Manager of Prospect Research and Donor Stewardship - Chicago, IL

Allison Moskus 3

We exist so families can get better together. Each night, we keep 172 families close to the care and resources they need through six area Ronald McDonald Houses® and three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms®. Enabling families to stay close to their hospitalized child supports the health and well-being of the child and saves families more than $10 million in hotel and food costs each year. We also operate the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® program, providing medical care to children in underserved areas. RMHC-CNI is an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

The Manager of Prospect Research and Donor Stewardship is responsible for working in collaboration with the development team to optimize moving prospects through the donor cycle – from identification through stewardship. They execute and oversee the processes of research and prospect management, and donor stewardship. This position is a key player in the Development Team and collaborates extensively with the Marketing & Communications/Data Analytics Team.

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Essential Job Functions

Research and Prospect/Pipeline Management

• Manage and execute prospecting efforts – using Raiser’s Edge and other external databases and resources for research and analysis to meet prospect identification and prioritization needs. Provide actionable data and insightful commentary on individuals and corporations for prospecting.
• Use internal reports and discussions to identify and research donors acquired through our direct mail campaigns, weekly gift log, and daily online gifts to add to the leadership and major gift pipeline.
• Identify and manage strategy for lapsed and uncultivated donors (individual, corporate and foundation) and prioritize for outreach by development team.
• Implement and oversee portfolio management system; to include identification of key prospects and donors to be managed, managing prospect strategy process, producing action plans in conjunction with development team, and tracking status of proposals and gifts.
• Consult with development team and leaders about prospect pools and portfolios through regular portfolio reviews with appropriate staff.
• Manage follow up and lead generation process on gifts that come through the daily gift log and online – flagging donors and sharing with development staff for acknowledgments follow up. Ensure that full-circle reporting is completed and database record(s) are updated to reflect outreach and actions.
• Receive, log, and follow-through on prospect research and special project requests from development team and others around research.
• Prepare donor briefing profiles for development and leadership team for individual meetings, stewardship events, and signature events.
• Collaborate with the Data Analytics team on a variety of processes, including new and existing donor information on records.
• Manage receipt and logging process of gifts that come in through the mail.

Donor Stewardship

• Make process improvement recommendations to development team leadership as it relates to donor acknowledgements and letter writing, gift agreements, and pledge reminders. Help coordinate the execution of these processes between development, marketing and communications, and finance as necessary.
• Manage the overall stewardship plan for the development team in collaboration with the marketing and communications team, ensuring donors are appropriately thanked, communicated with, and stewarded throughout the calendar year.

Grants Management

• Assist Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations in grant management process[MG1] .
• Research new grant opportunities, identifying prospects each quarter.
• Manage grants calendar to ensure content is compiled, feedback and alignment reviews completed, submission, and reporting deadlines are met.
• Keep up to date files on grant attachments, program data, and progress toward goals, ensuring accurate records are kept of grant related correspondence and submissions. Maintain library of grant attachments, ensuring up to date documents are readily available and organized.

Other duties

• Serve as development team primary point of contact for logging gifts and checking the mail. Ensure that this process is seamless with no service interruption.
• Responsible for streamlining the review of mailing lists for donor communications and fundraising campaigns.
• Independently manage own workload and priorities, ensuring that all deadlines are met with quality product.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education, Skills, and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Raiser’s Edge experience required
• 3-5 years of non-profit development experience required
• Proven administrator with multi-tasking experience
• Strong knowledge of database and research methodology required, as well as proven experience (3 or more years) conducting donor and prospect research and portfolio management.
• Must possess excellent organizational and planning skills. Ability to work within tight deadlines, multitask and adjust to changes in priorities, and balance short-term needs with long-term strategic initiatives.
• Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills
• Sincere commitment to work collaboratively with all constituent groups, including staff, board members, volunteers, donors, program participants, and other supporters.
• Self-starter, able to work independently, and entrepreneurial; enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives.
• Working knowledge with the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Skills with Publisher, Adobe Suite, web content management systems, and Blackbaud/CRM/Raiser’s Edge software preferred.

We require proof of Covid-19 vaccination for all employees.

We offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage, paid time off, holidays, sabbatical, and immediate matching 401k. This position is incentive bonus eligible.

RMHC-CNI is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, promotion, or any other personnel action based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.