Prospect Research Manager

THE NEWS LITERACY PROJECT INC•Washington, DC

5h•$60,000 - $65,000•Remote

About The Position

As the Prospect Research Manager, you will implement and refine policies and practices around prospect research, working collaboratively with the team’s senior major gift officers (SMGOs) and the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Development to ensure that prospects are identified and qualified in a timely and thorough manner. Reporting to the Director of Development Operations, you will also provide support for gift entry and other routine operational tasks in our CRM, ensuring the efficiency and integrity of our fundraising infrastructure and maintaining hygienic donor data. Lastly, you will complete routine tasks to support effective Development Team operations. This role plays a critical part in sourcing new donors and optimizing development and team operations, supporting both individual and institutional fundraising strategies, and enabling the team to meet its goals.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. An advanced degree in nonprofit management, business administration,or a related field is a plus. Relevant certifications and experience will also be considered.
A minimum four years of progressively responsible experience in prospect research and nonprofit fundraising operations, with expertise in wealth screening platforms and CRM databases (DonorSearch and/or EveryAction a plus).
Knowledge of industry best practices and standard procedures related to prospect research,gift processing, donor stewardship,and revenue reporting and projections.
Strong technical skills, including advanced Excel capabilities (pivot tables, formulas, data visualization), and experience working with high volumes of data (imports, exports, field mapping, etc.).
Strategic thinking and excellent analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills, with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and balance big-picture vision with detailed execution.
A collaborative,solutions-oriented mindset with strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to thrive in a remote, mission-driven work environment.
Sound judgment and discretion when handling sensitive and confidential information.
Willingness to travel one to two times per year for staff and team meetings.

Responsibilities

Identify new prospects using databases, supporter lists,and other resources to help the Development Team build and maintain a robust pipeline.
Conduct wealth screenings to preliminarily evaluate capacity and propensity and provide recommendations to SMGOs and the SVP of Development about next steps for qualified prospects.
Conduct advanced research and analysis to help SMGOs and the SVP of Development prioritize prospects and prepare for cultivation,solicitation, and/or events — creating comprehensive profiles that covermission alignment, philanthropic history, assets and capacity, personal/professional affiliations, donor mapping, risk assessment and more.
Monitor philanthropy trends and events,and track news alerts for all board members, key foundations, major donors, and high-priority prospects. Provide timely,actionable recommendations to SMGOs and the SVP of Development to leverage new opportunities.
In collaboration with SMGOs and the SVP of Development, decide on an appropriate cadence and volume for the above-described research outputs. Adhere to relevant timelines/deadlines, ensuring that research is provided in advance of meetings for review and decision-making. Deliver all research in a clear, consistent,and digestible format,improving existing templates as needed.
Working with the Director of Development Operations,enter relevant data from research into EveryAction CRM with standardized codes,and ensure accurate updates to coding based on relationship changes and periodic reassessment.Save research in NLP’s file management system in a clear,organized and consistent manner.
Partner with SMGOs and the SVP of Development to understand the volume and depth of their research needs,collecting feedback and refining the prospect research program on an ongoing basis as required for optimal portfolio management and growth. Work with the SVP of Development to align research priorities with overall fundraising strategy and organizational budget gaps.
Manage gift entry and pledge creation to ensure accurate,timely, high-integrity processing of all donations (online, checks, stocks, in-kind, etc.) and earned income in coordination with finance and other internal stakeholders.
Produce and refine routine reports for SMGOs and SVP of Development that track gifts received from donors in their portfolios, interactions with donors, and projected revenue, ultimately facilitating prompt, personalized stewardship.
Ensure the entry and maintenance of high-quality, hygienic donor data in our CRM by creating and updating contact records,identifying and merging duplicates, linking records based on relationships, applying appropriate back-end codes, updating recurring giftseries, and more.
Support other one-off requests from Development Team members related to revenue tracking, contact record revisions, and other projects tomaintainthe integrity and security of our donor data.
Provide input about strategic improvements to systems, tools, and workflows to enhance the team’s operational efficiency and fundraising outcomes. Work with the Director of Development Operations to continually improve all aspects of development operations, including gift processing, donor acknowledgment, donor data management, revenue reporting and forecasting, and CRM administration.
Ensure compliance with IRS regulations and data privacy and security standards, and follow policies aligned with industry best practices in nonprofit fundraising operations.
Schedule Development Team meetings and coordinate the calendar for internal meetings that the Development Team has with other NLP teams.
Prepare meeting agendas based on content and structure of past meetings and ensure that relevant staff members add information to agenda templates as needed prior to each meeting.
Manage the general Development Team inbox, triaging inbound messages and forwarding them to the appropriate team members when a response is required.
Depending on capacity, support team priorities through other projects.