Senior Director of Prospect Research & Donor Intelligence

Young Life•Colorado Springs, CO

About The Position

The Senior Director of Prospect Research & Donor Intelligence leads Young Life’s prospect development function and sets its multi-year strategy in alignment with global fundraising and campaign priorities. The role advises executive leaders and fundraisers on major- and principal-gift prospect strategy; oversees prospect identification, research, wealth screening, due diligence, prospect management, portfolio strategy, analytics, and reporting; and manages the function’s budget, tools, workflows, and team. The position works across the organization to turn CRM and external data into actionable fundraising insights and priorities. Young Life’s mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. Young Life requires employees to profess belief in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and to subscribe to the statements and policies required of staff, including the Young Life Statement of Faith. Employees are expected to fulfill ministry functions as required, refrain from conduct and statements that detract from Young Life’s biblical standards, and abide by its policies and practices. The anticipated salary range is $98,200 to $136,000, depending on relevant experience and education, working location, and scheduled weekly hours.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college, preferably in a job-related major, or equivalent education and experience.
At least 12 years of relevant professional experience, including leading and managing complex initiatives or programs with outcome-focused deliverables, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
At least five years of managerial experience.
At least 10 years in advancement/development services, including experience leading a team.
Direct experience managing both researchers and analysts as distinct disciplines within one function.
Ownership-level experience in both Prospect Research and Prospect Management.
Experience with a comprehensive or capital campaign of $50 million or more.
CRM strategy and leadership experience, ideally with Salesforce.
Ownership of fundraising analytics, including predictive modeling and enterprise reporting using Power BI, Snowflake, or comparable platforms.
Prospect research judgment grounded in the Donor Bill of Rights, comfort with ambiguous or incomplete data, and use of range-based capacity-rating methodology rather than point estimates.
Statistical literacy, data visualization skills, and judgment about when modeling is or is not appropriate.
Ability to lead portfolio strategy, pipeline analysis, and cross-functional portfolio-review sessions.
Self-awareness, clear communication, ability to manage change and scale a small team, ethical decision-making, and commitment to staff development.
Young Life requires employees to profess belief in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and subscribe to the statements and policies required of staff, including the Young Life Statement of Faith.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience in a faith-based, parachurch, or youth-serving nonprofit environment.
Familiarity with wealth-screening and prospecting tools such as iWave, LexisNexis, DonorSearch, or WealthEngine, and openness to evaluating tools such as DAFinitive, Windfall, and Instrument.
Familiarity with APRA’s Body of Knowledge, APRA’s Salary Survey benchmarks, or AASP best practices.
CFRE or another relevant fundraising or analytics certification.

Responsibilities

Set and own the multi-year strategy for donor intelligence and prospect development, aligned with global fundraising and campaign priorities.
Advise executive leadership and fundraisers on major- and principal-gift prospect strategy.
Develop business cases for tools, data sources, and staffing investments, and manage the function’s budget.
Represent prospect development in campaign planning, board and Executive Campaign Committee preparation, and organizational strategic planning.
Oversee proactive identification of major- and principal-gift prospects across Young Life’s donor base, alumni and community network, and external wealth data.
Direct in-depth research on prospect capacity, philanthropic history, career background, and family and relationship connections at the solicitation stage.
Own the wealth-screening program, including vendor selection, screening cadence, and validation of external data against CRM records.
Set research turnaround-time and service-level standards by prospect tier.
Oversee due diligence for naming opportunities, high-risk gifts, and reputational concerns; escalate findings to leadership according to a defined protocol.
Own the prospect pipeline and development-cycle model and related CRM stage definitions.
Lead portfolio construction and regular portfolio reviews with fundraisers and leadership to right-size portfolios and prioritize prospects.
Set and enforce portfolio governance, including assignment requests, referrals, limits on unassigned or deferred prospects, and reassignment when staff transition.
Track major- and principal-gift solicitation activity and closure rates to inform pipeline-health reporting.
Build predictive and descriptive models to prioritize prospects and segment the donor file at scale.
Own leadership and board reporting and dashboards on pipeline health, portfolio penetration, research turnaround, and fundraising forecasts.
Translate CRM and external data into actionable segmentation for annual-giving-to-major-gift pipeline development.
Hire, manage, and develop prospect research and prospect management strategists; set individual and team goals tied to the function’s strategy.
Establish workflows, request intake, and service standards for gift officers and leadership engaging the team.
Build a culture of professional growth, including engagement with APRA and AASP standards, training, and certification.
Manage professional teams composed of individual contributors and/or supervisors; participate in hiring and selection, provide training and mentorship, support career development, and manage performance.
Provide timely, constructive coaching and feedback and offer staff challenging development opportunities.
Partner with Operations, GMET, and Finance on data integrity, CRM configuration, and reporting infrastructure.
Partner with fundraisers to turn research and portfolio analysis into actionable cultivation and solicitation strategy.
Partner with Marcom, Community Network, and The Table Planning Team on list generation, segmentation, and donor-journey data needs.