People in Fundraising, Season 1, Ep. 33: Ruthie Giles

Originally recorded and aired in winter 2022: When someone is a Prospect Management Rock Star, you *must* interview that person! Ruthie Giles joins my “People in Fundraising” weekly podcast from western Massachusetts. In addition to her full-time role at Westfield State U., Ruthie works with clients around the world for Staupell Analytics Group. She describes the serendipitous moments that led to her career in prospect research and management – “not a straight line to anything.”

*How prospect management was not really built-out and then tied with prospect research

*How Ruthie built prospect management processes and structures in her nonprofits’ databases and asking lots of questions of leaders along the way

*How Ruthie connected with prospect development leader Marianne Pelletier of Staupell Analytics Group

*The exact moment when Ruthie knew she was hitting her stride in her career – “‘the mothership calling you home’ moment," as Ruthie calls it