Inside Higher Ed · 2 weeks ago
Director of Prospect Research
Columbia, SC
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff, Director/Executive
5+ years expInside Higher Ed is a leading source for news, opinion, and analysis about higher education. They are seeking a Director of Prospect Research to lead the Advancement Services team in increasing private support and engagement for the University. This role involves managing the Research team, providing high-level research on prospects, and collaborating with various stakeholders to support fundraising initiatives.
Digital MediaEducationHigher EducationJournalismRecruiting
Responsibilities
Provide oversight and management of the Research team to support the university’s ongoing fundraising efforts. Use established systems to monitor schedules and work completion; initiate corrective actions to ensure accurate and timely deliverables. Responsible for hiring, onboarding, and ongoing training of new staff. Responsible for assessing and evaluating individual and team performance against established performance metrics and goals
Manage and consistently communicate changes in research assignments, projects, expectations, or desired outcomes to all staff involved in accomplishing new priorities. Oversees the process of prompt responses to research requests submitted through CRM and assigns to team members as appropriate. Develop and implement new and improved research processes, encouraging staff to collaborate in a team environment focusing on accomplishing impactful goals
Provide high-level research on individuals, corporations, and foundations using various biographical, organizational, and financial sources, including state-of-the-art online database services, websites, libraries, government sources, and other external public information repositories. Analyze and synthesize accumulated information to assess financial capacity, philanthropic tendencies, giving propensity, and linkages to campus. Evaluate research results to develop and implement further research strategies utilizing ethical intelligence-gathering techniques of the information profession
Serve as a liaison to a portfolio of development directors. Collaborate and consult with diverse campus contacts, including development officers, development staff, and other University staff, on matters related to portfolio development, solicitation strategy formulation, and information gathering through peer screenings. Interpret results and provide direction on segmenting and managing large groups of prospects and donors identified through the electronic screening process
Assign prospect referrals to development officers and be responsible for maintaining the research flow of data and information from identification to gift by providing research information, updating, and tracking changes in the database, and making recommendations related to the assignment of prospects as well as post-assignment research and detailed financial analysis. Provide oversight for removing and re-assigning individual, corporate, and foundation prospect referrals
Actively participate in scheduled portfolio meetings with fundraisers, prospect managers, and leadership and provide a strategic assessment of prospect and donor behavior and trends to inform decision-making
Accepts and implements other specific assignments as directed
Qualification
Required
Requires a bachelor's degree in a job related field and 5 or more years of job related experience, which may be substituted by an equivalent combination of job related certification, training, education, and/or experience
Preferred
Bachelor's degree with 5 years of related experience with prospect research, prospect development, advancement services, fundraising, corporate relations or a related field
Experience working in a higher education (or comparably complex organization) setting, or in a non-profit and/or healthcare industries
Direct experience in relationship management, prospect research, development, sales, marketing, business administration, or project management
Blackbaud CRM or other fundraising database experience desirable
Demonstrated experience in data analysis, advanced analytical tools and databases, internet resources, and other references
Benefits
Health and Life Insurance
Retirement Programs
Paid Tuition
Dependent Scholarships
Annual Leave
Sick Leave
13 Paid Holidays (including an extended December holiday)
Paid Parental Leave
Professional Development Opportunities
Company
Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed is the online source for news, opinion, and jobs related to higher education.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
unknown2022-01-10Acquired
2006-08-31Series Unknown
Leadership Team
Stephanie Shweiki
Director, Foundation Partnerships
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