Outcomes-Driven Orientation: Sets clear objectives, pursues excellence, and delivers measurable outcomes while upholding Jesuit Catholic values.
Job Description Summary
Reporting to the Director of Prospect Development, the Prospect Development Analyst supports Seattle University’s prospect research, identification, and portfolio management programs by providing data-driven analysis and strategic insights that strengthen the University’s fundraising pipeline.
The Analyst partners closely with major gift development officers and Advancement leadership to identify, evaluate, and prioritize prospective donors. This role conducts prospect research, analyzes wealth and engagement data, and develops actionable intelligence that informs fundraising strategies and portfolio management decisions.
As part of the Prospect Development team, the Analyst contributes to building and maintaining a sustainable pipeline of philanthropic prospects. Through rigorous analysis, proactive prospect identification, and collaboration with development officers, this position helps ensure that Seattle University’s fundraising efforts are informed by high-quality data, strategic insight, and effective prospect management practices.
Position Description
Portfolio Management
Serve as primary liaison to a group of major gift development officers to assess and meet their needs for discovery prospects, portfolio balance and time management.
Orient development officers to research and relationship management policies and system procedures in the database; interpret the policies as needed.
Interpret relationship management data for fundraisers compared to baselines, in regular meetings; troubleshoot ways for fundraisers to better capture their activity.
Use software (Excel, Tableau, Power BI) to provide descriptive statistics of assigned gift officers prospect pools and portfolios in order to help with prioritizing prospects relative to specific fundraising needs.
Recommend and assign new prospects to appropriate fundraisers/UA leadership, for discovery and cultivation, balancing portfolios by various data points as fits each constituency.
Establish ways to monitor and seek feedback to ensure gift officers receive appropriate support and understand uses of prospect development data.
Prospect Identification and Analysis
Work as an internal consultant to meet prospect identification goals for each assigned gift officer by initiating, performing and evaluating results of a variety of prospect identification projects that align with portfolio needs.
Advise development officers on use of predictive modeling and wealth screening data.
Design systematic, as well as one-time projects, to qualify and quantify segments of the university’s prospect pool for multiple engagement purposes and campaign priorities, through the use of screenings, predictive models, and querying the database.
Communicate clearly the process and results of data analysis projects in a variety of formats that support emerging cultivation strategies.
Maintain an active and thorough knowledge of key university constituencies and institutional priorities.
Research of Identified Potential Donors
Create appropriate, timely, strategic briefings on top prospects for UA and University leadership and strategy sessions. Includes analyses of donor gift capacity, philanthropic motivation/interests, timing of gift, engagement with SU, and factors affecting wealth as well as identifying what critical information may be missing.
Collaborate with colleagues to identify possible networks and synthesize pertinent relationship data for each level of research, using visual displays as appropriate.
Participate actively in advancement staff meetings by proactively offering relevant research findings, industry analyses and strategic recommendations.
Data Management
Identify and recommend process improvements and new sources of data that can better evaluate prospect pools/constituencies, becoming a partner in preserving and enhancing the quality of information in the database.
Assess the quality, reliability, and accuracy of current and emerging research tools and resources, understanding the emerging tools that can reveal prospect interests, relationships and networks.
Maintain an active role in professional research/relationship management networks, and develop and maintain familiarity with fundraising best practices, in order to present research in strategic and relevant ways and to contribute to the growth of the prospect development team as internal knowledge providers.
Act as internal consultant to UA to help define prospect analytics partnership opportunities.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
One to three years of experience in prospect research, advancement services, development, analytics, or a related field.
Understanding of the principles of fundraising and philanthropy, preferably in a higher education setting.
Strong proficiency working with relational databases and data analysis tools.
Demonstrated ability to analyze and synthesize complex information from multiple sources and translate findings into clear written reports, visualizations, and presentations.
Strong research and computing skills, including proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and experience using online research tools, databases, and search engines.
Excellent organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
Effective written and verbal communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences across multiple levels of the organization.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, respond to urgent requests, and adapt to changing work demands while maintaining attention to detail.
Demonstrated curiosity and initiative with a commitment to continuous learning, process improvement, and applying insights in innovative ways.
Commitment to maintain strict confidentiality and exercise sound judgment consistent with prospect research standards and Seattle University’s mission and values.
Preferred Qualifications
3-5 years of experience working in prospect research or relationship management, with proven ability to recognize and identify patterns of giving, propensity, and relationships for prospect pool development.
Advanced research skills: detailed knowledge and extensive use of on-line reference and information systems, libraries, data screening products and other reference tools. Mastery of all aspects of real property research and SEC data analysis.
Advanced skills in Excel and enterprise fundraising CRMs, such as Raisers Edge NXT.
Familiarity with data management principles and basic statistics; understanding of screening strategies and methods, including data mining, segmenting and analytics.
Advanced knowledge of predictive modeling, wealth screening tools, and portfolio management strategy.
Technical skills to work with programmers and vendors on special data enhancement and systems projects.
Compensation at a Glance
$65,000 - $72,000
Application Instructions
Please attach a cover letter with your resume when applying. Job postings are open until filled, unless otherwise specified.
Seattle University has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what the University may pay for the position at the time of posting. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal salary equity considerations, and available market information, and not based on a candidate’s gender or any other protected status.
Your total compensation goes beyond the number on your paycheck. Seattle University provides generous leave, health plans, and retirement contributions that add to your total compensation package.
Benefits at a Glance
Consistent with its fundamental Jesuit values, Seattle University offers a wide range of benefits designed to care for the whole person. Benefits are available to eligible employees working at an FTE of 0.53 or greater. Eligible employees may choose from three medical plans, as well as dental and vision insurance programs. Protect your income with life, short- and long-term disability coverage. Plan for your future with up to a 10% employer contribution toward retirement benefits, comprised of a 5% nonelective employer contribution and an additional dollar-for-dollar match of your voluntary contributions, up to a maximum of 5%.
Eligible employees may also take advantage of 100% paid tuition benefits for themselves and eligible dependents, a subsidized transportation benefit, a wellness program with free access to an on-site fitness facility, and a wide variety of campus events. Enjoy a generous holiday schedule, including a paid December holiday break closure, vacation and paid sick leave, and paid community service leave.
Positions designated as hybrid eligible may offer the opportunity for a hybrid work schedule after successful completion of an introductory period of 3–6 months. In these cases, the role typically begins fully on campus to support onboarding and training, with the potential to transition to a hybrid arrangement thereafter.
Positions designated as on-site are not eligible for hybrid work and are expected to remain fully on campus.
All flexible work arrangements are subject to periodic review and may be modified or discontinued at any time at the university’s discretion.
