Since our founding in 1924, we've cut cardiovascular disease deaths in half, but there is still so much more to do. To overcome today’s biggest health challenges and accelerate this progress, we need passionate individuals like you. Join our movement, be part of the progress, and help ensure a healthier future for all. You matter, and so does the impact you can make with us.

The American Heart Association has an excellent opportunity for a Proposal Writer in our Mission Advancement department!

This position can be home-based, or located at our National Center in Dallas, TX (Relocation is not available).

The Association offers many resources to help you maintain work-life harmonization through your changing needs and life situations. To help you be successful, you will have access to Heart U, our award-winning corporate university, as well as additional training and support, locally.

#TheAHALife is our company culture, our way of life, reflecting our diversity, equity & inclusion, our focus on work-life harmonization and our Guiding Values. Discover why you will Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Valued™ at the American Heart Association by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and at heart.jobs.

This role is responsible for developing, writing, editing, and maintaining a broad range of assigned proposal templates, proposals, and personalized communications for solicitation and stewardship of major gift donors for prioritized funding opportunities. The position requires writing persuasive proposal narratives and templates, understanding the content in depth, and preparing or guiding budget development that will align with both funder and Association requirements. As a subject matter authority for each opportunity, the Proposal Writer monitors the internal and external environment, provides regular updates and edits materials to ensure relevance, and promptly responds to inquiries from various stakeholders to support revenue development for the Association. This position ensures timely and effective revenue generation for the mission.

• Continually gains mastery of American Heart Association mission programs, initiatives, projects, and departments, to leverage that knowledge for the best possible output and results.
• Independently creates, writes, and/or edits assigned major and principal gift template proposals and narratives in long and short form, focused on compelling content to inform and inspire support for the funding needs of the Association.
• Conducts research and collaborates with subject matter authority staff to compose appropriate and effective copy for donor proposal and stewardship materials and templates. Reviews, writes and/or edits written materials to ensure quality and consistency with established organizational messages and branding. As needed, guides staff in customizing standard templates for submission to prospective donors, providing insights, review and recommendations for improvement.
• Aligns with and serves as a champion for processes and protocols for proposal development flow and execution so that concepts are vetted and thoughtfully bundled together to ensure maximum organizational impact while aligning appropriately with donor capacity.
• Serves as a day-to-day point of contact for questions about funding opportunity proposals, providing responses to questions and thoroughly answering with a sense of urgency. Monitors and posts to forums on MS Teams to alert users of proposal updates and answer questions.
• Compiles, writes and/or regularly updates boilerplate content and frequently used attachments to be used in a variety of proposals, such as introductions, history, explanation of indirect costs, and other frequently-used narrative. Provides access to content for self-service on SharePoint, to ensure fundraisers are able to pull from this content on demand.
• Proactively maintains project updates in project management software (Asana), ensuring a strong pace and communication with supervisor, teammates and collaborators.
• Executes special projects as part of the Mission Advancement operations team. Adapts easily to shifting priorities and unexpected deadlines.  Performs other duties as requested and special projects at supervisor’s request.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Five (5) – Eight (8) years of experience.
• Experience in grant or proposal writing for charitable purposes, including serving as lead writer and handling the proposal development life cycle. Writing samples of personally-written proposals will be required.
• Strong verbal and excellent business writing communications skills, including strong interpersonal communication.
• Budget development experience in grant or proposal submissions for charitable projects/purposes.
• Superior attention to detail; outstanding organization and prioritization skills.
• Working mastery of MS Office Suite applications (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Co-Pilot, and Outlook).
• Flexibility in adapting to deadlines, changing schedules, priorities and unpredictable events.
• Customer service attitude, self-driven to ensure top quality and a sense of urgency to drive projects to completion.  Highly collaborative and a strong partner in projects.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience direct fundraising with both individuals and foundations.
• Program development /management experience, including logic model development and/or program evaluation experience.
• An eye for graphic design.
• Experience in non-profit communications, marketing, journalism or related non-profit field.
• Understanding or experience in the current philanthropic landscape.

The American Heart Association invests in its people. Here are the main components of our total rewards package.  Visit Rewards & Benefits to see more details.

• Compensation – Our goal is to ensure you have a competitive base salary.  That’s why we regularly review the market value of jobs and make adjustments, as needed.
  
  
• Performance and Recognition – You are rewarded for achieving success by merit increases and incentive programs. Elgibility for an incentive program is based on the type of position.  
  
  
• Benefits – We offer a wide array of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, along with a robust retirement program that includes an employer match and automatic contribution.  As a mark of our commitment to employee well-being, we also offer an employee assistance program, employee wellness program and telemedicine, and medical consultation.
  
  
• Professional Development – You can join one of our many Employee Resource Groups (ERG) or be a mentor/mentee in our professional mentoring program.  HeartU is the Association’s national online university, with more than 100,000 resources designed to meet your needs and busy schedule.
  
  
• Work-Life Harmonization – The Association offers Paid Time Off (PTO) at a minimum of 16 days per year for new employees.  The number of days will increase based on seniority level.  You will also have a total of 12 paid holidays off each year, which includes several days off at the end of the year.
  
  
• Tuition Assistance - We support the career development of all employees.  This program provides financial assistance to employees who wish to further their education and career in relation to their current duties and responsibilities, or for potential future positions in the organization.

The American Heart Association’s 2028 Goal: Building on over 100 years of trusted leadership in cardiovascular and brain health, by 2028 the AHA will drive breakthroughs and implement proven solutions in science, policy, and care for healthier people and communities. The greatest discoveries in health must reach everyone where they are.

At American Heart Association | American Stroke Association, our mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, age, language, sexual orientation, national origin and physical or cognitive abilities. We're committed to ensuring our workforce, workplace culture and mission have a shared impact across a diverse set of backgrounds.

This position not a match with your skills?  Click here to see other opportunities.

In accordance with local and state laws where applicable, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

EOE/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities