Grants Director Overview
Working as a Grants Director
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a grants director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.21 an hour? That's $71,167 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 6,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Grants Director Do
There are certain skills that many grants directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed speaking skills, problem-solving skills and organizational skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a grants director, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.3% of grants directors included financial statements, while 7.5% of resumes included ensure compliance, and 6.7% of resumes included community partners. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the grants director job title. But what industry to start with? Most grants directors actually find jobs in the education and non profits industries.
How To Become a Grants Director
If you're interested in becoming a grants director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 30.5% of grants directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 45.1% of grants directors have master's degrees. Even though most grants directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a grants director. When we researched the most common majors for a grants director, we found that they most commonly earn master's degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on grants director resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a grants director. In fact, many grants director jobs require experience in a role such as consultant. Meanwhile, many grants directors also have previous career experience in roles such as grant writer or director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Grants Director Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a grants director can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as development director, progress to a title such as development vice president and then eventually end up with the title development vice president.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Grants Director
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
University of Maine at Farmington Office of Violence Against Women Grant Director Office of Violence Against Women Grant Director | University of Maine at Farmington University of Maine at Farmington | 11/20/2020 11/20/2020 | $37,50011/20/2020 $37,500 |
Chippewa Valley Technical College Grant Director-Trio-Student Service Support Grant Director-Trio-Student Service Support | Chippewa Valley Technical College Chippewa Valley Technical College | 08/29/2020 08/29/2020 | $50,84708/29/2020 $50,847 |
Worcester State University Director for The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research-Worcester State University Director for The Office of Grants and Sponsored Research-Worcester State University | Worcester State University Worcester State University | 08/27/2020 08/27/2020 | $85,00008/27/2020 $85,000 |
Gulf Coast Trades Center Voca Grant Director-Grant Funded Voca Grant Director-Grant Funded | Gulf Coast Trades Center Gulf Coast Trades Center | 04/28/2020 04/28/2020 | $55,00004/28/2020 $55,000 |
Washington State Transition AGE Youth Grant Director (Maps 3/Dbhr) Transition AGE Youth Grant Director (Maps 3/Dbhr) | Washington State Washington State | 03/26/2020 03/26/2020 | $59,43603/26/2020 $59,436 |
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Top Colleges for Grants Directors
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Public
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
Top Skills For a Grants Director
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.3% of grants directors listed financial statements on their resume, but soft skills such as speaking skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.
- Financial Statements, 9.3%
- Ensure Compliance, 7.5%
- Community Partners, 6.7%
- Technical Assistance, 5.4%
- Proposal Preparation, 5.4%
- Other Skills, 65.7% See All Grants Director Skills
Best States For a Grants Director
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a grants director. The best states for people in this position are New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Grants directors make the most in New York with an average salary of $104,317. Whereas in Virginia and Massachusetts, they would average $93,456 and $89,645, respectively. While grants directors would only make an average of $87,476 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$104,318
Avg. Salary
2. Massachusetts
$89,645
Avg. Salary
3. Virginia
$93,457
Avg. Salary
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