Development Database Specialist

In close partnership with Marketing and the Development teams, the Database Specialist is responsible for reviewing and maintaining the Development department’s business rules, reporting requirements and best practices for the maintenance of discrete and aggregated donor information. In addition to conducting routine and special-project data entry, the Database Specialist will: work to ensure data integrity and quality; streamline reporting and effective data extraction; promote donor data privacy compliance; and coordinate, facilitate and execute reports needed for fundraising work.

Database Project Facilitation (40% of time)

• Facilitate data requests from the Development team for personal completion or by project managing through the Marketing and external ROI teams.
• Ensure an acute level of communication with all project partners, including Development and Marketing colleagues and with the external ROI team.
• Ensure all deadlines are met, outputs align with initial requests, and products maintain a high quality. Keep all relevant collaborators proactively updated when there are unexpected challenges or delays to completion.
• Develop and maintain strong tracking mechanisms to ensure all projects are incorporated into channels and timelines of activity for completion. Ensure tracking mechanisms reflect current project priorities and can accommodate shifts as a result of external factors or other influences over time.
• Provide regular – scheduled and ad hoc – updates on overall project pipeline, status of projects, challenges, and other pertinent information to the Director of Philanthropic Administration.

Data Entry, Uploads and Reports (40% of time)

• Conduct regular and ad hoc data exports to maximize donor prospecting activities, in collaboration with the Research Manager, Senior Director of Philanthropy and Director of Philanthropic Operations.
• Conduct regular data uploads for all teams across the Development department on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis, including: name and address updates (including NCOA), donor engagement and communication, annual fundraising goals, etc.  
• Conduct ad hoc data entry and/or uploads for all teams across the Development department, including: creating new donor records, deceasing donor records, adding/removing flags, uploading visit notes, importing donor screening information from external platforms, etc.
• Conduct regular and ad hoc data exports for all teams across the Development department, including: major donor and planned giving appeal and acquisition lists, invitation lists for events, membership reports for stewardship, portfolio lists, etc.

Database Operations and User Support (20% of time)

• Maintain strong lines of communication with all parts of the Development department, identifying database challenges and opportunities. Recommend improvements and steward problems to resolution.
• Maintain a current library of ROI reference and training materials; update training manuals and develop new materials as needed.
• Train new Development staff on the use of ROI. Ensure all appropriate ROI permissions are secured for new Development staff, appropriate to their role, in collaboration with the hiring manager and the Director of Philanthropic Administration.
• Coordinate with the Director of Philanthropic Administration to propose, develop and lead training efforts for Development staff to ensure that existing and new CRM functionalities and processes are consistently embraced across the department.
• Ensure the accuracy and integrity of Development’s data. Support Development’s policies to guide data entry and security, and enter all Development data into ROI in a timely and precise manner.
• Work to advance DEIJ practices into database operations and data practices.
• Expand and maintain policy and procedure documentation for Development’s ROI business practices, including the Database Specialist’s collaboration with the Marketing team and with external ROI partners. Maintain the operational handbook for the Development Database Specialist position.

• Serve as Subject Matter Expert on the database for the Development team.

  Perform all other related duties as assigned. 

  Visit www.defenders.org to apply.