Application Pack – Prospect Research Officer

Thank you for your interest in the above post. This Application Pack contains:

  • Job description and person specification
  • Information about Global Witness
  • Fundraising at Global Witness
  • Development team structure
  • Abbreviated Terms and Conditions

To apply, please send a covering letter together with a two page CV. Your covering letter should demonstrate your suitability for this position. Applicants applying for this position must have the right to work in the UK.

The covering letter, CV and a sample profile (confidentially) should be emailed to and reach Global Witness no later than9am on 15 August 2016.Late applications cannot be considered.

Please note that we will only contact short-listed candidates, and feedback can only be offered to those candidates who attend an interview.

Global Witness is committed to creating a diverse workforce. We value diversity and inclusion and we want to attract the best people regardless of age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability, social status or religious beliefs

Applicants applying for this position must prove they have the ongoing right to work in the United Kingdom.

Prospect Research Officer

Purpose of the post

To identify and research individual major donor individual, trust foundation and government prospects to support the work of the Global Witness Development Team and specifically to meet our ambitious fundraising goals - £8.9m in 2016.

Reporting to: Major Donor Manager

Job Description

  1. To devise and implement the prospect research strategy for the Development Team in conjunction Major Donor Manager and Director of Development.
  1. To identify new individual major donor prospects by carrying out high quality research using publicly available sources, databases, information from staff, supporters and contacts, and any other sources as appropriate.
  1. To aggregate and update information on existing prospects.
  1. To maintain major donor prospect database records, build on our current prospect pool and pipeline and keep prospect tracking system on the database (Salesforce).
  1. To draft detailed prospect profiles and meeting briefings for senior staff and to keep these updated on a regular basis.
  1. To advise on prospects’ ability and propensity to give and to rate prospects accordingly, including indicating estimated wealth and giving capacity.
  1. To set up and organise individual prospect meetings in the UK and overseas, including planning logistics and travel arrangements.
  1. To assist the Development Team in the organisation of cultivation events for all prospects and in particular for high net worth individuals.
  1. To implement systems for donor cultivation stewardship and to track relationships with all individual major donors and prospects.
  1. To manage the Development Team’s research resources, including identifying and evaluating potential new resources, managing the resource library and training colleagues in research resources as necessary.
  1. Disseminate information and research gathered in an appropriate format to audiences throughout the organisation as necessary.
  1. To manage the Development Team’s relationships with external research agencies, where relevant.
  1. To keep abreast of wealth information sources, research and fundraising techniques.
  1. To monitor general trends and developments in the philanthropic sector, focusing specifically on major donors and prospect research, and to advise the senior Management and Development team members accordingly
  1. Identify and research competitors’ activity and innovative ideas for fundraising.
  1. To carry out any other duties as required by the Major Donor Manager and Director of Development.

Experience/Skills Required:

Essential

  • Proven experience of major donor prospect research leading to the securing of major gifts
  • Extensive experience of working with fundraising databases and the ability to interrogate and extract data for profiles and reports
  • Education to degree level or equivalent
  • Excellent verbal communication, writing and editing skills
  • Ability to manage prospect pipeline reporting and tracking processes
  • Good numeracy skills and the ability to analyse company accounts and wealth data
  • Ability to manage and analyse large amounts of complex data and present information clearly
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office and prospect research tools
  • Proven ability to prioritise and organise workload effectively and efficiently to meet deadlines
  • Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues both within and outside the Fundraising Team (e.g. campaign/programme and finance staff)
  • Experience of working in a donor-focused environment
  • Ability to deal with confidential information sensitively and appropriately
  • Meticulous attention to detail
  • Ability to demonstrate initiative and to work well under pressure

Desirable

  • Experience of planning and managing donor cultivation and stewardship systems
  • Ability to effectively organise and manage travel plans and schedules
  • Previous experience of working in an NGO/charity environment
  • Relevant professional training or qualifications in fundraising research or related fields

Global Witness

We want a better world - where corruption is challenged and accountability prevails, all can thrive within the planet’s boundaries, and governments act in the public interest.

Many of the world’s worst environmental and human rights abuses are driven by the exploitation of natural resources and corruption in the global political and economic system. Global Witness is campaigning to end this. We carry out hard-hitting investigations, expose the facts, and push for change. We are independent, not-for-profit, and work with partners around the world in our fight for justice.

Global Witness’ work makes a difference. Our campaigning helped put a stop to illegal logging which was funding wars waged by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and by Charles Taylor in Liberia. We brought the issue of blood diamonds to the world’s attention and the landmark Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established as a result. Similarly, our investigations into corruption in oil, gas and mining were instrumental in making a case for the establishment of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the leading global mechanism aimed at increasing transparency in transactions between governments and companies.

More recently, our research on conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has exposed how warring parties make millions of dollars each year through illegal control of the mineral sector. Our campaigning has led to landmark due diligence legislation being passed in the US and in DRC. Global Witness’ banks team have exposed how major financial jurisdictions like the UK are being used to launder vast amounts of corrupt money, keeping millions in poverty and reliant on aid. Our pioneering campaign to raise the profile of land and environmental defenders has positioned the issue, for the first time, on the agenda of high-level decision-makers.

In recognition of our impact, we are thrilled to have been awarded the TED Prize and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurshipin 2014.

Fundraising at Global Witness

Growth in Global Witness’ funding has been considerable since its inception 21 years ago with an income budget of £8.9m for 2016. It is an exciting time to join Global Witness’ development team with a new CEO who has been in post for a year now and is really driving fundraising efforts at the highest levels and with fundraising staff working out of our DC office for the first time this year.

Our successful fundraising programme has included significant and sustained support from some of the leading international philanthropic institutions demonstrating a strong endorsement of the efficacy of our work and the strength of our case for giving. This includesboth annual unrestricted support and a five year matched funding grant from the Open Society Foundations. We have already met the challenge of raising £9m by the end of 2016 which Open Society Foundations matched with a £4.5 grant organisational development grant. Recent major institutional support also includes $4.8m three year unrestricted support grant from the Omidyar Network, a four year unrestricted $2m grant from the Ford Foundation to support our work as a key player in the global human rights movement, a three year £1.5m grant from the Swedish International Development Agency to support our work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Over the past three years we have built an exciting HNWI individual giving programme with an annual budget of £1.4m in 2016, including $1m donations from Alex Soros and Laura and John Arnold.

This Prospect Research Officer position is an essential role in driving further growth in our HNWI programme as well as our established, highly successful, institutional fundraising efforts.

The Global Witness development team comprisesten staff members based in London and our offices in Washington DC as set out in the organigram below.

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Global Witness Abbreviated Terms & Conditions

SALARY: £27,000 - £29,000 per annum

LOCATION: London

BENEFITS: Health insurance, Pension contribution, cycle to work scheme, childcare voucher scheme

LEAVE: 26 working days leave during 2016, excluding public holidays. This will be pro-rated for each uncompleted leave year.

SUBMISSIONS: Cover letter carefully describing your suitability for the role and a CV.