Steps to Advance Your Prospect Research Career

Written by: Chris Copsey

“Hey, you- yes, You! C’mon over here and let’s talk shop for a little bit away from the crowds. I heard that you are looking for ways to advance your career in the Prospect Research area. Well, the good news for you is that is something that I would love to help you out with.”

If you are anything like me - and you must be since you are reading this! - you have probably been working in the Prospect Research and philanthropic field long enough to wonder if that above conversation would ever happen to you. Well, consider this article a version of that conversation. You see, although I have only been in the field of prospect research for 8 years, I have gone from performing basic, individual prospect research, to healthcare philanthropy data analytics, to now leading a whole Prospect Development team for a major healthcare philanthropy organization. And the good news is that with some experience, nerve, and a lot of confidence, you too can give yourself the background and experience necessary for advancing in your career.

Hi, my name is Chris Copsey, and I am the Assistant Vice President of Prospect Development for the UNC Health Foundation, based out of UNC Chapel Hill. I have spent my entire fundraising career at UNC and have loved every minute of it. Aside from my professional work, I am also the incoming President-elect of Apra Carolinas. 

Here are some things to consider when you are ready to advance in your career in this field. And no, these won’t be any of those that you heard in the 1990s, like “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have”, or always laughing at your boss’s unfunny jokes.

1. Make sure your fundamentals are sharp: whatever your current role is, you want to make sure that you are already performing at a high level. How can you expect to move up to a new position if there are weaknesses in your current position? Take stock of what you do, and especially those times where you either took on tasks outside of your job’s scope, or successes where you went above and beyond. If you take stock and find yourself deficient in any area, consider the resources that Apra has, reach out to your network, or even utilize LinkedIn learning- I myself used a LinkedIn learning class to learn the basics of Tableau and then reached out to a thought leader for more advice- how is this Dashboard? What can I do to make it better? You’d be surprised how happy people in our field are to help each other!
   
   
2. Working horizontally is equally important as working vertically: while we all want to impress those in positions above us, it is equally important to ingratiate yourself with those at your current level. Make yourself indispensable to those you encounter on an everyday basis for run-of-the-mill projects.  If you are worried about being too good at this and potentially depriving your office of your current skills, I would counter and say that taking on a new role is about expanding your talents, not depriving anyone of them, so this should not stop you from advancing.
   
   
3. Become familiar with all the jobs in your office: you might excel at research but having knowledge of what a Development Officer does will make you better at providing them with help. If you don’t, ask to shadow them at a donor meeting. 
   
   
4. Know who to lobby: we all equate lobbying with the political and corporate world, but lobbying for yourself is essentially advocating for yourself. But you wouldn’t just advocate to anyone - you should know who to advocate to. Knowing who in your office has sway or soft-power can be crucial as you make plans to step up in your office. Is an office shakeup happening? Ok, great - lean into it, and figure out who is going to be calling the shots at a future date, even if they are not right now. Org charts and budget allocations are gold when trying to figure this out, so ask around to see if this kind of information is handy.
   
   
5. Raise your hand: most importantly, and it is probably the thing that can get you where you want the most, is to raise your hand; for all you know, no one else has raised theirs! 

These are only a few things that could help you advance your career in prospect research. Of course, getting involved in a professional development space like Apra Carolinas doesn’t hurt either!