Prospect Development Specialist

Jobtailor; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanderbilt University seeks an experienced fundraising professional to coordinate internal liaison work between DAR partners and Prospect Development, guiding major gifts and leadership giving initiatives.

The role involves managing prospect portfolios, leading portfolio reviews, audits, and comprehensive reporting, and collaborating with internal teams to analyze donor behavior and optimize engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Three years of fundraising experience required.
• Experience with Salesforce CRM and Ellucian Advance preferred.
• Trailhead Certification preferred but not required.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Responsibilities

• Serve as liaison between DAR partners and Prospect Development.
• Provide strategic direction to Major and Leadership Annual Giving officers.
• Manage, track, and report on constituent and prospect pools.
• Build and maintain prospect portfolios and pools.
• Lead biannual portfolio reviews.
• Direct monthly opportunity and activity audits.
• Prepare travel-list and contact-list requests.
• Support Vanderbilt’s major gift and leadership annual giving programs through ad hoc projects.
• Analyze internal and external data to identify conclusions and trends.
• Collaborate with DAR staff on prospective donors across areas.
• Coordinate fundraising teams using Prospect Development Optimization Guide.
• Develop relationships with internal and external partners.
• Manage projects analyzing fundraising team portfolios.
• Assist DAR leadership with portfolio movement analysis.
• Develop and prepare monthly major-gift prospect activity reports.
• Use data visualization, reporting, and analytics on prospect groups.
• Direct prospect tracking and moves management for gifts from 25k to 1,000,000.
• Oversee wealth-screening results and analysis, including pool analysis and follow-up.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Salesforce CRM

Ellucian Advance

Tableau

PowerBI

Job description

• Serve as an internal liaison between DAR partners and Prospect Development
• Provide strategic focus and direction to Major and Leadership Annual Giving development officers and frontline fundraising teams
• Manage, track, and report on constituent and prospect pools influencing development officer and Dare to Grow campaign activity
• Build and maintain assigned prospect portfolios and pools
• Lead biannual portfolio reviews
• Direct monthly opportunity and activity audits
• Prepare travel-list and contact-list requests
• Support Vanderbilt’s major gift and leadership annual giving programs through ad hoc projects
• Analyze internal and external data to identify conclusions and trends
• Collaborate with DAR staff on prospective donors whose giving interests span multiple areas
• Coordinate fundraising teams using DAR’s Prospect Development Optimization Guide
• Develop relationships with internal fundraising teams, engagement teams, external partners, and thought leaders
• Manage projects analyzing fundraising team portfolios
• Assist DAR leadership with analysis of portfolio movement, health, and viability
• Develop and prepare monthly major-gift prospect activity reports with the Information Management team and DAR directors
• Use data visualization, reporting, and analytical techniques to analyze prospect and constituent groups
• Direct prospect tracking and moves management for prospects rated $25,000 to $1,000,000
• Oversee wealth-screening results and analysis, including pool analysis, distribution, tracking, and follow-up

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree is required
• Three years of fundraising experience required
• Preference for five years of relevant experience
• Preference for experience within Vanderbilt University or Vanderbilt’s Development and Alumni Relations team
• Preference for academic/university fundraising experience
• Preference for experience working with frontline fundraisers
• Ability to manage and maintain a prospect development system and ensure compliance with related guidelines
• Exceptional database skills, especially with Salesforce CRM and Ellucian Advance preferred
• Trailhead Certification(s) preferred but not required
• Intermediate to advanced experience with Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
• Experience with professional office software, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom
• Beginner to intermediate experience with visualization software, including Tableau or PowerBI, preferred but not required

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in fundraising strategy and prospect development, with a strong focus on data analysis and relationship management to enhance major gift and leadership annual giving programs.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Fundraising Experience
• Prospect Development Management
• Salesforce CRM Proficiency
• Data Analysis and Visualization
• Project Management

Hard Skills

• Fundraising Strategy
• Data Analysis
• Prospect Tracking
• Portfolio Management
• Wealth Screening
• Database Management
• Reporting Techniques
• Compliance Management
• Moves Management`li>
• Activity Audits

Soft Skills

• Collaboration
• Relationship Building
• Communication
• Strategic Focus
• Leadership

Certifications & Qualifications

• Trailhead Certification

Industry Keywords

• Higher Education Fundraising
• Major Gifts
• Annual Giving
• Prospect Development Optimization
• Vanderbilt University

Tools & Technologies

• Salesforce CRM
• Ellucian Advance
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Tableau
• PowerBI
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft Teams
• Zoom