Associate Director, Advancement Research & Prospect Management

Associate Director, Advancement Research & Prospect Management

Wright State University is an equal opportunity employer.

Position Information

• Faculty Rank or Job Title: Associate Director, Advancement Research & Prospect Management
• Job Category: Administrative (exempt/non-exempt)
• Department: University Development
• EEO number: 26P275
• Position FTE: 100%
• Minimum Annual Salary: $60,000
• Salary Band: UC S05

Job Summary

The Associate Director of Prospect Research is responsible for researching, discovering and qualifying potential major and leadership gift prospects to support the University’s fundraising priorities. This position manages prospect research projects, prepares actionable donor intelligence, provides data modeling and predictive forecasting, and partners with advancement staff to ensure a healthy, evolving donor pipeline. Reporting to the Director of Advancement Research & Prospect Management, the Associate Director supervises student researchers and collaborates closely with both the Advancement Records Specialist to ensure a robust database, and with the Manager of Advancement Analytics to integrate qualitative research with quantitative data in order to inform donor engagement strategy and fundraising decisions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• At least four years of prospect research experience in a non‑profit setting (preferably academic), or a combination of research and fundraising experience involving regular collaboration with a prospect research team on projects; a minimum of six years experience in library, market research or related field may be considered.
• Familiarity with CRMs (e.g. Ellucian’s Banner, Salesforce, Blackbaud, etc.), data visualization platforms, wealth screening services and research tools.
• Familiarity with data querying, mining, and reporting.
• Excellent quantitative analysis skills, attention to detail and the ability to think strategically.
• Ability to use technology to gather, interpret, organize and present data.
• Strong computer skills, including proficiency with Microsoft Office software (particularly Excel) and the products commonly used in fund‑raising research (such as Lexis‑Nexis).
• Familiarity with implementing proactive prospecting methodologies, understanding wealth indicators, and calculating donor gift capacity.
• General knowledge of fundraising culture and fundraising terms, including donor types, prospect stages and gift vehicles.
• Must be able to work independently with very little supervision & exercise independent judgment and initiative, often under strict deadlines.
• Demonstrated project and time management skills.
• Demonstrated record of initiative, team collaboration, complex problem solving, and adaptability.
• Excellent written and interpersonal skills, with experience facilitating meetings, leading project teams, giving presentations, training colleagues, and forming productive partnerships with internal and external constituencies.
• High motivation and creativity.
• Commitment to professional ethics, donor confidentiality and customer service.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Analytics, Library Science, Marketing, Statistics, Journalism or related field.
• Proficiency in implementing proactive prospecting methodologies, understanding wealth indicators, and calculating donor gift capacity.
• Major fund‑raising campaign experience.
• Familiarity with the Banner database system and querying & reporting using Cognos; or proficiency with data querying, mining, and reporting.
• Knowledge of Wright State’s mission and programs, and familiarity with Dayton‑area businesses, VIPs, and philanthropic community.
• Supervisory experience.

Essential Functions

50% Research & Prospect Management

• Conduct in-depth research on individuals, corporations, and foundations to evaluate giving capacity, philanthropic interests, and potential alignment with university priorities.
• Prepare detailed prospect profiles, briefing materials, and biographical notes for gift officers and university leadership to capture biographic, wealth and philanthropic interest information, focusing on the needs of each college. Ensure all information is updated in a timely and efficient manner in the CRM system.
• Using careful and independent judgement, proactively seek new major gift ($25,000+) and high‑level annual gift prospects through data mining techniques, push technology and demographic searches.
• Collaborate with the ARPM team to validate, rate and prioritize prospects through combined qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• Partner with the Director of Advancement Research & Prospect Management to lead additional proactive prospect identification efforts, including relationship mapping, event attendee analysis, and internal/external database screenings/scorings. May be responsible for selecting & negotiating contracts with vendors when ARPM outsources an electronic screening or other project related to wealth/propensity scoring, data mining or appending (typically these contracts would be in the $25,000‑$150,000 range; and will assist with interpreting & processing the results.
• Partner with gift officers to support prospect strategy development, conduct portfolio reviews, and track cultivation & proposal progress.

25% Predictive and Descriptive Data/Statistical Analysis

• Build donor models to facilitate and improve prospect identification and characterization.
• Create detailed statistical views of staff, fundraising & proposal activity to identify strengths/success rates and opportunities.
• Provide predictive analysis on possible courses of action under consideration and recommend overall strategic actions that may not yet be under consideration.
• Perform complex and high quality data analysis and present data related to the fundraising activities and constituent bases of WSU, as well as general philanthropic and economic trends, through a combination of presentations and written & graphical reports.
• Provide leadership for all division‑initiated alumni & donor surveys.
• Work with Annual Giving and Alumni Relations to improve effectiveness of mass fundraising activities, such as Wright Day to Give and the Campus Scholarship & Innovation Campaign, through the refinement of calling segments/appeals, tracking & reporting.
• Apply solid problem‑solving skills, initiate and manage other projects related to the analysis of internal data, including possible new standards for tracking extraneous external data and working with shadow databases.

25% Supervision of student Development Aide(s) and Other Duties

• Hire, train, and supervise student researcher(s) in ethical research practices and data quality standards and supervise selected student projects, including mass database updates (donor/board list coding, event attendees, special demographic updates and exclusion codes generated out of the phonathon program); the associate director will be involved in generating the reports necessary to provide the students with this information and will be responsible for staying informed on constituent involvement with the University so that it can be tracked within the CRM.
• Provide various services to WSU’s colleges and departments, including recommending invitees for campus events, nominees for awards and advisory/committee positions, serving on internal scholarship committee(s), and facilitating meetings with internal and external staff.
• Assume director’s responsibilities in his/her absence & assist director in establishing research‑related policies, procedures and standards.
• Assist with training professional staff as needed on database use, prospect tracking, and research techniques.
• Monitor industry trends, tools, and methodologies to improve research effectiveness; Identify data clean‑up & maintenance issues and recommend value‑added solutions. This includes being actively involved with any future database conversions.
• Serve as a Wright State representative to professional associations such as the Ohio Prospect Research Network, Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement, or the Association of Fundraising Professionals, either as a board member, speaker, or paying member.
• Other duties as assigned.

Working Conditions

• Must be comfortable using a MAC laptop computer.
• Must be willing to work remotely as needed and be willing to travel for research, training, and professional development.
• Background checks policy: Background checks, including criminal record, credit history (when job related), or education verifications are required. Additional review may be conducted if an employee is charged with or convicted of a crime (except minor vehicle violations). FAQs are available on the Human resources website at
• Tobacco Policy: Effective July 1, 2017, Wright State University is tobacco‑free. Tobacco use, including the sale, advertising, sampling and distribution of tobacco products and related items, is prohibited in all university facilities, on all university‑owned or leased grounds, university‑owned or operated residence halls and apartments, at all university‑sponsored events regardless of location, and in university vehicles or any equipment owned, leased or operated by Wright State University. This policy applies to anyone on campus including students, faculty, staff, visitors, consultants, vendors, patients, volunteers, and contractor employees.