Apra-IL presents True Life: A Day in Prospect Development. Inspired by the MTV show True Life, this series exposes the everyday experiences of Prospect Development professionals. In addition to learning from the unique perspectives of our participants, we hope that you join us by sharing pictures from your day. Use #DayinPD to contribute and follow as we dive into the lives of our colleagues over the next few weeks.

Jillian Schuessler, Associate Director, Data Integrity & Analytics, Foundation and Corporate Relations at The University of Chicago and Apra-IL Treasurer, walks us through a day in her life. 

True Life: I Work in Foundation & Corporate Relations

At the Elmwood Park Metra station heading towards downtown Chicago. Once at Union Station, I rush to catch the express bus to Hyde Park and the University of Chicago!

Our offices are located at Harper Court on 53rd St in Hyde Park. Everyone is very busy right now as we just entered the final year of our University of Chicago Campaign: Inquiry and Impact. 

Today, I’m working on updating our progress to goals dashboard and also putting together data tables for the front-line fundraisers on our team to bring to meetings. Our team provides support to faculty and administrators who are seeking grant funding from foundations or corporations. We also provide prospect lists and profiles on foundations as well as proposal materials for our campus partners.

This is a rare scene! Our FCR fundraisers are usually on campus meeting with faculty members. I often touch base with them on the status of proposals that have been submitted to see if we should update them in our development system. Keeping data updated is half the battle for an analyst!

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