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• The Prospect Research and Management Officer is the strategic partner of the development officer, ensuring that they have the appropriate portfolio of prospects and that prospects are being qualified, cultivated, solicited, and stewarded in line with the strategic goals of the division. They are charged with maintaining portfolio structure, analysis of the movement of prospects through the solicitation cycle, prioritizing prospects for outreach, and anticipating information needs of their assigned units. Duties include strategic portfolio analysis, conducting donor research, providing capacity ratings, augmenting strategies, and information needs, and providing assistance to Prospect Development colleagues as needed.
• This role is responsible for locating, assessing, interpreting, disseminating, and directing information about major gift donor prospects and other VIPs, friends, and alumni in the service of University Advancement and securing private philanthropy for RIT. This role also helps analyze donor trends and provides business intelligence to frontline fundraisers to help maximize their prospect portfolios. Analyzes patterns of giving and characteristics of current donor pool including demographic data; employment information; levels of involvement; giving history amount, frequency, level vs. expectation, etc.
• Creates and regularly disseminates resources to keep leadership and colleagues apprised of institutional, donor prospect, and industry news with relevance to fundraising.
• Educates frontline fundraising personnel about role of prospect research and management, builds partnership with gift officers to grow institutional memory, and promotes professional status of advancement research.
• Trains and orients new gift officers about prospect research and management through formal and informal approaches.
• Makes recommendations on prospect's gift capacity and likelihood ratings; assists solicitors in formulating "ask" amount and strategy.
• Assists in maintaining data integrity via prospect management workspaces. Helps with portfolio management; ensures assigned gift officers’ portfolios are balanced and supported with optimal prospect pool. Manages gift officers’ requests.
• Assists in managing reporting, data validation, and remediation strategies in connection with gift officer metrics; maintains data hygiene best practices, prospect identification, portfolio penetration, proposal conversion rates, and solicited revenue.
• Produces specialized research targeted to prospect portfolios and develops solicitation strategies.
• Creates impactful research deliverables for fundraisers and leadership, including critical briefing materials for dean, vice president, and president meetings.
• Researches high net worth individuals, donor prospects, alumni, board candidates, private companies, and public corporations. Assesses their philanthropic interests, giving capacity, propensity, and readiness.
• Uses print, electronic, and internet-based methods to pursue research and collect facts; filters through the lens of fundraising. Identifies and evaluates new research tools to remain continually up-to-date with products and services.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in Library Science, English, Business, Communications, or another research and writing-intensive discipline.

Experience/Personal Qualifications:

• Experience searching online databases and the internet. Demonstrated knowledge of MS operating systems, Word, Excel, Access, Adobe Acrobat, etc.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to think critically, assess, and synthesize information.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask, handle multiple deadlines, and feel comfortable with seeking feedback on work. Ability to learn from feedback and continue to develop based on job responsibilities.
• Demonstrated ability to independently coordinate production of projects accurately and on deadline.
• Proven ability to work collegially and collaboratively and to work effectively under deadline.
• Sense of curiosity, ingenuity, and perseverance.
• Strong sense of ethics, sound judgement, and strict adherence to confidentiality policies.
• Preferred skills: Expertise required with donor research methodology and practice, including wealth indicators, moves management, prospect management and data analysis.
• Knowledge of general principles of major gifts fundraising.