Grants Officer

About The East End Community Foundation (EECF)

EECF supports communities through our charitable activities of grants and programmes.  In 2024/25 these totalled over £1.6m and we intend to increase our grant making year on year to provide greater and longer-term support so we can continue to make a difference to the lives of local people by supporting vital community-based projects with grant funding. We are looking for a committed individual with knowledge of the local area to join the Grants and Programmes Team. Working as part of our small and busy team you will ensure that EECF delivers an accessible and credible grants service by providing advice, guidance and support to potential grant applicants, assessing applications for funding, and monitoring and evaluating the impact of our grant making.  

About You

This is a great opportunity for someone with experience of grant making or applying for funding, and of working in and for the charitable sector, and/or starting out in a career in grant making. We need someone who is a confident communicator and team player. You should be highly efficient with the ability to work across multiple strands to strict deadlines, demonstrate strong organisational skills and build positive relationships with local community organisations. 

The Role

Position: Grants Officer

Responsible to: Head of Grants and Programmes

Hours: 35 hours per week (full-time)

Annual Leave: 23 days (increasing incrementally to 30), plus public holidays  

Key Responsibilities: 

·       Assist the team in developing, managing, delivering and promoting EECF’s grants programmes.

·     Provide information, advice and guidance to grant applicants

·       Complete the assessment of grant applications including making phone calls/visits, and completing due diligence checks

·       Manage a caseload of grantees including building relationships with grantees, liaising and agreeing outcomes for funded projects, preparing and issuing grant contracts, working with groups through the delivery of their projects to final reporting

·       Ensure all information including grant applications are accurately recorded in a timely fashion on the database system Salesforce  

·       Conduct regular outreach and participate in networking events and awareness raising sessions aimed at potential grant applicants or recipients  

·       Review end of grant reports and collate information to provide annual reports on grant programmes 

·       Contribute to the maintenance and development of grant making systems, policies and procedures including guidance notes, application forms and reporting structures  

·       Keep abreast of good practice in grant making and new initiatives being implemented by other local grant makers and community foundations  

·       Undertake such other tasks as may be required to meet the needs of the post as they arise and to ensure the smooth running of EECF’s grant making programmes and charitable activities 

Person Specification:  

Essential Experience/Skills  

·       Knowledge and/or experience of delivering a grant making programme or of fundraising

·       Understanding of the voluntary sector and community needs in the East End of London  

·       Excellent attention to detail with the ability to work accurately to strict deadlines  

·       Able to manage, prioritise and organise your own workload  

·       Strong written and oral communication

·       Strong IT and administrative skills  

·       Able to work independently and as part of a small team  

Desirable Experience/Skills (not required but would be beneficial)  

·       Knowledge of CRM systems  

·       Budget management experience 

·       Participatory grant-making  

·       Experience of public speaking  

Personal Qualities  

·       Flexible and adaptable with good interpersonal skills and a ‘can-do’ approach  

·       Self-motivated and able to work on own initiative  

·       Dependable and reliable with the ability to be productive under time pressure  

·       Positive, resilient and supportive  

Please note, we’re actively reviewing applications and interviews will be held on a rolling basis.