Prospect Research Manager

Who we are

The News Literacy Project, founded in 2008, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization building a national movement to ensure that all students are guaranteed to be skilled in news literacy before high school graduation, giving them the knowledge and ability to participate in civic society as well-informed, critical thinkers. NLP is the country’s leading provider of news literacy education and works with districts and educators in all 50 states, primarily through our signature e-learning platform, Checkology®, and weekly educator newsletter, The Sift®. To read more about the organization and our plans, visit our website.

Where you fit in

The News Literacy Project empowers educators to teach middle and high school students how to sort fact from fiction in the digital age. We are at an exciting inflection point for our work, and we are making critical investments to rapidly scale our growth and impact. To that end, we are seeking an experienced, mission-aligned Prospect Research Manager who can build out a robust prospect research program and support the operational infrastructure that is foundational to our fundraising work. This is a great opportunity for you to shape processes, systems, and data that will enable the Development Team to reach — and sustain — its ambitious fundraising goals. We’re looking for someone who can have an immediate and meaningful impact on our work, ensuring that we have the requisite philanthropic support to further our continued scale.

This position reports to the Director of Development Operations.

About the position

As the Prospect Research Manager, you will implement and refine policies and practices around prospect research, working collaboratively with the team’s senior major gift officers (SMGOs) and the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Development to ensure that prospects are identified and qualified in a timely and thorough manner. Reporting to the Director of Development Operations, you will also provide support for gift entry and other routine operational tasks in our CRM, ensuring the efficiency and integrity of our fundraising infrastructure and maintaining hygienic donor data. Lastly, you will complete routine tasks to support effective Development Team operations. This role plays a critical part in sourcing new donors and optimizing development and team operations, supporting both individual and institutional fundraising strategies, and enabling the team to meet its goals.

Specifically, in this job, you will:

Prospect Research Strategy and Management (60%)

• Identify new prospects using databases, supporter lists, and other resources to help the Development Team build and maintain a robust pipeline. Conduct wealth screenings to preliminarily evaluate capacity and propensity and provide recommendations to SMGOs and the SVP of Development about next steps for qualified prospects.
• Conduct advanced research and analysis to help SMGOs and the SVP of Development prioritize prospects and prepare for cultivation, solicitation, and/or events — creating comprehensive profiles that cover mission alignment, philanthropic history, assets and capacity, personal/professional affiliations, donor mapping, risk assessment and more.
• Monitor philanthropy trends and events, and track news alerts for all board members, key foundations, major donors, and high-priority prospects. Provide timely, actionable recommendations to SMGOs and the SVP of Development to leverage new opportunities.
• In collaboration with SMGOs and the SVP of Development, decide on an appropriate cadence and volume for the above-described research outputs. Adhere to relevant timelines/deadlines, ensuring that research is provided in advance of meetings for review and decision-making. Deliver all research in a clear, consistent, and digestible format, improving existing templates as needed.
• Working with the Director of Development Operations, enter relevant data from research into EveryAction CRM with standardized codes, and ensure accurate updates to coding based on relationship changes and periodic reassessment. Save research in NLP’s file management system in a clear, organized and consistent manner.
• Partner with SMGOs and the SVP of Development to understand the volume and depth of their research needs, collecting feedback and refining the prospect research program on an ongoing basis as required for optimal portfolio management and growth. Work with the SVP of Development to align research priorities with overall fundraising strategy and organizational budget gaps.

CRM Administration and Fundraising Operations (30%)

• Manage gift entry and pledge creation to ensure accurate, timely, high-integrity processing of all donations (online, checks, stocks, in-kind, etc.) and earned income in coordination with finance and other internal stakeholders.
• Produce and refine routine reports for SMGOs and SVP of Development that track gifts received from donors in their portfolios, interactions with donors, and projected revenue, ultimately facilitating prompt, personalized stewardship.
• Ensure the entry and maintenance of high-quality, hygienic donor data in our CRM by creating and updating contact records, identifying and merging duplicates, linking records based on relationships, applying appropriate back-end codes, updating recurring gift series, and more.
• Support other one-off requests from Development Team members related to revenue tracking, contact record revisions, and other projects to maintain the integrity and security of our donor data.
• Provide input about strategic improvements to systems, tools, and workflows to enhance the team’s operational efficiency and fundraising outcomes. Work with the Director of Development Operations to continually improve all aspects of development operations, including gift processing, donor acknowledgment, donor data management, revenue reporting and forecasting, and CRM administration.
• Ensure compliance with IRS regulations and data privacy and security standards, and follow policies aligned with industry best practices in nonprofit fundraising operations.

Team Operations (10%)

• Schedule Development Team meetings and coordinate the calendar for internal meetings that the Development Team has with other NLP teams.
• Prepare meeting agendas based on content and structure of past meetings and ensure that relevant staff members add information to agenda templates as needed prior to each meeting.
• Manage the general Development Team inbox, triaging inbound messages and forwarding them to the appropriate team member when a response is required.
• Depending on capacity, support team priorities through other projects.

This full-time position is virtual. Highly qualified candidates who live in, and are authorized to work in, the United States are encouraged to apply.

About you

This position will directly impact many thousands of educators and hundreds of thousands of students in schools across the country and plays a pivotal role in shaping and achieving our organizational strategy. As the Prospect Research Manager, you will partner with the Director of Development Operations and SVP of Development to achieve our revenue goals and streamline fundraising operations. While we do not expect candidates to meet all qualifications, the successful candidate will have all or most of the following:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. An advanced degree in nonprofit management, business administration, or a related field is a plus. Relevant certifications and experience will also be considered.
• A minimum of four years of progressively responsible experience in prospect research and nonprofit fundraising operations, with expertise in wealth screening platforms and CRM databases (DonorSearch and/or EveryAction a plus).
• Knowledge of industry best practices and standard procedures related to prospect research, gift processing, donor stewardship, and revenue reporting and projections.
• Strong technical skills, including advanced Excel capabilities (pivot tables, formulas, data visualization), and experience working with high volumes of data (imports, exports, field mapping, etc.).
• Strategic thinking and excellent analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills, with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and balance big-picture vision with detailed execution.
• A collaborative, solutionsoriented mindset with strong
• written and oral communication skills and the ability to thrive in a remote, mission-driven work environment.
• Sound judgment and discretion when handling sensitive and confidential information.
• Willingness to travel one to two times per year for staff and team meetings.

Our Hiring Process

Candidates selected to participate will be asked to complete a skills assessment (1-2 hours) and up to three rounds of virtual interviews (2-3 hours total). Interviews are conducted one-on-one and in group settings.

Finalists will be asked to provide references.

The News Literacy Project welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds. We offer equal opportunity in employment for all qualified persons and prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, disability unrelated to job requirements, genetic information, military service or other protected status.

We deeply value diversity in the workplace and strongly believe that a diverse team enriches our organization and strengthens our ability to realize our mission (read/print NLP’s Organizational Values [PDF] and Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [PDF]).

NLP also offers outstanding benefits, including health and dental insurance, a 401(k) plan match, flexible work environment and more. For an overview of our generous benefits package, check out our HR benefits summary.