Director of Prospect Management & Research

Overview 

The Director of Prospect Management & Research actively supports RAND Development’s fundraising efforts by partnering with Development Officers to track movement through the donor cycle, analyze key fundraising metrics, and develop tools that make data visible and actionable. This position leads the implementation and maintenance of prospect management systems, oversees moves management and prospect strategy meetings, and ensures the accuracy and integrity of donor data. The Director conducts advanced research to identify and evaluate prospects, prepares detailed donor profiles and reports, and contributes to the development of long-term philanthropic relationships. This role also provides leadership in prospect management policies, staff training, and the adoption of new technologies to enhance fundraising effectiveness. 

Responsibilities 

• Lead the implementation and maintenance of the prospect management system to identify, evaluate, categorize, and report on the progress of major gift prospects. 

• Lead moves management and prospect strategy meetings. 

• Conduct regular meetings with fundraisers and staff to discuss prospects and the state of portfolios, review activity metrics, and ensure recording of donor cycle stage progression.  

• Proactively identify prospects and vet new donors by reviewing donor gift reports and news alerts. Share relevant information with colleagues and update constituent records.  

• Lead efforts to pipeline donors with additional capacity (i.e., small gift, high-capacity referrals, annual giving, etc.).  

• Conduct market, prospect, and donor research focused on the acquisition of new donors. 

• Prepare detailed reports on individuals/prospects; may recommend strategies to segment donors. 

• Compose individualized research reports, briefs, and other documents (profiles, biographies, project summaries) when advanced research methods are required.  

• Oversee and conduct the comprehensive vetting process for prospective board members, which includes drafting detailed candidate profiles, evaluating philanthropic history and prior board service, conducting conflict of interest assessments, vetting donors to ensure alignment with organizational values, verify financial capacity and comply withdonor due diligence best practices. 

• Support and lead efforts to identify and cultivate relationships with donors and stakeholders before and after development-focused events. This includes donor-hosted programming, salons, workshops, regional meetings, RAND researcher and leadership attended programming and other engagement opportunities. 

• Together with leadership and colleagues, develop and implement policies, procedures, processes, systems, and rating formulas relevant to prospect and development management and research. 

• Act as RAND Development’s lead regarding prospect tracking and prospect management policies and documentation. 

• Train and onboard RAND Development Officers on best practices and systems.  

• Train RAND Development Coordinators (and others as needed) to ensure that biographical (employment, address, email, and telephone updates) and donor information is accurate and recorded in the database in a timely, consistent, and reportable format. 

• Manage a suite of prospect research tools and subscriptions; make recommendations when new technologies and tools emerge and annually evaluate ROI in existing subscriptions. 

• Will work other special projects as assigned. 

Qualifications 

• Proficiency and sophistication with computers, technology devices, software, and applications at a level of proficiency and sophistication appropriate for the position’s duties. Ability to learn and use new technologies, software, and applications at a level of proficiency appropriate for the position’s duties. 

• Excellent project management skills. 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a keen ability to draft donor profiles that reflect strategic insight and foster meaningful donor relationships.  

• Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills. 

• Proven success in following through with and completing projects, including multiple projects being worked on at the same time. 

• Strong orientation toward taking initiative and ownership of projects and assignments, and being proactive with projects, assignments, quality, professional development, and process improvements. 

• Ability to prioritize, multitask, be flexible with changing circumstances, and meet deadlines. 

• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. 

• Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. 

• Excellent ability to routinely and independently exercise sound judgment in making decisions. 

• Ability to maintain and promote confidentiality of information and effectively handle highly sensitive and confidential information with sound judgment, tact, and discretion. Strong ability to practice a high level of data privacy. 

• Excellent customer service, interpersonal skills, and diplomatic abilty.

• Ability to work independently, to effectively receive supervisory input and directions, and to effectively work as part of and contribute to a team. 

• Demonstrated experience in prospect research required. 

• Proven ability to design and prepare professional research profiles, donor briefs, and analytical reports that inform fundraising strategy and donor engagement. 

• Knowledge of prospect research platforms and tools (e.g., iWave, ResearchPoint, DonorSearch, Foundation Directory Online, etc.) and experience evaluating new technologies for effectiveness and ROI. 

• Sophisticated operating knowledge of moves management systems and experience using a CRM or donor database (such as Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, or similar) preferred. 

• Demonstrated success in leading prospect management systems and processes, including portfolio analysis, pipeline development, and moves management tracking. 

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills to communicate effectively with fundraisers, leadership, and cross-functional teams. 

• Strong problem-solving skills, resourcefulness, intellectual curiosity, and flexibility, with a demonstrated ability to adapt to changing priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously. 

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook) and comfort working with data and reporting tools. 

• Experience training and mentoring staff and collaborating across departments to ensure data accuracy and consistency. 

• Must be able to pass a background check. 

Experience 

Minimum of 3-5 years of progressively responsible experience in prospect management, development research, fundraising analytics, or a related field within a nonprofit, academic, or research organization. 

Education Requirements 

Bachelor’s degree required

Location 

This position may be based at RAND’s Santa Monica location and offers a flexible work arrangement, combining time in the office and remote work. While a hybrid schedule is preferred, we are open to considering a fully remote arrangement for exceptionally qualified candidates. 

Salary Range: $75,700-$112,400 

RAND considers a variety of factors when formulating an offer, including but not limited to, the specific role and associated responsibilities; a candidate’s work experience, education/training, skills, expertise; and internal equity. The salary range includes base pay plus RAND’s sabbatic pay (which provides additional compensation above base pay when vacation is taken). In addition, RAND provides strong benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, paid time-off and more.