Celebrating Badge Earner, Susi Pitts

by | Apr 20, 2021 | News

Jennifer Filla

When someone completes a course and earns a Digital Badge at the Institute, it’s a big accomplishment. Courses can easily take around 35 hours to complete. Please join me in celebrating this intrepid member!

Susi Pitts

Susi Pitts

Susi has a Bachelors in Business Administration from UMUC. Growing up, her family had an International Shipping company where Susi was the Import/Export Manager. The business was eventually sold and she moved to the outback in Australia with her husband who took a job there.

She now lives in Virginia and joined Rainforest Trust 3 years ago. Last April, she also joined the Donor Services team as a Data and Research Officer.

When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, gardening, and getting crafty!

Badge Earned

Introduction to Prospect Profiles

Organization

Rainforest Trust

What type of work do you do?

Rainforest Trust purchases and protects the most threatened tropical forests, saving endangered wildlife through partnerships and community engagement.

I am part of the Donor Services team. I help my team with the import and maintenance of our database as well as working with our Major Gift Officers researching donors and prepping profiles for them.

Why did you choose to become a Prospect Research Institute member?

Our Director of Philanthropy saw an ad and asked me if it was something I would be interested in. We felt that this would be a good opportunity for me to learn about researching prospects at my own pace. Once I joined, I realized there was so much more beyond my Introduction to Prospect Profiles course! I absolutely love the Master Classes and the monthly zoom meetings!

What did you get out of the course that can be applied to your job?

Everything I learned in the Introduction to Prospect Profiles course was used right away!

Understanding how to research Real Estate was very helpful, especially when it came to New York City. There were many great tips and tricks for using a search engine to my advantage as well as finally understanding how Donor Advised Funds work.

The course also helped me when understanding the advantages of filling out different sections of a profile – how finding information leads to filling in blanks! Great course – Looking forward to working through the other courses offered!

Words from happy Researchers

Success Stories

I love your Master Class format – small group, clearly defined curriculum, solid professional information and resources and focus on discussion.  But most importantly I was impressed and delighted to see that you incorporated an additional and extremely practical layer of knowledge, through hands on experience with tools (pivot tables) or resources (Candid).  This adds real value to the educational experience you offer.

Betsy Mehlman

2020-Master Class

Jen’s course on insider stock and compensation was informative, interesting, and well-thought out. Jen broke down the complicated material into digestible pieces. She showed us resources that I use in my day-to-day research that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about. Jen is always quick to respond and has been helpful even after the class has ended. She answers questions thoroughly and is always pleasant.

I was able to take what I learned from the course and present the material to our front-line fundraisers. One fundraiser told me after my presentation that she discovered one of her donor’s compensation was much higher than she thought. So, already, this information has come in handy! Thanks again Jen!

Kim Anthony, San Francisco CA

Insider Stock and Compensation

The Capacity Rating Workshop was really useful. I was new to the prospect research field when I took the workshop, so it helped to demystify capacity ratings for me. The online classroom provided a great forum for interaction with the other participants and for a robust exchange of ideas. Beyond that though, Jen shared a wealth of information and resources about capacity ratings and other important aspects of prospect research. I highly recommend this workshop whether you’re new to the field or have years of experience in our profession.

David Lloyd, Prospect Research Professional, San Francisco, CA

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