Manager, Research and Portfolio Management -UIC

University of Illinois Foundation•Chicago, IL

27d•$60,000 - $68,500

About The Position

The University of Illinois Foundation (Foundation) is the official fundraising and private gift-receiving organization of the University of Illinois (University). It works closely with alumni and friends, faculty and staff, corporations and foundations, as well as campus development professionals to create fundraising programs and opportunities that benefit the University. The Manager, Research and Portfolio Management manages a team of Prospect Development Analysts (PDAs) to provide strategic prospect research, biographical report preparation, and data enhancement in support of University of Illinois Foundation and the University of Illinois development program. The Manager will also have PDA duties and liaison responsibilities for some university advancement units.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree
5+ years of experience performing both prospect research and unit liaison/relationship-management duties, or similar work supporting business operations and frontline staff
Familiarity with general research techniques, methodology, and online and subscription resources.
Extensive experience navigating and utilizing the standard online and internal data resources and tools relied on by prospect development professionals such as Lexis Nexus, Office 360, Blackbaud CRMs, and wealth rating tools like Windfall.
Proven ability to recognize the relevance of information and to deal with materials of a sensitive nature professionally and confidentially.
Proven ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, and to formulate productive partnerships with individuals and groups of all levels of university staff, particularly development officers, faculty, and administration.
Experience initiating and collaborating on projects, delivering expected results.
Basic office skills, and the ability to work independently and meet deadlines, work well under pressure, and prioritize tasks for self and others.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Non-profit Management, Information Science, Business, Analytics, or related areas
Supervisory experience managing a team of employees
Prospect research experience and knowledge of academic fundraising operations

Responsibilities

Manage a team of Prospect Development Analysts by supervising, directing, and prioritizing their work. Responsible for hiring, staff development, time-off approval, scheduling, and managing individual performance. Set annual goals and create staff development plans for direct reports, including identifying skills to be acquired or improved, and suggesting relevant professional development opportunities.
Receive, prioritize, and delegate requests for research needs related to UI development events at assigned universities. Guarantee that work is completed and deadlines are met.
Monitor research request queue, adjust entries to conform to RPM service catalog, and assign requests to team members. Review reports to confirm that requests are completed in a timely fashion.
Collaborate with other RPM managers to identify and recommend changes to procedures and policies that encourage the department to function more efficiently, robustly, or strategically.
Perform proactive and reactive research for contact information, employment and community involvement, wealth and giving capacity, philanthropic interests, education history, board service, and professional memberships.
Identify and refer prospects to advancement units for qualification of major giving potential. Use research resources and perform analysis to determine which prospects should be referred, and to which units. Deliver targeted prospecting lists on request by curating collections of the best referrals identified for a specific objective.
Build strong relationships with advancement clients by scheduling portfolio review sessions, attending team meetings, and providing prompt, thorough, and accurate service through the completion of research requests. Partner with advancement units to review and optimize portfolios by following guidelines to onboard, engage, and sunset prospects.
Maintain the accuracy and completeness of advancement data by auditing, updating, and cleaning prospect management data. Review contact reports entered by advancement staff and port data to structured fields.
Serve as subject matter expert for prospect management data and practices. Educate fundraising staff as appropriate and make them aware of available materials in iLearn or other resources. Adhere to standards for University of Illinois Foundation advancement work as detailed in policies, processes, and procedures manuals. Ensure that direct reports follow standards and meet expectations for accuracy, completeness, and promptness.
Use data retrieval tools for prospect identification and analysis, including specialized dashboards, CRM query tools, and SQL.
Participates in appropriate professional organizations and activities; reads professional literature to stay current with trends in the field; identifies and circulates new information sources; understands general fundraising principles; exhibits willingness to learn about Foundation and University programs.