Prospect Development Analyst

(Ref. DAR/299/1021)

Reporting to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, the Development and Alumni Relations Division is responsible for strategic fundraising on behalf of the University and is actively engaged in increasing philanthropic support to achieve the vision and goals of the University. Further responsibilities of the Division include stewardship of all donors to the Stellenbosch University Trust, alumni relations programme management and events, as well as providing a professional support service to the University for fundraising and alumni relations.

Role:

The Prospect Development Analyst develops and implements strategies to enhance data while presenting intelligence and analysis to support Stellenbosch University’s fundraising and engagement priorities. The incumbent will be responsible for delivering high quality and insightful donor prospect research profiles and analysis, in line with best practice, while managing the research processes. This will enable fundraisers to engage successfully with individuals, trusts, foundations, and companies. The position plays a crucial role in supporting the University’s fundraising and engagement strategies, including pipeline management, to achieve the University’s fundraising goals.

Critical Success Factors:

The incumbent will work closely with the manager of development services, the directors of principal and major gifts, and the alumni participation manager to establish and implement an effective strategy for prospect research and analysis, to support the Division’s fundraising team.

In so doing s/he must ensure active collection, dissemination and use of data, sector and global socio-economic insights. S/he will need to manage the prospect research systematically and helping to finetune and adapt existing processes to meet the needs of the teams.

S/he will review the current CRM system and set up the necessary modules to effectively manage prospect data and support the delivery of research profiles and analysis and become a respected and integrated member of the Development Services team.

Duties / Functional Role:

• Prospect Management

• Working with the Head of Development Services and key advancement staff to ensure that a robust Prospect Management Strategy is in place that enhances fundraising activities. This will include monitoring the allocation of prospect pools within Development, allocation of prospects to individual fundraisers and regular prospect tracking activities;
• Assisting with the maintenance of prospect management data to ensure it is optimised for effective portfolio management and institutional reporting;
• Managing prospect development resources and serving as the main contact with appropriate vendors related to research, wealth screenings, etc.;
• Working on priority projects assigned by the development and University leadership. Assisting with special projects as needed.

• Research Strategy and Planning

• Establishing, implementing and refining research methods and processes and developing research capabilities to identify high-level donors, corporate partners, and supporters of programmes to support the achievement of fundraising objectives;
• Ensuring the effective identification and research of prospects to support fundraising campaigns;
• Working collaboratively with the Principal Gift, Major Gift and Alumni Participation teams to develop strategies to identify and investigate potential new prospects and the best means of prospect engagement;
• Managing the use and availability of research resources to ensure timely, efficient and cost-effective service provision, including management of requests, providing a balanced team workload in line with departmental priorities, based on need, urgency and level of research required;
• Managing the approach and quality of research and due diligence undertaken outside of the Department, e.g. external vendors, to ensure consistent organisational standards;
• Ensuring that new sources of intelligence are identified;
• Managing appropriate systems and tools for collecting and disseminating information on prospects while adhering to the Data Protection policy (Privacy of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance);
• Ensuring the database and relevant research files are regularly updated.

Requirements:

• An undergraduate degree in information science, journalism, business science, law or similar, or equivalent experience;
• A minimum of five years’ relevant research experience within a high functioning team;
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate to a wide range of audiences with gravitas;
• The ability to discern data quality discrepancies that require further investigation;
• The ability to manage and coordinate projects and collaborate with multiple stakeholders, both internal and external, including senior management;
• The ability to prioritise work with a high degree of independence while exercising critical thinking skills to determine best use of time and resources;
• The ability to work well as part of a team, with a high degree of customer service skills;
• The ability to innovate and deal with ambiguity; to be opportunistic, creative, responsive, resourceful and resilient;
• Excellent attention to detail with the ability to always work accurately and methodically;
• Superior interpersonal skills with a positive attitude and the ability to develop and contribute to a supportive, friendly and dynamic team environment whilst encouraging and demonstrating collaboration to achieve results;
• Exceptional organisational skills with the demonstrated ability to meet deadlines, to work under pressure and establish priorities, with a commitment to quality outcomes;
• Proficiency with prospect research, prospect management, and wealth screening resources;
• Experience in research and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data to aid in “data-driven decision-making”;
• Demonstrated experience in prospect research with the ability to profile, map and match major donor prospects and the ability to develop strategies to achieve fundraising goals;
• Demonstrated experience managing data and reporting, ensuring compliance with policies, standards and legislation;
• Excellent data management skills and demonstrable experience of using relational databases to record and manage accurate information.

Recommendation:

• Experience in developing marketing data insights, fundraising, advancement, or alumni relations will be an advantage.

Commencement of duties: 1 January 2022

Closing date: 15 November 2021

Enquiries:

Ms. Sarah Archer, Director of Fundraising, Development and Alumni Relations, on 021 808 9349, or at sarcher@sun.ac.za

Enquiries regarding remuneration/benefits as well as technical assistance with the electronic application process: Human Resources Client Services Centre on 021 808 2753 or at sun-e-hr@sun.ac.za

The University is committed to employment equity (EE). In accordance with SU’s institutional EE plan and the EE Plan for the specific environment, persons from designated groups will receive preference over foreign nationals where EE targets are a factor. Where EE is not a factor, South African citizens will receive preference over foreign nationals.

The University reserves the right not to make an appointment.

Your application, comprising a comprehensive curriculum vitae (including the names and e-mail address of at least three referees), must reach the University before or on the closing date of the advertised post.

The University reserves the right to investigate qualifications and conduct background checks on all candidates.

Should no feedback be received from the University within four weeks of the closing date, kindly accept that your application did not succeed.

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