Head of Prospect Research

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

The primary responsibility is to support individual and institutional fundraising efforts. You will deliver strategic leadership for the team by providing and articulating a strategic vision and annual plans and goals for all aspects of prospect research, analytics and management, in alignment with our current and long-term fundraising goals. Using industry best practices, you will make, implement and manage plans and strategies to identify, rate, assign and track prospects and donors with the capacity to make major, planned and principal gifts.

Research

• Proactively identify prospective donors and new leads through strategic prospect research, utilizing quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Identify opportunities for increased support in our existing donor base and work with frontline fundraisers to evaluate and strategize outreach and engagement plans.
• Produce insightful reports on prospective donors, new leads, and existing donors, assessing capacity, propensity, philanthropic interests, biographic information, and personal and professional networks.
• Write high-quality donor or prospect briefings for frontline fundraisers and MSI leadership as requested.
• Review daily, weekly and monthly publications to uncover new philanthropic and earned revenue opportunities, as well as new insights on best practices for prospect research, and produce a biweekly summary of research findings.
• Conduct research proactively and as-requested according to the ethical standards of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA).

Pipeline and Portfolio Management

• Work with other stakeholders to co-design prospect management and moves management systems in our CRM that drive prospects through the pipeline from identification, qualification, portfolio assignment, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Develop and implement capacity ratings strategy in partnership with fundraisers to prioritize prospect cultivation and management.
• Track and report on giving outcomes from prospect research activities.
• Update and maintain donor and prospect profiles in our CRM, including biographical, financial, and philanthropic information.
• Lead regular portfolio review meetings designed to move existing prospects through the pipeline and to review the biweekly summary with Global Funding team members.

Additional Responsibilities

• Participate in MSI US bi-weekly virtual team meetings and in-person team meetings held at the Washington, DC office.
• Participate in regular development operations meetings.
• Perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of prospect research experience.
• Experience researching HNWI and UHNWI.
• Knowledge of the philanthropic landscape across the United States.
• A demonstrated knack and creative approach for identifying qualified new leads.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods, and eager to apply a data-driven, analytical approach to prospect qualification.
• Familiarity and understanding of prospect research tools in the marketplace and preferences and opinions about which ones would be best suited for MSI.
• Extensive experience with databases required; Dynamics experience not required but would be an advantage (we are migrating from DonorPerfect to Microsoft Dynamics in 2023).
• An understanding of data protection regulations, specifically GDPR.
• Sound judgment, tactful and the ability to handle highly confidential information.
• Self-starter who enjoys identifying a set of new philanthropic opportunities to earn revenue across individual and institutional portfolios.
• Must be flexible, adaptable and able to juggle competing priorities and last-minute deadlines.
• Strong commitment to results, excellent attention to detail, strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to operate in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• A commitment to and passion for MSI’s mission and a woman’s right to reproductive choice.

Personal Attributes

If our mission matches your personal beliefs, and you want to put your enthusiasm, empathy and positive outlook to work, we can offer you an atmosphere of dynamic challenges where you’ll be part of a global team transforming lives. Your confidence and resourcefulness will help deliver high-impact programs in collaboration with donors to ensure women receive the highest quality of services.

About the Organization

We’re not your ordinary NGO. We’re a small group in the US, but 9,000 team members strong across 37 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Midwives, doctors, outreach teams, fundraisers, supply chain managers and more who are all committed to overcome every obstacle to get to women who are counting on us.

Everything we do is steeped in data and our impact is measured and impressive. In 2022, we made it possible for 21.1 million clients to access reproductive healthcare. We prevented 14.6 million unintended pregnancies, 7.2 million unsafe abortions and 42,600 maternal deaths.

But at this critical turning point in global reproductive rights, there’s so much more to do. We’re looking to build out our dream team to take on our ambitious US strategy. If you want to be inspired and feel great about what you do, let's talk.