Apra-IL Webinar: Future-Proof Your Prospect Development Career
Prospect development has traditionally focused on curating information, but that foundation is shifting. Many of the underlying mechanics of our work can now be automated by information aggregators, business intelligence platforms, and AI-powered applications. As a result, the value of prospect development increasingly lies in translation, strategy, and partnership – equipping our organizations to make decisions and take action with confidence. It’s critical that we anticipate how these changes will likely affect the skillsets and career paths of prospect development professionals, while also accounting for differences across organizations.
In this session, we’ll first examine this shift in more detail: not only how automation is reshaping our work, but also how these changes may look different across organizations of varying sectors, sizes, and maturity levels. Then we’ll map these considerations to the specific hard and soft skills prospect development professionals are most likely to lean on now and into the future. Finally, we’ll explore a few typical career pathways for those looking to advance professionally, from staying strictly within prospect development to branching out into adjacent areas like advancement services, business intelligence, and campaign strategy. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of where the field is heading and how to position themselves for what comes next.
Speaker Bio:
Catherine Flaatten, MPH, CFRE, is the associate vice president of prospect development at BWF, where she advises nonprofit clients on building and strengthening programs in prospect research, management, and analytics. Her consulting is grounded in past practitioner experience at The George Washington University, Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry, the National Psoriasis Foundation, and the BrightFocus Foundation.
Catherine serves on Apra International’s Board of Directors, Education and Professional Development Committee, and Fundamentals Committee and has held numerous volunteer leadership roles with Apra International, Apra Metro DC, and aasp. She is a frequent presenter and author in the field, and her expertise has been featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Her contributions aim to position prospect development as a strategic driver of fundraising success and strengthen the profession through knowledge-sharing and leadership.
She earned both her BA in International Affairs and her MPH in Maternal and Child Health from The George Washington University.
