Summary: 

The Senior Prospect Research Strategist in Prospect Research, Management & Analytics (PRMA) will perform a variety of duties involving the collection, interpretation, analysis, and documentation of data on prospective donors and demonstrate deep subject matter expertise and leadership in at least one area of Research. S/he will submit reports to leadership and gift officers across schools/units/initiatives with strategic recommendations regarding identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors to Duke University. The position reports to the Assistant Director of Research in PRMA. Duke PRMA offers opportunities, an environment, a culture—and benefits—that just aren’t found together anywhere else. If you’re curious, motivated, and want to be part of a unique community and help shape the future, then take a look at this opportunity.

Work Performed: 

Prospect Identification, Research, and Analysis

• Identify new prospects and projects that meet strategic priorities and objectives for annual, planned, major, and principal giving.
• Responsible for design and upkeep of system for proactive research aligned with portfolio, pipeline, & campaign priorities.
• Respond to requests from senior leaders and fundraisers in a timely, thoughtful, and complete manner.
• Demonstrate ability to partner with research requesters to identify specific research needs.
• Monitor news sources for information on prospective and existing donors & trends in business, higher education, and philanthropy. Distribute news alerts to the appropriate researchers.
• Maintain, update, and query donor records in the university database; provide system-generated reports for analysis and interpretation.

Interpretation of Data

• Discover, record, and interpret evidence of philanthropic interests in organizations and evaluate impact.
• Using hard, soft, and public wealth indicators identify, evaluate, and track highly appreciated assets and estimate donor gift capacity through the analysis of complex individual, corporate, and foundation financial information.
• Summarize information relevant to the timing of a gift, synthesizing large amounts of data to create concise and confidential research reports in a variety of formats.
• Train and mentor Research staff on use of research capacity ratings for prospect prioritization and strategy.

Collaboration, Leadership & Strategy

• Demonstrate and cultivate deep subject matter expertise in at least one functional area of Research. Identify and incorporate leading edge developments in prospect research methods and approaches. Innovate and test ideas to improve and grow the program.
• Independently plan, organize, and coordinate, multiple tasks, prioritizing and organizing work to accomplish departmental goals.
• Build strategic partnerships with development officers across Duke that are positive, mutually respectful, and productive; successfully navigate processes that include responsibility for outcome with peers, managers, and leaders.
• Work in a collaborative team environment, share knowledge and newly identified sources with Development Research team, and lead group projects that strengthen the pipeline.
• Safeguard the confidentiality of donor information at all times. Adhere to ethical and confidentiality guidelines of Duke and APRA.
• Participate in professional associations such as APRA and CASE, both to increase knowledge and skills and to foster professional relationships with colleagues outside of Duke.
• Perform other related duties incidental to the performed work described above.

Screening

• Lead projects to proactively identify, qualify, and quantify segments of the University’s prospect pool through screening and data mining.  Bring the most promising opportunities for the University to the attention of appropriate colleagues.
• Understand how to plan, coordinate, and implement a screening plan from conception to achievement of plan goals, working and negotiating timelines with staff, management, and partners (including expectations for database integration, prospect identification, and utilization by Gift Officers).
• Understand how to prepare data for screening, including segmenting data to select records and data clean-up, working with vendors to create data files, segment and prioritize screening results for evaluation. Evaluate and utilize screening results, including data validation, thorough assessment of source validity and the creative use of additional sources, to analyze capacity, inclination, and readiness.

Partnering

• Present prospects qualified through screening work to fundraisers to determine appropriate donor-centric strategy. Work with Research and Prospect Management teams on appropriate presentations of data.
• Foster campus collaborations during strategic group research projects including wealth screenings, officer onboarding, and targeted prospecting.
• Present research in strategic and relevant ways to help officers determine who to solicit and when and for the right amount. Summarize key findings and create actionable recommendations to appear prominently in profiles, prospect lists and other research products.
• Determine strategy and next steps for a prospect based on research. Determine what constitutes a good prospect for Duke through analysis, conversations with staff, and knowledge of organizational history
• Determine fundraising strengths, priorities and goals, and align research efforts to those priorities and goals.
• As needed, coordinate, write, and prepare briefing and bio materials for the President of Duke University, and leadership briefing materials for the Dean of the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, the Dean of the Graduate School, the Dean of Undergraduate Education, and the Provost as assigned.

Behavioral/Soft Competencies

• Curiosity and Information Seeking: An underlying curiosity and desire to know more about things, people or issues. It implies going beyond the questions that are routine or required to perform the job. It may include digging or pressing for exact information; resolution of discrepancies by asking a series of questions; or broad environmental scanning for potential opportunities or miscellaneous information that may be of future use.
• Decisiveness and Judgment: Degree to which an individual successfully determines, follows, and persists with a timely course of action and effectively modifies approaches in dynamic and fluid situations. Requires the consideration of multiple factors and influences in making decisions and appropriately addresses inter-relationships between stakeholders and issues.
• Attention to Detail: Values and ensures thorough and accurate information. Organizes and delivers information in a clear and concise manner.
• Planning, Prioritizing, and Multitasking: The ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work; effectively manages multiple tasks or projects simultaneously.
• Provides Excellent Customer Service: Provides an excellent service to meet internal and external customer/client needs. Understands the needs of the customer/client and looks for ways to provide added value.
• Collaborating with Others: The willingness and ability to work with others to achieve shared success. It includes formal and informal collaborative efforts within one’s work group and across the organization.

• Expressing Ideas Orally and in Writing: Ability to communicate ideas, thoughts, and facts orally and in writing. Speaking using correct grammar, appropriate body language, proper tone and inflection, recognizing non-verbal cues, and respecting the audience to effectively communicate ideas. Using proper spelling, sentence and document structure, accepted document formatting, and special literary techniques to communicate a message in writing.

Desired Skills and Experience

• At least three years of successful development research experience in a non-profit or institution of higher education.
• Highly developed scanning, skimming, and reading comprehension skills are essential, as well as superior ability to assess the relative value of, synthesize, and summarize relevant information into coherent, well-written documents.
• Ability to take initiative and exercise sound independent judgement.
• Ability to comfortably handle multiple priorities with attention to detail & timeliness.
• Knowledge of financial analysis and financially oriented prospect research.
• Demonstrated track record of strategic and creative approaches to prospect research and collaboration with frontline fundraisers, system administrators, and senior level management preferred.
• Advance computer skills and proficiency with industry standard tools of prospect research including subscription databases (LexisNexis, iWave, Blackbaud/ResearchPoint, Intelligize, etc.), free online tools, and other reference resources.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills & excellent written & oral communication skills with an aptitude for critical thinking & problem-solving; ability to work well under pressure and maintain flexibility. Ability to support peers and leaders is essential.
• Ability to learn to navigate unfamiliar information systems and use a variety of computer applications with little guidance.
• Position requires diplomacy and sensitivity related to institutional prioritization of needs.
• Skillful problem solving, curiosity, discretion, & continuous attention to detail
• Excellent analytical skills and ability to interpret and analyze data

Minimum Qualifications: 

Education:

Work requires the skills and knowledge normally acquired through completion of a Bachelor’s degree.

Experience: 

Work generally requires three years of experience in development research or a related field. Work experience in research methodology is required.  OR ANY OTHER EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.