Prospect Development Specialist, RPD

Vanderbilt University•Nashville, TN

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Prospect Development Specialist serves as an internal liaison between internal DAR Partners and Prospect Development, providing strategic focus and direction to Major and Leadership Annual Giving development officers and frontline fundraising teams. Prospect Development is the strategic arm of Vanderbilt’s DAR operation. The Specialist will manage, track, and report on constituent and prospect pools that influence development officer and Dare to Grow campaign activity. By leveraging a solid understanding of the university’s vision and philanthropic priorities, the Specialist is expected to lead efforts that increase the pipeline for major and lead annual gifts and optimize fundraising activity for assigned development officers and fundraising teams. Typical day-to-day duties include building and maintaining assigned portfolios and pools of prospects, leading biannual portfolio reviews, directing monthly opportunity and activity audits, preparing travel list or contact list requests, and other ad hoc projects that support the university’s major gift and leadership annual giving programs. These projects support an information-driven culture that derives conclusions and trends through structured analysis of internal and external data. The Specialist will work collaboratively with appropriate DAR staff members on prospective donors with giving interests in multiple areas. The Specialist will leverage DAR’s Prospect Development Optimization Guide to foster coordination and collaboration between fundraising teams to create the best possible match between a donor’s interests and Vanderbilt’s priorities. The Specialist will develop and foster relationships with internal fundraising teams, engagement teams, and external partners and thought leaders. The Specialist will demonstrate initial competency of Level I Relationship Management functions, Level I Data Science functions, and Level I Leadership functions, defined by APRA International Body of Knowledge, and will also gain exposure to Prospect Research, Pipeline Development, and additional Data Science functions on an as-needed basis. The Specialist is expected to demonstrate competency of Level II Relationship Management functions, Level I Data Science functions, and Level I Leadership functions by the end of their first year. Vanderbilt’s Department of Alumni Relations (DAR) assists the university in securing the resources, both human and financial, that are required to achieve its mission and goals. DAR is responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of individuals and organizations whose charitable objectives are consistent with those of Vanderbilt’s teaching and research programs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
Three years of fundraising experience required.
Exceptional database skills, preferred especially with Salesforce CRM and Ellucian.
Intermediate to advanced experience/comfort with Microsoft Office Suite (e.g. Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and professional office software (e.g. Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Zoom).

Nice To Haves

Five years of relevant experience preferred.
Preference for experience within Vanderbilt University or Vanderbilt’s Development and Alumni Relations team.
Preference for Academic/University fundraising Experience.
Preference for experience working with frontline fundraisers.
Advance Trailhead Certification(s) are preferred but not required.
Beginner to intermediate experience with visualization software (e.g. Tableau, PowerBI) is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Manage, track, and report on constituent and prospect pools that influence development officer and Dare to Grow campaign activity.
Lead efforts that increase the pipeline for major and lead annual gifts and optimize fundraising activity for assigned development officers and fundraising teams.
Build and maintain assigned portfolios and pools of prospects.
Lead biannual portfolio reviews.
Direct monthly opportunity and activity audits.
Prepare travel list or contact list requests.
Support the university’s major gift and leadership annual giving programs through ad hoc projects.
Work collaboratively with appropriate DAR staff members on prospective donors with giving interests in multiple areas.
Leverage DAR’s Prospect Development Optimization Guide to foster coordination and collaboration between fundraising teams.
Develop and foster relationships with internal fundraising teams, engagement teams, and external partners and thought leaders.
Demonstrate initial competency of Level I Relationship Management functions, Level I Data Science functions, and Level I Leadership functions.
Gain exposure to Prospect Research, Pipeline Development, and additional Data Science functions on an as-needed basis.
Demonstrate competency of Level II Relationship Management functions, Level I Data Science functions, and Level I Leadership functions by the end of their first year.
Possess and demonstrate a solid, detailed knowledge of the university’s prospect pool, prospect development business processes, and the proper use and function of information in DAR’s database.
Ensure compliance with the Prospect Optimization Guide with focus on roles and responsibilities for the prospect development teams and the development officers.
Recommend portfolio moves which enhance prospect and donor lifetime value to Vanderbilt, and/or perceived engagement with or affinity to Vanderbilt.
In coordination with assigned team(s) and/or development officer(s), review all prospect development requests for assignment in school or unit areas, and ensure accuracy of appropriate data points in database.
Proactively initiate projects designed to discover and analyze new and emerging prospect segments.
Manage the planning and execution of projects related to analysis of fundraising team portfolios.
Assist DAR leadership with analysis on overall portfolio movement, health, and viability.
In conjunction with Information Management (IM) team, the Director, Data Analytics, and the Director, Prospect Management, develop and prepare monthly reports for DAR leadership team to track major gift prospect activity.
Use data visualization, reporting, and analytical techniques as required to analyze and describe groups of prospects or constituents.
Direct the prospect tracking and moves management program for the university prospects rated $25,000 to $1,000,000 by reviewing/analyzing contact reports, changes in prospect records, and proposal status.
Provide prospect development oversight on wealth screening results/analysis, including pool analysis, distribution, tracking, and follow-up of potential $25,000 to $1,000,000 screened prospects to leadership annual giving officers.