Senior Research Analyst, Giving & Impact

ABOUT THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY

The Wilderness Society (TWS) is a leading conservation organization working to protect America’s wild places and public lands for the benefit of local communities, wildlife, and the climate. Founded in 1935, and now with more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 111 million acres of wilderness and to ensure the sound management of America’s public lands. TWS is scaling up its work to address the existential threat of climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and deep inequities with access to the benefits of nature. TWS is working to achieve four major collective impact results: protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030, transitioning off fossil fuel development on public lands to well-sited renewable energy, securing equitable access to public lands and their benefits, and building a critical mass of support for conservation of public lands.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Sr. Research Analyst plays an essential role for The Wilderness Society’s (TWS) Giving & Impact Team. Their primary responsibility is providing prospect research to advance the fundraising efforts of our frontline staff. The Analyst helps identify and researches and new major donors, foundation, mid-level, and planned giving prospects with the capacity and inclination to support TWS, the TWS Action Fund and/or PAC in a meaningful way.

This position supports the entire Giving & Impact department but sits within and works most closely with the Leadership Giving & Impact team focused on individual donors. As part of their work, they will execute prospecting projects, respond to requests for research on donors and funders from across the department, create donor profiles and background materials for events, trips or donor meetings, and will update donor records in our donor files and ROI (our database of record). They are also responsible for staying up to date and distributing donor-related news with the department.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Researches and assesses the capacity and inclination of new and existing prospects to financially support TWS at the leadership level, including identifying connections with TWS staff or Governing Council, and makes recommendations to aid frontline fundraisers. This work includes:
  • Conducting regular research on existing members and mid-level donors within our database of records.
  • Conducting research projects on philanthropists and institutional funders not currently giving to TWS.
  • On request, supporting the Planned Giving team in research projects related to planned giving donors and estates.
  • And acting as a thought partner with frontline fundraisers, regularly advancing or evaluating prospects at donor strategy meetings
• Prepares written profiles, rating memos and/or event bios for TWS staff and Governing Council in advance of donor meetings, events or trips to aid in effective donor strategy development and the cultivation of donors and prospects.
• Monitors news around high priority donors and prospects, or larger philanthropic trends and updates department accordingly.
• Regularly updates existing research on donors and prospects, including biographical, philanthropic, professional and financial information and maintains up to date research records.
• Proactively identifies data integrity issues, such as duplicate records or missing data points and works with Strategic Operations to resolve.
• Evaluates screening and other research tools, such as iWave, making recommendations that will enhance our prospecting work and works with Operations & Outreach to conduct and analyze results.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5 years relevant work experience, including experience using a variety of online research tools; non-profit experience a plus.
• Knowledge of major wealth markets, particularly with a focus on conservation philanthropy
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and a demonstrated ability to synthesize material from multiple sources and present a high-level case for donor engagement.
• Strong interpersonal skills and intercultural competence combined with a commitment to being part of and skills to contribute to an anti-racist organization that is committed to equity and inclusion.
• Strong attention to detail and data integrity, direct experience with CRMs is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, meet tight deadlines, exercise good judgment and decision-making to support time sensitive goals.
• Desire and ability to work collaboratively and a curiosity about fundraising and the philanthropic landscape.
• Ability to discreetly handle sensitive information.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, an individual may occasionally be expected to: sit, stand, walk, use hands for tasks requiring fine motor skills, reach with arms, ascend or descend stairs, and communicate verbally. Visual tasks may require the ability to focus on objects at close range.

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of this position and it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of experience, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.

The preferred location for this position is Washington, DC. Other locations may be considered. The anticipated salary range for this role is $80,000-$92,000 depending on experience & location. To apply please submit your resume and cover letter by August 31st, 2025.

The Wilderness Society offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, sick and vacation leave, paid parental leave, a sabbatical program, and a retirement plan. TWS is an equal opportunity employer and actively works to ensure fair treatment of our employees and constituents across culture, socioeconomic status, race, marital or family situation, gender, age, ethnicity, religious beliefs, physical ability, veteran status or sexual orientation.

As an organization, we aspire to being inclusive in the work that we do, and in the kind of organization we are. Internally this means working as a team that listens to different points of view, recognizes the contributions of every employee and empowers each employee to bring their whole selves to work every day. Externally this means ensuring that public lands are inclusive and welcoming, so that our shared wildlands can help people and nature to thrive. We are committed to equity throughout our work, which we define as our commitment to realizing the promise of our public lands and ensuring that all can share in their universal benefits.

To learn more about our commitment, please see http://wilderness.org/our-commitment-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-wilderness-society