TITLE: Associate Director, Prospect Development

CLASSIFICATION: Associate Director II

DEPARTMENT: Advancement

WAGE CATEGORY: Exempt

REPORTS TO: Senior Director, Development Operations & Planned Giving

LOCATION: Washington, DC (remote possible)

About American Rivers

American Rivers believes a future of clean water and healthy rivers everywhere, for everyone is essential. Since 1973, we have protected wild rivers, restored damaged rivers and conserved clean water for people and nature. With headquarters in Washington, D.C. and 300,000 supporters, members and volunteers across the country, we are the most trusted and influential river conservation organization in the United States, delivering solutions for a better future. American Rivers centers the ongoing work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in all that we do. Rivers Connect Us is more than just our tagline. The beauty of rivers is that they connect all people and communities, and we seek to build and embody this diversity in our organization and throughout the conservation field. The life experiences, knowledge, innovation, and talent that everyone brings to our work provides perspectives, experiences, and competencies which are critical to our effectiveness in protecting wild rivers, restoring damaged rivers, and conserving clean water for people and nature.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Senior Director, Development Operations and Planned Giving, the Associate Director, Prospect Development is a key member of the strategic arm of an organization’s fundraising operation, and plays a critical role in optimizing fundraising performance by coordinating with Advancement Leadership and fundraising staff to identify prospects, prioritize assignments, develop qualification, cultivation, solicitation and action plans for mid and major donors and prospects, maintain and oversee prospect strategies and manage portfolios to achieve aggressive fundraising goals.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as strategic coordinator between membership, midlevel, and major gifts teams.
• Develop and implement prospect identification systems, processes, and assessments to increase the quantity and quality of the prospect pool.
• Lead regular pipeline meetings to ensure focus is on advancing and maximizing opportunities and prospect moves management.
• Conduct proactive research to identify new potential midlevel donors, major gift donors, and prospective board members using a variety of methods and resources.
• Analyze known wealth indicators of current and prospective donors to assess potential philanthropic capacity.
• Coordinate wealth screenings and prioritize prospects by data mining, sorting, and scoring.
• Develop, assign, and manage qualification strategies.
• Proactively track and disseminate donor and prospect-related information. Monitor news and publicly available financial information on prospects from SEC filings, press releases, and major newspapers.
• Synthesize information on current and prospective donors to produce accurate and actionable profiles/biographies including professional background, financial capacity, philanthropic interests, and relationship with American Rivers.
• Assure data integrity of all parts of the moves management system (tracking, data entry, reporting, coding) by performing scheduled audits of portfolios and proposal pipelines and providing accurate reports on a timely and consistent basis.
• Track research activity for internal prospect research metrics.
• Assess current research tools and methodologies to suggest changes based on best practices.
• Adhere to AFP’s Code of Ethical Standards and the Apra Principles of Ethics and Compliance

Minimum Qualifications

• At least 5 years of a combination of relevant education and experience OR and degree in a related field with a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience.
• Requires experience and strength in the following areas: research, project management, verbal and written communications, critical thinking, judgment, and dependability.
• Highly detailed self-starter able to work independently and manage multiple projects effectively, efficiently and accurately; and prioritize competing tasks and deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to locate, interpret and sythesize data from a variety of sources.
• Understanding of fundraising processes and donor cycles.
• Advanced proficiency in conducting donor research, with experience in recognizing and assessing wealth indicators and giving capacity as well as identifying prospects
• Strong proficiency with CRM databases (ROI Solutions preferred), Microsoft Office applications, prospect screening services and resources.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Personal commitment to the American Rivers mission.