Job Description

Job Description

Job Description

The National Park Foundation is hiring an experienced, detail-oriented Prospect Researcher. The individual in this position is a member of the Prospect Development team within the Philanthropy Division of NPF, working closely with the Foundation Relations, Individual Giving, Leadership Giving, and Operations teams to provide a wide scope of current and historical information through prospect profiles, briefing materials, relationship mapping, and similar research deliverables. A significant portion of time (which may be up to 50%) will be dedicated to foundation prospecting and research. This research will inform and influence Foundation, Individual, and Leadership gift portfolios and prospect pools, be the basis for short and long-term strategic planning and provide supporting justification for the entire prospect pipeline and goal setting/future campaign planning efforts. Example data sets will include foundation funding priorities and guidelines, confirmed wealth and internal ratings information, philanthropic contributions and involvement, and other biographical data able to be delivered in various formats. This position requires considerable focus on financial details and significant time processing and evaluating publicly disclosed asset information. 

This is an exciting time for the National Park Foundation as we are in the final years of The Campaign for National Parks, a $1B campaign designed to mobilize the efforts of the 400+ park partner community members in support of the National Park System. This “collective campaign” will result in more money raised for the parks, more impact in the parks, and increased capacity of park partners. This unique approach to supporting America’s National Parks creates fundraising urgency and opportunities of national significance.

Essential Functions/Duties/Tasks:

• Provide prospect profiles, including grant-making criteria and funding areas, assessment of wealth and philanthropic interests, and propensity.
• Ensure discovery research is completed regularly, accurately, and according to ethical, APRA, and NPF standards; ensure research is documented in Raiser’s Edge NXT.  
• Support Foundation Relations, Leadership, and Individual gift teams’ briefing documents in advance of meetings and events.
• Review research materials before documentation to ensure quality and adherence to brand, ethical, and editorial standards. 
• Use internal data, analysis, and external wealth/screening data to identify the highest-level prospects to support the donor pipeline; provide research material, information, and analysis to NPF’s leadership and gift officer teams to support closing transformational gifts. 
• Create strategies for identifying new prospects (foundation and individual) in line with departmental needs. 
• Leverage wealth screenings and predictive modeling techniques to enhance a data-driven approach to prospect management and support the campaign process. 
• Support the Sr. Director’s efforts with portfolio analysis and regularly review portfolios for composition, optimization, and rebalancing. 
• Build, track, analyze, and report on all prospect activities. 
• Lead or assist with regular prospect review meetings with the Sr. Director. 
• Conduct prospect pipeline and gift pyramid analysis to assess prospects needed to achieve fundraising goals. 
• Manage NPF’s prospect management system and update as needed; provide leadership with accurate stage reporting, analysis, and metrics; and train stakeholders on the prospect management system.  
• Document, review, and revise all processes, procedures, and training documentation. 

Required knowledge, skills, and abilities: 

• Strong track record in researching and developing profiles on foundations, individuals, and organizations
• Experience in providing briefings, including Executive level 
• Highest-level skills in producing research intelligence materials 
• Ability to make evidence-based judgments – must be analytical and decisive 
• Knowledge of all research inputs, including data, analysis, vendor products and tools, and ability to successfully package relevant information for leadership and VIPs. 
• Experience working in a major gift fundraising environment and in-depth understanding of the types of information required by fundraisers 
• Familiarity with prospect pool building resources, including wealth screenings, predictive modeling, and potential AI initiatives 
• Ability to use, or develop, a prospect management system to a high degree of sophistication, especially for relationship tracking and reporting 
• Strong written and oral communication skills, with a keen eye for detail 
• Commitment to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusivity  

Preferred education and experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree and relevant experience in a nonprofit setting are required. 
• The ideal candidate has 4+ years working in nonprofit fundraising, with at least 3 years working directly in prospect research. 
• Must have experience with fundraising software and industry pay-service tools, including Foundation Directory Online, iWave, LexisNexis for Development Professionals, Raiser’s Edge NXT,  ResearchPoint, Wealth-X, and RelSci.
• Experience producing data-driven analysis, reporting on insights, trends, and baseline donor behavior, and producing the highest-quality research material on deadline and in a fast-paced environment. 
• A team player with a proven ability to develop relationships and work collaboratively within a growing, changing organization. 

This position is remote; should a candidate be located in the DMV, NPF currently requires 8-10 days of onsite work per month.

NPF is registered to hire in the following states: AL, CA, CO, FL, IL, MA, MD, MN, NC, NH, NM, NJ, NY, OH, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI 

There is no relocation package for this role should applicants wish to relocate to the DC area.

The salary range for this position is between $74-85k.

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