Analyst, Prospect Strategy

Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a student-centered, applied-research institution committed to providing its students with a transformative academic and social experience and to elevating its surrounding communities. Founded in 1906, WKU is the third largest public four-year institution in the Commonwealth of Kentucky with approximately 16,293 students and nearly 2,612 faculty and staff employees.

Western Kentucky University is committed to empowering its campus community. At the heart of our mission, we seek to provide holistic education and employment experiences that prepare students, faculty, and staff to become effective scholars, contributors, and leaders in our ever-evolving communities.

Located 65 miles north of Nashville, TN, and just over 100 miles south of Louisville, KY, WKU's main campus is in Bowling Green, KY - a city with approximately 70,000 residents. Our population is ethnically diverse, with more than 85 languages spoken in and around Bowling Green, and people from 35 nationalities call our community home.

Western Kentucky University seeks to attract talented faculty and staff who are inspired individually to contribute to WKU's strategic plans and ongoing success. We offer comprehensive wellness and health benefits to employees and their families, including domestic partners and other qualified dependents and take pride in providing a workplace culture that supports balancing the responsibilities of work and family life. Paid-time off for holidays, vacation and sick leave, and a tuition discount program for employees and dependents are also provided.

Learn more about WKU and Bowling Green /about .

Position Summary

The Division of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (PAE) seeks to foster lifelong relationships with WKU constituents through activities designed to honor the WKU spirit, engage all members of the WKU family in the life of the University, and secure private support to advance WKU's mission. The Division's core values drive our success through:
Positivity, Accountability, and Excellence.

The Prospect Strategy Analyst reports to the Executive Director of Strategic Operations & Appeals and works with the Prospect Strategy Assistant Director to manage donor prospecting and research activities at Western Kentucky University. This position supports the prospect management and research needs of approximately 7 full-time fundraising professionals as well as research needs of campus partners. Responsibilities include the identification, research, and analysis of alumni, parents, and friends in support of fundraising efforts s position utilizes a variety of sources and research tools to update prospect records and provide recommendations of philanthropic prospects, and assists by providing information needed to make data-informed strategic decisions.

Essential Job Functions:

The following duties are customary for this position, but are not to be construed as all-inclusive. Duties may be added, deleted and assigned based on management discretion and institutional needs.

Prospect Research

• Work with leadership and fundraisers to define needs, share results, and enhance the value and effective use of research in identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors.
• Conduct detailed research as requested by major gifts and principal gifts team members.
• Execute prospect identification activities for new prospects utilizing external information and prospect research tools and databases.
• Produce prospect and donor profiles and event bios when needed to support cultivation and solicitation activities.
• Integrate newly identified prospects into the allocated prospect discovery pool for qualification and assignment.
• Manage research queue and assign out requests to other team members as needed.
• Recommends prospect research tools and technologies to Executive Director for budget inclusion.
• Track research productivity with database metrics and project management tools.
• Conduct research using public, proprietary, purchased or leased databases, newspapers, published materials, and other resources to identify potential donors and funding sources.
• Utilize prospecting tools such as data screening and modeling to provide analyses of targeted groups and overall prospect pool.

Prospect Management

• Provide support to the Assistant Director of Prospect Strategy with portfolios as needed, including portfolio audits and the assignment review process.
• Utilize data to make meaningful and strategic…