Director, Prospect Development

About Us

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. By serving as an impartial guide, Climate Lead equips new climate philanthropists with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions. We cut through the complexity by curating roadmaps, in partnership with a diverse network of experts, to help philanthropists make a bold impact on climate from day one.

Summary

This newly-created role is responsible for identifying, researching, and analyzing potential donors by utilizing various sources to assess their capacity, philanthropic interest, and likelihood of giving, ultimately providing detailed, timely information and insights to the Philanthropy team to inform donor strategies and engagement. The ideal candidate is a seasoned prospect development professional with the skill and desire to help grow and shape the future of the prospect development team using their strategic, creative, and innovative abilities, and contribute to Climate Lead’s ambitious aim to catalyze new funding at scale by 2030.    

Managerial Responsibilities

This role does not have any managerial responsibilities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Prospect Strategy, Portfolio Optimization and Program Administration 25%

• Develop, implement and manage a comprehensive prospect development program, guided by in-depth knowledge and understanding of Climate Lead’s priorities as well as industry best practices. 
• Assist in the development and management of a due diligence protocol and process.
• Serve as a partner and thought leader on prospect strategy to support and encourage transformational philanthropic relationships, in close collaboration with Sr. Director, New Donor Strategy.
• Develop dynamic, healthy portfolios to support Climate Lead’s growing philanthropic efforts and team.           

Research (60%)

• Working closely with the Analyst, Prospect Research, conduct research, analysis and interpretation to provide insights, recommendations, and written briefs (e.g., capacity ratings, prospect qualifications, dossiers) to leadership and philanthropic advisors to evaluate UHNW prospects, determine the best pathway for engagement, and support overall donor strategy. 
• Contribute to the development of a robust UHNW pipeline by leading proactive efforts to uncover new, viable prospects with an interest in key initiatives (e.g., via relationship mapping, curated rate and screens, thematic prospect lists). Assist in identifying and prioritizing top prospects.
• Conduct due diligence research; analyze and assess risk in support of Climate Lead’s goals and organizational values.
• Partner with staff to maximize donor engagement; proactively share findings, insights, and newsworthy updates. 

Data, Systems, and Processes (15%)

• Develop and maintain Climate Lead’s prospect research systems and processes, in alignment with best practices.
• Review and update prospect data in Salesforce to ensure integrity of the database, in alignment with best practices.
• Design and implement reports and dashboards for analyzing key activity on Salesforce, e.g., to assess a relationship manager’s time and traction with assigned prospects.                       

Success Criteria

• Data Analytics - Aggregate, clean and present data in a format that is understandable and actionable, creating and distributing reporting, dashboards, and visualizations to understand performance, develop and use models to better support decisions and improve performance, deliver foresight and recommendations based on data to drive execution.
• Prospect Research - Work proficiently with databases, implement new research techniques, take potential major donors and delve into their backgrounds and curate the ultimate approach for each prospect.
• Relationship Management - Work closely with the Philanthropy Team to improve advising/fundraising strategies, use a tactful and ethical approach to fundraising relationships.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

Communication and Collaboration

• Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships with diverse groups. 
• Lead with humanity and curiosity to foster a collaborative environment; ability to bring out the best in others. 
• Ability to adapt to change through learning, flexibility and resilience.
• Ability to work within a cross functional team and thrive in a customer service-oriented environment.
• Organizational skills to handle several projects simultaneously, accommodate shifting priorities, and meet deadlines.

Data and Technology

• Proficiency with a wide range of research products; ability to optimize tools to support the needs of the team. 
• Ability to use technology to gather, interpret, and organize data.
• Ability to think critically and develop tactical plans in response to strategic needs, and also dive deeply on research or data projects.
• Ability to absorb complex technical information and communicate effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Possess a curiosity for process improvement and deploying new technologies or strategies to support organizational goals. 

Mission-driven Philanthropy and Industry expertise

• Understanding of philanthropy (mission, practice, trends) and fundraising practices (the development cycle, prospect management policies and practices).
• Familiarity with industry standards; ability to advocate for and integrate best practices into existing processes. 

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 8+ years experience in prospect development required
• Extensive experience with UHNW prospect research required.
• Experience with due diligence research preferred. 
• Experience with project management.
• Experience with processes, database operations, and usage, including CRM and other relational databases preferred.
• Experience researching international prospects strongly preferred.
• Experience creating and growing prospect development programs preferred. 
• Experience collaborating directly with frontline development staff preferred. 

Salary Range

$160,000 - $193,000

Work Environment

Climate Lead is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. This position operates in a hybrid environment based in our San Francisco, CA, office. Staff in the San Francisco Bay Area currently work in the office Tuesday through Thursday each week and typically work from home the other days.

At the Climate Lead, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of or traits historically associated with race, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.