When you’re writing grant proposals, you spend hours perfecting your program narrative, fine-tuning your budget, and polishing your outcomes. But here’s something that often gets overlooked: Grant funders are deeply interested in staff. And for good reason – team members are the ones who will actually deliver on all those promises you’re making in your proposals.

Why Funders Care about Your Hiring Practices

Think about it from a funder’s perspective. They're not just investing in your programs; they’re investing in the people who will implement those programs. Your staff’s qualifications, experience, and capacity directly impact whether their funding will achieve the intended results. That’s why many grant applications include questions about staff credentials, organizational capacity, and personnel policies.

When funders review your proposal, they’re asking themselves: “Does this organization have the right people in place to succeed?” Your hiring practices and job descriptions tell them a lot about your organization’s overall capacity and grant readiness.

The Trap of Unrealistic Job Descriptions

This is especially critical for newer nonprofits hiring their first staff positions. In the excitement of growth, organizations often create “unicorn” job descriptions – positions that require a rare combination of skills and experience that would be nearly impossible to find in one person, let alone afford.

We’ve seen this pattern repeatedly with first-time executive director positions. The job description reads like a wish list, combining the skills of a seasoned nonprofit leader, expert fundraiser, grant writer, master program designer, financial wizard, and community organizer. The responsibilities would challenge even the most experienced professional working 60+ hours per week.

Here’s the problem: Unrealistic job descriptions create two major issues:

• They repel the best candidates. Qualified professionals recognize when a position is unsustainable and will pass on opportunities that appear set up for failure.
• They burn out whoever accepts the job. Even the most dedicated staff member will eventually resign when facing impossible expectations.

The Development Director Dilemma

One of the most common examples of unrealistic job descriptions we encounter is the development director position that attempts to consolidate all fundraising responsibilities into a single role. These job descriptions often include grant writing, research, prospecting, cultivation, donor meetings, gift solicitation, fundraising events, gift processing, donor database management, acknowledgment letters, and comprehensive stewardship activities.

Here’s what many organizations miss: A development director doing their job effectively should actually be creating more work for the executive director and board of directors, not less. Why? Because successful development work involves building relationships and making asks – activities that require the involvement of organizational leadership. If your development director can truly handle every aspect of fundraising alone, you’re probably not building the kind of sustainable, high-level donor relationships that transform organizations.

The Grant Funder’s Red Flag

When grant reviewers see unrealistic job descriptions, it raises concerns about your organization’s understanding of nonprofit operations and capacity. It suggests:

• Lack of experience in nonprofit management
• Potential for staff burnout and high turnover
• Unrealistic expectations that may extend to program implementation
• Weak organizational planning and capacity building

These can impede grant funding success, even when other aspects of your proposal are strong.

Building Strategic, Sustainable Job Descriptions

Instead of focusing on immediate, urgent needs, approach job descriptions strategically for long-term organizational benefit:

1. Prioritize core responsibilities. Identify the 3–5 most critical functions this position must fulfill. Everything else is secondary or can be developed over time.
2. Set realistic workload expectations. Can the listed responsibilities actually be accomplished in a 40-hour work-week by someone with the qualifications you’re requiring?
3. Consider team collaboration. Which responsibilities should be shared with other staff, board members, or volunteers, rather than consolidated into one position?
4. Build in growth potential. Allow room for the position to evolve as your organization grows, rather than requiring immediate expertise in everything.
5. Match credentials to reality. Are you requiring qualifications that genuinely relate to the position’s core functions, or are you listing credentials that sound impressive but aren’t essential?

The Same Principles Apply to Program Staff

This advice extends beyond administrative and development positions. Program staff job descriptions also need realistic expectations aligned with appropriate credentials and compensation. A program coordinator position that requires a master’s degree, five years of specialized experience, and expert-level skills but offers entry-level compensation will struggle to attract and retain qualified candidates – and grant reviewers will notice.

The Connection to Grant Success

Remember, grant funders aren’t just funding programs – they’re funding the people who deliver those programs. When your staffing practices demonstrate thoughtful planning, realistic expectations, and genuine capacity building, you strengthen your entire grant proposal.

Your hiring practices should reflect the same level of strategic thinking you bring to program design and evaluation. Because at the end of the day, no matter how compelling your program model or how pressing the community need is, it’s your staff who will turn your grant proposals into real-world impact.

The Bolek Perspective

At Bolek Grant Writing, we work with organizations to ensure their grant proposals authentically reflect their capacity – including their staffing structure and hiring practices. When we help clients develop proposals that include new positions, we encourage them to think through these questions carefully. Getting the staffing piece right isn’t just about winning grants; it’s about building sustainable organizational capacity that will serve your mission for years to come.

If you’re developing job descriptions for grant-funded positions or wondering whether your current staffing structure will hold up to funder scrutiny, we’re here to help. Sometimes an outside perspective can help you see where your expectations might be unrealistic or where small adjustments could make a significant difference in both attracting qualified candidates and winning grant support.

Ready for a second set of eyes on your staffing structure or job descriptions?

Let’s talk about how we can support your next steps.