The NEDRA News staff has decided to revisit an old column formerly featured in NEDRA News - our Researcher Spotlight! We will regularly select a member of our diverse NEDRA constituency to get their take on prospect research and life. Let's get to know one another!

This month, we spoke with: SAMANTHA HARRIS

What is your position and where do you work?

According to my business card, I’m a “Senior Research and Program Manager, Special Projects” at Tufts University. It’s a bit of a strange title – even I’m not sure what it means!

 

Describe your experience with NEDRA – how long have you been a member? What made you get involved with the organization?

When you work for an organization like Tufts, or for a division like Tufts Advancement, there’s an expectation that you should and will grow as an employee in your field of specialty. So joining NEDRA was essentially a requirement of being a prospect researcher here, not necessarily a personal decision. However, I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Tufts’ philosophy on career development, so if the decision had been mine alone to make, I would have happily joined. I’ve been a NEDRA member since early 2005.

 

What’s your philosophy on life?

My dad always gave me a hard time on the subject of “contributing.” Even at the age of 8 or 9, we would be at the dinner table, and if I was quiet, and not asking good questions or giving good answers, I would get scolded on the importance of “contributing.” He expected all his children to share their thoughts and ideas, to move the conversation forwardundefinedno excuses. This was all so unbelievably frustrating back then, but the concept eventually became one of my life philosophies. I believe you have an obligation to contribute something, anything, to the world around you, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Simply complaining, or being silent, wins you no points.

 

What’s your philosophy on prospect research?

Prospect research is primarily answer-driven, a reactive role. We are constantly asked to find or provide answers –What is this individual’s job history? What are his or her philanthropic priorities? What can they give us in the next campaign? This is the heart of what we do, and I think most of us are satisfied being answer-driven, because it’s a clear and structured role, and because answers can be rewarding in and of themselves. But I also think that as researchers grow in the field, they come to understand that not every question or assignment is good, or even relevant – even if an answer can be found – and  and they begin to suspect that perhaps different or additional questions should be asked. When this happens – when a researcher becomes as interested in the question being asked as in the answer being given – this is when a prospect researcher becomes a Prospect Researcherundefined engaged, focused, and solution-oriented in the fundraising process. But solutions are different than answers, and finding and maintaining that line between being answer-driven and solution-driven can be very, very challenging. It requires a different set of conversations, a stronger stomach, openness to potential failure, and a healthy amount of diplomacy. However, in the end I think that that balancing of the solution/answer line will keep our industry healthy and vital.

 

What’s your favorite music to listen to while you work?

I don’t listen to music at work – for some reason it’s too distracting. I do like to listen to “48 Hours Mystery,” a television show.

 

What’s your favorite television show?

The Simpsons, Seasons 1-10. Woo hoo!

 

What’s your favorite book?

I haven’t read it in 20 years but The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norman Juster. It’s an adult book disguised as a children’s tale. I remember being so inspired after reading it...but to do what exactly, I don’t quite remember…which is sort of sad.

 

What initially interested you about working in prospect research?

The key phrases I was drawn to must have been “likes to investigate” and “can handle confidential information.”

 

What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment, professionally or personally?

The first thing that comes to mind is donating platelets – I donate platelets 15 times a year. As anyone who has accompanied me during this activity can attest to, I am absolutely terrified when that tourniquet comes near me. I want to die! But I always get through it – I never chicken out. The nurses constantly ask me, “Why are you doing this?” But it’s sort of like what JFK said about choosing to do things “because they are hard” – I want to donate platelets because I can, and because it’s the right thing to do….but I need to do it because it’s so freaking hard.

 

How do you define success?

Success to me equals personal happiness. And being happy, in large part, relates to good decision-making. And good decision-making requires patience, self control, and positive thinking. So no, I’m not entirely successful yet.

 

What’s your greatest pet peeve?

My greatest pet peeve may be women over the age of 25 using the word “like” in their conversations, like, over and over and over…and over…again. I want to slap my own face when I do that.

 

If you could have a dinner party with any five individuals, living or dead, who would you invite?

• My mom’s father, who died before I was born
• My dad’s mother, who died before I was born
• My mom and dad (who would surely like to see them too)
• And let’s throw in a relative of mine from the first century, to hear his thoughts on how great or awful his genes played out.

 

If you could be a character in any novel you’ve ever read, who would you be and why?

Can I be “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” but not go through the horrible suffering? Lisbeth Salander is brilliant, creative, and couldn’t care less what anyone thinks of her. She’s the coolest character I’ve ever seen or read.

 

If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be?

Funny enough, in our research shop, we have worked on one project for a whole year! We nicknamed it “RAP,” an acronym for “Rating All Prospects.”

 

As of February 2011, we had over 2,300 active prospects in our database who were screened at the major gift level ($50K+) but had no research-verified rating. We built a project around fixing this gap, to benefit the prospect pool specifically and the division as a whole. By February of this year, we reviewed, refreshed, and verified all 2,300 records, and in the same process, uncovered hundreds of prospects with little major gift potential and recommended deactivation of their prospect record.

 

RAP is, by far, the longest project our group has completed since I’ve been at Tufts, but at the same time, its scope and value made it worth the time and effort. That’s the key to any successful project: that it’s worth the time and effort, regardless of results.