Careers at Virginia Tech

The Prospect Research Team at Virginia Tech provides strategic intelligence 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 Prospect Research Analyst is a key partner in the success of the fundraising and engagement process through research, pipeline development, and analysis. This role requires intellectual curiosity, creativity, strong attention to detail, and foresight. Reporting to the Director of Prospect Research, the successful candidate will be responsible for:

- Performing research on constituents using various tools, such as specialized subscription databases, print publications, and web-based research to determine financial capacities, philanthropic interests, and relationships to the university
- Overseeing/processing vendor wealth screenings to identify and prioritize prospects
- Growing the prospect pipeline by identifying new prospects and disseminating actionable information to Advancement partners
- Developing timely prospect portfolios, submitting assignment recommendations, and conducting pipeline analysis
- Composing prospect profiles and reports for Advancement partners
- Tracking and distributing news and information about top donors and prospects for pipeline development
- Developing and presenting research strategies and methods, including developing creative research methods to identify potential donors and/or new donor prospects
- Partnering with Prospect Management in discovering donor and prospect trends to inform new approaches to accomplish alumni participation and revenue goals
- Staying abreast of trends in prospect research, online searching, information retrieval, analytics, and participating in professional development opportunities
- Proactively improving and maintaining the accuracy and breadth of information available on constituents within the CRM database
- Maintaining an expectation of excellence in communication, as well as a dedication to superior customer service and professionalism, with an emphasis on relationship building
- Assessing priorities and needs, managing own schedule, monitoring progress, and re-prioritizing as necessary; completing work on time with minimal supervision
- Conducting ad hoc projects and completing requests as needed

- Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience
- Demonstrated competencies in market research, business research, sales, marketing, data analytics, financial analysis, library science, communications, journalism, and/or similar fields
- Experience and proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite functions including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Experience utilizing database software and informational/research databases
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team; demonstrate discretion in working with confidential information and use sound judgment in decision-making
- Experience that demonstrates professional communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with diverse individuals in an inclusive environment
- Experience managing multiple tasks and competing deadlines while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail

- Preference given to prospect research/data analysis in an academic environment, or similar business experience (e.g., journalism, legal research, business research, marketing, libraries, and corporate intelligence)
- Knowledge of principles, practices, and ethics of fundraising
- Experience working with large relational databases; working knowledge of donor database software and query tools
- Demonstrated experience with searching online databases and web-based resources, and data mining techniques/procedures
- Advanced experience using Excel

4

Regular

Commensurate with experience

4/8/24

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.