Donor Researcher

Are you a team player who is passionate about news, philanthropy and building sustainable business models for nonprofits? Are you comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment?

We’re looking for a colleague to join our three-person development team. In this role, you’ll manage our donor prospecting initiatives, identifying potential major donors, foundations and institutions. You’ll evaluate major donor prospects for high giving capacity, affinity, and interest in an informed electorate; foundation prospects for how their strategic giving priorities align with our work, and institutional prospects for how their business goals align with ours. 

Your work will be crucial in helping us secure major gifts, capital campaign contributors, planned gifts, foundation and institutional support for our work. You will work collaboratively with, and report to, our Publisher, who manages the Development team; and the Director of Development, who handles foundations and institutional giving; as well as the Director of Donor Engagement, who oversees major gifts. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Research, build and continually replenish and track our pipeline of major donors, foundations and organizations and companies we can tap to support our work 
• Lead our Salesforce donor and donor management tracking, including managing the pipeline data, campaigns, major updates to donor database, and creating annual major donors, foundation and institutional renewals, reports, dashboards, process documentation
• Work closely with our Director of Operations and Development Associate on tracking prospects, pledges, renewals, invoices, and donation deposits  
• Leverage tools such as iWave, DonorSearch to identify major donor and foundation prospects, conduct wealth screenings 
• Leverage tools including GrantStation, FundraisingMaps and Inside Philanthropy grants database for grants and foundation prospect research
• Maintain and continually improve our fundraising data and tracking systems, processes
• Be committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion at CalMatters

Desired qualifications include a bachelor’s degree, three years of experience in philanthropy, ideally in California, and: 

• Passion for media, philanthropy, civic engagement and democracy
• Keen interest in California and state government policies and politics
• Exceptional verbal, organizational and research skills, ability to multitask, and establish effective timelines for accomplishing long-range goals
• Proven track record producing effective prospect research and managing a donor pipeline
• A positive, team-oriented approach and ability to work independently in a team environment
• Proficiency with fundraising databases and tools including Salesforce, iWave, Donor Search, and/or other fundraising tools
• Grant writing experience a plus

We value diversity and encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities. Our excellent compensation program includes competitive salaries, great healthcare and a 401(k) match. 

If you are interested, please email a resume and a cover letter explaining why you’re a great fit to jobs@calmatters.org and include the job title in the subject line.

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Donor Researcher