Senior Director, Prospect Strategy and Research

University of North Texas System•Denton, TX

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Prospect Strategy and Research enhances, manages, and supports the Prospect Strategy and Research program. The role leads the team and develops a strategic plan, providing high-level prospect research, pipeline analysis, strategy recommendations, prospect identification, and portfolio management across discovery, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship to support fundraising results. The position oversees prospect management and research programs, advises Advancement leadership using research and data-driven insights, and develops policies, procedures, workflows, and pipeline guidelines. It also leads prospect identification and research, maintains current information on leading prospects, supports new-market engagement, and develops strategies for institutional principal, major, planned, corporate, and foundation relations prospects and donors. The role provides analysis of pipeline activity and movement to inform strategic planning, donor journeys, and performance metrics. The University of North Texas System is a multi-campus university system based in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Its Division of University Advancement works to support philanthropy and engagement for the University of North Texas.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Seven years of prospect development and research experience in a nonprofit or similar setting.
Experience managing teams, analyzing data, and translating information.
Commitment to ethical and professional conduct in accordance with the CASE Statement of Ethics, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethical Principles and Standards, the APRA Code of Ethics, and The Donor Bill of Rights; memberships are not required.
Strong work ethic and entrepreneurial mentality.
High integrity, focus, and commitment to ambitious goals.
Familiarity with the moves management approach to major gift fundraising.
Flexible attitude and ability to adapt as situations arise.
Exceptional organizational and project management skills.
Exceptional communication skills.
Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources.
Critical and strategic thinking, including taking responsibility for goals within designated time frames.
Ability to coordinate multi-task initiatives to successful conclusion.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Membership in APRA.

Responsibilities

Coach, mentor, and manage team members to achieve success.
Oversee the prospect management program, including all aspects of the prospect management system.
Advise the Vice President, Associate Vice President, and other leaders by using prospect research, data analysis, and evidence-based insights to inform portfolio strategy, identify opportunities, prioritize next steps, and optimize portfolio management.
Develop, enhance, and implement policies and procedures with colleagues to ensure consistency in portfolio management, prospect research, and related activities.
Assess and assign donors and prospects to team members who manage portfolios.
Manage prospect assignments, reassignments, and clearance in consultation with Advancement leadership to coordinate fundraising activity and move prospects through the fundraising cycle.
Coordinate with the data team and external vendors as needed to obtain data and research for strategy development.
Establish prospect pipeline guidelines and workflows.
Implement a comprehensive prospect research program to support donor cultivation and solicitation and provide research and data for new-market engagement.
Ensure research on the highest-level prospects is current, as determined by leadership.
Manage alerts and research tools for top donors and prospects, keeping the team informed of changes in wealth, employment, philanthropy, and other relevant information.
Ensure research activities align with organizational priorities and revenue goals.
Assess prospecting procedures and the research queue, and recommend improvements to policies and procedures.
Guide and inform external database screening and analysis in collaboration with internal Advancement and external teams.
Incorporate new data into research systems to identify new donors and update information on existing prospects.
Identify key new markets and develop plans using high-level research and data to support leadership involvement and new philanthropy.
Ensure strategies are established, managed, and updated for institutional principal, major, planned, corporate, and foundation relations prospects and donors.
Manage ongoing market analysis and review economic changes to uncover new engagement leads.
Lead innovation in standards for key results, goals, and metrics based on expertise and industry best practices.
Provide quantitative and qualitative analysis of pipeline activity and movement to support strategic planning, modeling, donor-journey analysis, and analytics.