University of Rochester · 8 hours ago
Executive Director, Prospect Development
Rochester, New York Metropolitan Area
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$97K/yr - $145K/yr
8+ years expThe University of Rochester is committed to fostering an inclusive community and is seeking an Executive Director for Prospect Development. This role will oversee prospect management and research activities, lead the Prospect Development team, and implement strategies for identifying and rating potential prospects to support fundraising efforts.
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Responsibilities
The Executive Director (ED) oversees prospect management and prospect research activities. This position will lead the Prospect Development team and coordinate their efforts to discover new prospects and produce meaningful research profiles for Advancement staff, key volunteers, and University Administrators
Develop and implement best practices for research to foster an innovative, creative, cutting-edge, and results oriented research enterprise
Oversee the identification of new high-capacity prospects, and volunteer leaders through proactive research projects
Oversee strategies for identifying and rating the capacity of potential prospects, including analyzing hard and soft financial data in the context of gift capacity
Actively identify new major gift and planned giving prospects through data mining techniques, push technology, demographic, and other searches
Work closely with the Fundraisers and Development Events team to develop solicitation strategies
Partner with the data analytics to implement a plan for identifying new and emerging prospects specific to the Institute’s current and future fundraising goals and priorities
Ensure proper system and data maintenance are in place to support the fundraising efforts of Advancement
Provide effective leadership of the Prospect Management and Research team to help ensure successful fundraising efforts
Develop, implement, and maintain a prospect management program that ensures the placement of high-quality prospects in dynamic major gift officer portfolios
Ensure that all research requests are completed accurately and in a timely manner
Assist with the preparation of briefing reports for the President, Vice President, senior leaders, and gift officers
Collaborate with the Advancement Operations team to streamline database processes, procedures, and best practices
Monitor news and publicly available financial information on major gift prospects and suspects from SEC filings, professional publications, and press
Maintain professional standards of research and conduct in a manner that is ethical and sensitive to the needs of donors and development staff members
Participate in on-going professional development activities to maintain and enhance skills and abilities and stay abreast of current prospect management trends and research techniques
Provide support for other Institutional Advancement functions and activities as needed
Implement And Evaluate Office-wide Procedures And Policies That Assist In The Efficient Management And Coordination Of All Development Activities Related To Prospect Research Including Supervision: Supervise all Prospect Development staff- Working closely with the AVP and internal HR Advancement, oversee, monitor, and manage administrative duties including recruiting, hiring, training, management, individual performance goals, performance reviews, personnel actions and all HR matters related to the program; provide guidance on best practices for department and staff according to APRA industry standards
Administration: With the AVP, prepare current and long-range program plans, and operational goals to support the fundraising efforts of the university. Regularly meet with Directors & Associate Directors of Prospect Development. Create, monitor and administer all program budgets and expenditures related to the development, implementation and continuance of these core areas. Through meetings and conversations, report on progress of research projects and prospect management to the AVP
Campaign: Help support campaign needs and operations through strategic planning, goal setting, and prospect pool development with Advancement leadership, as well as ongoing participation in prospect review and campaign planning meetings
Supervise the prospect research effort by establishing priorities; Coordinate prospect identification research activity; Facilitate the research process using industry best practices; Engage key partners regarding strategic research projects for major gift prospects
Prospect Identification: Oversee prospect identification efforts to identify potentially new major gift donors and leadership-level volunteers through proactive research methods and external wealth information resources
Assist in the timely daily review of patients to provide accurate information for the URMC fundraising team
Research Analysis: Oversee the production of research products for Advancement staff. Focus on standardizing and streamlining services and the composition of consistent products
Edit all research documents produced for the president and other documents as necessary
Author and edit policy manuals, research reports, memoranda, and other documents pertaining to Advancement Prospect Research
Regularly review and revise the internal philanthropic rating process, its documentation, and the associated training
Coordinate with the Associate Directors of Prospect Development to ensure portfolios meet strategic interests
Develop solicitation projections and processes to improve the proposal pipeline
Standardize and maintain portfolio size and composition based on APRA / AASP Best Practices
Guide the Associate Directors of Prospect Development in quarterly gift officer training
Collaborate with gift-officers and their support staff to streamline processes and maintain a high level of data quality in the CRM
With Advancement Analytics, monitor gift officer deployment and inform decision makers of effectiveness and new opportunities
Monitor mission-critical prospects for changes in their financial status, noteworthy trends in their philanthropy, or updates in their lives which could influence their relationship with the University of Rochester
Compile biographic, business, philanthropic, and financial data on individuals into qualitative reports for the Principal Gifts Office and the CAO
Work with the Sr. Director of Analytics to uncover new prospects, deepen understanding of prospect pools and increase research efficiency. Investigate industry trends in analysis and apply innovative techniques at the University of Rochester
Utilizing data visualization software develop maps, reports, dashboards, and other tools to provide revealing views of potential prospect pools
Work with Advancement Analytics to specify and revise dashboards meant to monitor, explore, and alert Prospect Development of changes in prospects which may warrant action by Prospect Research
Other duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree required
A minimum of 8 years of related experience, particularly in advancement research, development, fundraising, or financial analysis required
Previous management experience required
Strong staff management, team building, and training skills
Proven ability to interact with varied constituencies in a professional manner
Ability to set priorities and manage several projects simultaneously and exercise critical thinking skills to determine the best use of resources for reaching goals to support the University's mission
Excellent analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills, including strong written and verbal skills
Must understand the need to maintain the confidentiality of donor and prospect information
Experience with WealthEngine or iWave
Strong skills in qualitative and quantitative analysis
Expert knowledge in the use of online search tools
Proficient in Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat
Proficient in Microsoft Excel
Preferred
Advanced degree preferred
Excellent analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills, including strong written and verbal skills preferred
Experience with Power Query and/or VBA preferred
Company
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private research university located in Rochester, New York.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
University of Rochester has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (234)
2024 (126)
2023 (130)
2022 (106)
2021 (100)
2020 (92)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$20.43MKey Investors
National Science FoundationUnitedHealthcareSociety to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine
2023-09-25Grant· $18M
2023-07-26Grant· $0.07M
2022-09-20Grant· $0.05M
Leadership Team
David Linehan
Chief Executive Officer
Recent News
2025-12-04
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