Prospect Development Analyst

The Prospect Development Analyst is responsible for identifying, researching and analyzing prospects for gift cultivation and solicitation for the Houston Zoo. This individual will participate and consult directly with development officers to identify and qualify major donor prospects who have the propensity and capacity to support Zoo-wide initiatives and campaigns.   

The Prospect Development Analyst is also responsible for analyzing development data to produce regular lists and reports for all development mailings and appeals.  

Our Mission: Houston Zoo connects communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife.

Our Vision: Houston Zoo will be a leader in the global movement to save wildlife.

Job Duties and Responsibilities: 

Prospect Development

• Participate in portfolio reviews with Development Officers to develop prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation, and overall fundraising strategies.  
• Proactively and independently create strategies to identify prospect pipeline building and analysis. Collect donor and prospect information and classify according to interest, affinity and financial capacity in addition to prioritizing the donors for assignment to appropriate fundraising staff in a timely manner. 
• Provide in-depth prospect research as needed to support donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Interpret and synthesize large volumes of data and complex financial, legal, and technical language into easily comprehensible information.  
• Prepare written profiles, ratings memos, event bios and qualified lists assessing financial capacity, philanthropic tendencies, giving propensity and linkages to support the cultivation of individuals, businesses and foundations using a wide variety of biographical, organizational and financial sources, including online database services, internet websites, library and government sources and other external repositories of public information. 
• Participate in prospect management activities, including tracking the prospect pipeline, providing recommendations regarding cultivation and solicitation strategies, and making subsequent data updates in development CRM. 
• Keep abreast of trends in the field of prospect development, emerging technologies, and available relevant tools. 

Reporting and Analysis

• Create lists based on planned criteria for all appeals, targeted mailings, and development event invitations. 
• Complete ad-hoc data requests for the development department.  

Other Duties

• Completing record updates as needed and performing various bulk data imports such as prospect modeling data and contact information data appends. 
• Provides support for fundraising and stewardship events and activities as needed. 
• Contributes to saving animals in the wild through reduction of waste, water and energy use and inspiring guests and staff to take wildlife protecting actions.
• Contributes to other operational priorities as needed. 

Education and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, communication, finance or related degree, along with 3 plus years of demonstrated success in prospect development.  
• Experience in prospect development (prospect research, prospect management, and/or data science/analytics). 
• Demonstrated experience and proficiency using specialized research tools such as iWave, ResearchPoint, and other prospect development databases required.  
• Experience using CRMs systems to store, manage, modify, retrieve and report data from donor database systems.  
• Proficiency in extracting, cleaning, analyzing, and synthesizing findings from data sets. 
• Understanding of industry best practices as defined by Apra. Ability to handle highly sensitive information appropriately and maintain confidentiality with donor information; knowledge of and adherence to ethical statements and guidelines by AFP, Apra and AASP. 
• Position requires excellent organizational, written and oral communication, research and analytical skills. Thorough computer skills, including proficiency working with Microsoft Office, required.  
• Ability to function effectively as a member of a team, ensuring close coordination and assimilation with other staff members. 

ABOUT HOUSTON ZOO

The Houston Zoo is made up of many moving parts with over 6,000 permanent residents (our animals) for whom we provide housing, meals, medical care and, yes, even education! There are over 2 million guests each year who come to experience our incredible variety of animals and ecosystems, as well as attend special private and public events and entertainment. Our dedicated staff works around the clock to ensure that the Zoo is always running smoothly for the safety and well-being of our residents and guests. We strive to ensure the protection of all the counterparts of the animals we have at the Zoo and in the wild. 

Join the Houston Zoo and become a part of an organization that is focused on the preservation of wildlife and their habitats by combining conservation with education and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods in the local communities.  Houston Zoo is an Equal Opportunity Employer.