Fundraising Specialist - Board Advisor

Squirrel Space is a Portland-based charitable 501c3 organization founded by me, a neurodivergent female minority who is deeply passionate and dedicated to raising awareness, allieship, and advocacy for the ADHD, AuDHD, and Autistic community, with inclusivity for all neurodivergence and neurotypes. We run programming across the U.S. and keep expanding our inclusivity to grow our community, impact, and mission. Despite being a small organization, we provide essential support such as neuro-affirming coaching, care navigation, peer community, advocacy training, and transformational leadership. Our mission is to create tools and resources for psychological safety, personal and professional growth, and advocacy, ensuring our community feels supported and empowered. Join us in transforming perceived disabilities into strategic differentiators (superpowers). By taking things one acorn at a time, we can transform the way we work, live, play, and socialize. ️

WHY WE EXIST

Roughly 1 billion people worldwide, about 15 million in the U.S., are neurodivergent. Most navigate work, home and public life without affirming support, community or access to care, and a single psych/neuro evaluation often costs $3,000+. With 80% underemployment and unemployment in ND community, we have economic empowerment and neurodivergent wellbeing and supports in workplaces and community spaces alike. Squirrel Space means a safe space, which is why we continue to expand and accelerate our impact.

WHAT WE DO

Neuro-affirming coaching, blended and psychologically-informed wellbeing programs are our heart and soul; Corporate training & workshops are our way to integrate neurodivergence into workplaces for equitable access to employment and workplace supports.

Our proprietary Squirrel Steps program offers psychologically safety-informed self-discovery, neuro-affirming coaching, and care navigation that connects people with real solutions and supports within their budget and capacity. We’ve built a community of relationships through events like our Neurodiversity Celebration Week fireside chat, the Autism Walk, the August Bash, and the virtual Social Connections Summit. 100's are attending events, thousands are following us on social media because building with, on, and for neurodiverse learners and workplaces is the way of the future.

ROLE DESCRIPTION

This is a part-time remote role for a Fundraising & Partnerships Advisor to the Board of Directors at Squirrel Space. We’re a young startup nonprofit, just over a year old, hybrid and digitally led, with ️s working across countries. That means your fingerprints will be on the foundation: our first major gifts, our first multi-year grants, and the sponsor relationships that carry us into year three and beyond. There’s no dusty fundraising playbook on a shelf here yet. You’d help us write it.

We’re hoping to find someone who sees this as stewardship more than a role. Ideally you know this community from the inside, through your own lived experience with neurodivergence, and you feel a real pull to help build what support could look like for all of us. Social entrepreneurs, grant writers and development pros are all warmly welcome. What matters most is real fundraising experience and a heart for this work.

Our 2027 goal is to raise about $100K through grants, direct donor outreach and event-based fundraising, and we’d love your help leading the way. Giving and getting are at the center of this seat. We invite each advisor to help us reach that goal, to make a personal gift that feels meaningful to them, or both. Examples of ️’s include a personal gift, a fundraiser you host, sponsors you introduce, or in-kind support. Every acorn gathered helps the Acorn Fund lower the cost of equitable access to neuroaffirming care.

It’s about 5 focused hours a month for a 2-year term. Deferred compensation arrangements may be available, and we’ll share details with finalists.

QUALIFICATIONS

Lived experience with neurodivergence, and a heart that’s already in this community

A fundraising story you’re proud of, like a grant that came through, a donor relationship you grew over years, or a campaign that beat its goal

At home in digital-age fundraising, from peer-to-peer and crowdfunding to social, email and text-to-give

Knows what makes a strong grant before hitting submit, and isn’t rattled by a “not this cycle”

Tells impact stories that move people without leaning on pity or “fixing” narratives

Treats donors like partners and knows the thank-you is part of the gift

Energized by startup life: building systems from scratch, wearing a few hats, and embracing a little glorious chaos ️

Brings relationships with funders, sponsors and changemakers who’d love to hear about us

Ready to give or get toward our $100K goal, and happy to lead by example

Comfortable with the numbers side: setting targets, tracking the pipeline and celebrating wins with the board

Thrives working remotely with a team spread across time zones

Big heart, small ego, zero jerk energy (our works on fundraisers too)

Bonus acorns for CRM experience like HubSpot, nonprofit board service, or landing corporate sponsorships