Assistant Director of Prospect Management

The Prospect Management team at Virginia Tech provides strategic partnership and insight to Advancement partners working to reach fundraising, participation, and engagement goals. In a division striving for continuous program innovation, the team pursues dynamic solutions to challenges and opportunities that transpire in a changing philanthropic landscape.

The Assistant Director of Prospect Management will foster relationships and collaborate with internal partners, including Advancement leadership, front-line development and engagement officers, data reporting and data management. In collaboration with the Director of Prospect Management and Strategy, they will provide fundraiser metrics and prospect / pipeline reporting, analysis, and insights to deliver actionable intelligence to leadership to inform decision making. They will exercise independent initiative and apply a data-driven lens to provide thoughtful, high-level guidance and recommendations supporting day-to-day fundraiser activity and overarching prospect strategy. The Assistant Director of Prospect Management will identify and elevate Virginia Tech alumni and philanthropic prospects by gathering insights on managed prospects, fundraiser portfolios, and Virginia Tech’s donor pipeline. In collaboration with Prospect Research, the candidate will work toward discovering donor and prospect trends to inform new approaches to accomplish alumni participation and revenue goals. They will help enrich and streamline departmental reporting and fundraiser metric tracking to achieve a best-in-class Prospect Development program. The Assistant Director of Prospect Management will implement and manage critical proactive projects to influence division and campaign goals.

Reporting to the Director of Prospect Management and Strategy, the successful candidate will be responsible for:
- Serving as a consultant to fundraising managers and individual gift officers regarding portfolio health and strategic prospect movement to obtain division, college/unit, and individual fundraising goals
- Continuously conducting pipeline analysis to discover trends, insights, and gaps among prospect pools, portfolios, and donor segments
- Partnering with leadership to promote the adoption and adherence of the Virginia Tech Prospect Management Guidelines and best practices for donor-centric experiences
- Generating concise and accurate reports, charts, and presentations on data attributes such as prospect assignments, capacity ratings, and affiliation
- Under the Director’s guidance, overseeing fundraiser performance metric analysis, including significant contacts with prospects, opportunities solicited, and revenue raised, and presenting findings in actionable and consumable formats to identify trends and inspire increased success
- Analyzing the strength of prospect pools in terms of giving capacity, engagement, and readiness for cultivation and solicitation
- Developing and validating new or enhanced reports and dashboards, in partnership with the Advancement Reporting team
- Proactively identifying and recommending systematic improvements of key prospecting data points and projects, in collaboration with Prospect Research
- Assessing and recommending process or tool enhancements, in alignment with fundraising best practices and training and Advancement technology roadmap, to streamline the user experience of entering and accessing prospect data
- Benchmarking with peer and aspirational institutions to recommend improvements to shape future work and achieve a best-in-class Prospect Development program
- Assessing priorities and needs, managing own schedule, monitoring progress and re-prioritizing as necessary; completing work on time with minimal supervision
- Working with a dynamic and accomplished team, fostering collaboration with colleagues in an enjoyable work environment
- Creating and maintaining policy, procedure, and training documentation
- Contributing to ad hoc projects and completing requests as needed
- Embracing being a lifelong learner who seeks opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance
- In the Director’s absence, this team member serves as the primary point of contact and go-to individual

- Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field and extensive experience
- Demonstrated ability to manage tasks and competing deadlines while working with a high degree of speed and accuracy, with strong attention to detail
- Individual should demonstrate professionalism and strong communication skills and have the ability to interact effectively with diverse individuals in an inclusive environment
- Self-motivated and able to work independently or in close team environments; demonstrate discretion in working with confidential information and use sound judgment in decision-making
- Proven experience using database software, analyzing reports, and presenting findings using tools such as Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
- Proficiency in using Microsoft Excel for data analysis, reporting, and visualization

- Prior experience in front-line fundraising, Advancement Services, or sales
- Knowledge of principles, practices and ethics of fundraising
- Experience in higher education, nonprofits, fundraising, or marketing
- Familiarity with advanced features in Excel is a plus
- Knowledge of data visualization tools such as Tableau
- Experience defining goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

N/A

Regular

Commensurate with experience 

3/25/24

Unable to Sponsor Work Visas

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including the Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia; the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke; sites in Newport News and Richmond; and numerous Extension offices and research centers. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $500 million in research annually.