reports; ensure compelling articulation of our impact and value proposition, and strategic alignment with foundation’s interests. Leverage AI tools to increase volume and pace of grant proposals and reports while maintaining quality and customization.
• Activate program staff across the organizations to provide information and content for proposals, reports, and briefs, including wins, challenges, and future goals. Monitor internal conversations and Slack to identify content opportunities. Conduct meetings with staff and other stakeholders to download additional information.

Qualifications

This position requires an excitement and curiosity about fundraising, but does not require any previous experience in fundraising. We also don’t require any specific level of educational attainment or years of professional experience. We do ask for the following:

• A deep commitment to the YIMBY mission and vision. A passion for more housing and shelter of every type including subsidized nonprofit affordable housing, market-rate housing, transitional housing, navigation centers, etc.
• High degree of scrupulousness and demonstrated ability to keep a database accurate, clean, and organized. If you’re the type of person who keeps a detailed task management system and gets joy out of updating it and cleaning it up, you’re a great fit.
• Excellent persuasive writing skills for diverse forms of writing; ability to be concise, compelling, and inspire action via long-form writing, emails, and marketing copy.
• Excellent listening skills and ability to personalize communications and touchpoints to match funders’ interests.
• Resourcefulness; ability to use thorough research and creative problem solving to identify “hidden gems” of fundraising opportunity.
• Superb organizational and time management skills, and demonstrated ability to keep multiple balls in the air. Ability to follow structured processes and create new processes to ensure all Ts are crossed.
• Ability to work swiftly and efficiently to ensure responses are prompt and deadlines are met.

Benefits

• Up to 100% employer funded comprehensive medical coverage
• 401k enrollment opportunities
• 3 weeks of paid vacation plus another 20 paid holidays
• Paid sick time
• Paid family & disability leave
• Significant professional development opportunities, including paid professional development stipend
• Flexible work hours within a 40 hour work week
• Membership in YIMBY Action nationwide activist network and vibrant 3,700+ member Slack community
• Access to YIMBY Action network of elected officials, journalists, and business leaders