Senior Director of Prospect Research & Donor Intelligence

Young Life; Colorado Springs (CO); On-site; USD 98,000 - 136,000; Full time

Job summary

Young Life is seeking a Strategic Leadership & Donor Intelligence leader to set multi-year donor strategy, oversee major gifts research, and manage a high-impact analytics team. The role emphasizes wealth screening, portfolio governance, and cross-functional partnerships to drive fundraising outcomes.

The position requires 12+ years in advancement, a Bachelor’s degree, and expert use of Salesforce, Power BI, and data-driven decision making.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher and 12+ years of relevant experience in advancement or donor research.
• Experience leading a team and managing complex fundraising initiatives with outcome-focused deliverables.
• Experience with prospect research, management, and enterprise analytics.

Responsibilities

• Lead multi-year donor intelligence strategy aligned with fundraising campaigns.
• Oversee prospect identification, research, and wealth screening programs.
• Manage portfolio strategy, pipeline reviews, and governance.
• Develop predictive models and dashboards for leadership reporting.

Skills

Prospect research

Data analysis

CRM strategy

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree a plus

Tools

Salesforce

Power BI

Snowflake

Job description

Because of Young Life’s exclusive Christian purposes of evangelism and discipleship as set forth in its Articles of Incorporation and in these Bylaws, and to reflect what has always been and will continue to be the position of Young Life, specifically the Christian belief that each and every employee and volunteer of the corporation should minister as a servant of God with the primary responsibility of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and, as such, is an integral part of the Christian mission and ministry of the corporation.

Young Life shall only employ individuals or enlist volunteer leaders who: (a) profess a belief in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord; and (b) subscribe to the statements and policies required of all Young Life staff, including the Young Life Statement of Faith.

During working and nonworking hours, shall: (i) be ready, willing and able to fulfill such ministry functions as may be required by the organization; (ii) refrain from conduct and statements that detract from the biblical standards taught and supported by Young Life, and (iii) abide by all policies and practices of Young Life including, without limitation, those related to religious belief or ministry activities.

At Young Life, our mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. We invite you to join us in this life-changing work, building relationships and creating spaces where young people feel seen, known, and loved.

Strategic Leadership & Donor Intelligence Strategy

• Sets and owns the multi-year strategy for Young Life's donor intelligence and prospect development function, aligned to global fundraising and campaign priorities.
• Advises the executive leadership team and fundraisers on prospect strategy for major and principal-gift-level relationships
• Builds the business case for tools, data sources, and staffing investments (wealth screening vendors, CRM/analytics platforms) and manages the function's budget.
• Represents prospect development in campaign planning, board and Executive Campaign Committee prep, and organizational strategic planning.

Prospect Research & Identification

• Oversees proactive identification of new major and principal gift prospects across Young Life's donor base, alumni/community network, and external wealth data.
• Directs in-depth research on capacity, philanthropic history, career background, and family/relationship connections for prospects at the solicitation stage.
• Owns the wealth screening program: vendor selection, screening cadence for large donor segments, and validation of external data against CRM records.
• Sets standards for research turnaround times and service levels by prospect tier (ex. light-touch at qualification, deep capacity analysis pre-ask).
• Oversees due diligence research for naming opportunities, high-risk gifts, or reputational concerns, escalating findings to leadership per a defined protocol.

Prospect Management & Portfolio Strategy

• Owns the prospect pipeline/development-cycle model (e.g., Identify → Connect → Ask → Steward) and the CRM stage definitions that support it.
• Leads portfolio construction and regular portfolio reviews with fundraisers and leadership to right-size portfolios and prioritize prospects.
• Sets and enforces portfolio governance: assignment requests, prospect referrals, unassigned/deferred prospect limits, and the reassignment process when staff transition.
• Tracks major and principal gift solicitation activity (planned and pending asks) and closure rates to inform pipeline health reporting.

Data Science & Analytics

• Builds predictive and descriptive models (propensity, capacity, likelihood-to-give) to prioritize prospects and segment the donor file at scale.
• Owns reporting and dashboards on pipeline health, portfolio penetration, research turnaround, and fundraising forecasting for leadership and the board.
• Translates CRM and external data into actionable segmentation for annual giving-to-major-gift pipeline development.

Team Leadership & Development

• Hires, manages, and develops a team of prospect research and prospect management strategists; set individual and team goals tied to the function's strategy.
• Establishes workflows, request intake, and service standards for how gift officers and leadership engage the team.
• Builds a culture of professional growth, including engagement with APRA and AASP standards, training, and certification.
• Manages professional teams composed of individual contributors and/or supervisors.
• Participates in the interview and selection process, provides training and mentorship, offers career development guidance, and is engaged in performance management.
• Provides timely and constructive coaching and feedback; develops staff and provides challenging opportunities.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partners with Operations, GMET, and Finance on data integrity, CRM configuration, and reporting infrastructure.
• Partners with fundraisers to translate research and portfolio analysis into actionable cultivation and solicitation strategy.
• Partners with Marcom, Community Network, The Table Planning Team, on list generation, segmentation, and donor journey data needs.

Qualifications & Competencies

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited university or college, preferably in a job-related major field of study
• Minimum twelve (12) years of relevant professional experience, including leading and managing complex initiatives or programs with outcome-focused deliverables,
• Or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum five (5) years of managerial experience
• 10+ years in advancement/development services (fundraiser enablement), including experience leading, not just managing, a team.
• Direct experience managing both researchers and analysts as distinct disciplines under one function.
• Ownership-level experience in both Prospect Research and Prospect Management.
• Campaign experience on a comprehensive or capital campaign of $50M or more.
• CRM strategy and leadership experience, ideally with Salesforce
• Ownership of fundraising analytics, including predictive modeling and enterprise reporting (e.g., Power BI, Snowflake, or comparable platforms).
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent is experience; advanced degree a plus.

Preferred

• Experience in a faith-based, parachurch, or youth-serving nonprofit environment.
• Familiarity with wealth screening and prospecting tools such as iWave, Lexis Nexis, DonorSearch, or WealthEngine, and openness to evaluating newer tools (e.g., DAFinitive, Windfall, Instrument) for DAF and private-wealth visibility.
• Familiarity with APRA's Body of Knowledge,APRA's Salary Survey benchmarks, or AASP best practices.
• CFRE or other relevant fundraising/analytics certification.

Core competencies

• Prospect Research: rigorous, ethical research judgment grounded in the Donor Bill of Rights; comfort with ambiguous or incomplete data; sound, range-based capacity-rating methodology (not point estimates).
• Data Science: statistical literacy, data visualization, and the judgment to know when a model is (and isn't) the right tool.
• Relationship Management: skilled at portfolio strategy, pipeline analysis, and leading cross-functional portfolio review sessions (e.g., Partner Engagement Teams).
• Leadership: self-aware, a clear communicator, comfortable managing change and scaling a small team, committed to ethical decision-making and staff development.

The anticipated salary rate for this position can range from $98,200.00 - $136,000.00 depending on relevant experience and education, working location, and scheduled weekly hours.