Database Administrator I

Why Your Role Matters 

The Database Administrator I plays a crucial role in advancing the philanthropic mission of the organization by serving as the primary expert and administrator of its fundraising donor database. Working under the direction of a Development Leader, this position ensures the accuracy, maintenance, and tracking of all donor information and data. Collaborating closely with senior leadership, the Database Specialist leverages donor data for prospecting, analytics, research, and comprehensive reporting. By ensuring data integrity and strategic insights, this role directly supports the organization's ability to build meaningful donor relationships, drive fundraising success, and amplify its impact in the community. 

How You Will Make an Impact  

Donor Database Administration 

• Maintain the day-to-day operation, accuracy, and integrity of the donor database. 

• Create, update, merge, and maintain constituent records in accordance with established data-entry and database standards. 

• Process address, contact, communication-preference, relationship, and other constituent-information updates. 

• Monitor the database for duplicate, incomplete, inconsistent, or inaccurate records and complete routine data-cleanup activities. 

• Maintain donor relationships, household information, organizational affiliations, recognition preferences, and solicitation assignments. 

• Support database configurations, coding structures, campaigns, funds, appeals, events, and other established system components. 

• Assist with user access, routine troubleshooting, and coordination with the database vendor or internal technology resources as needed. 

• Document database procedures and maintain current data-entry and system-reference materials. 

Gift Processing and Acknowledgments 

• Enter and post gifts, pledges, pledge payments, matching gifts, grants, sponsorships, event revenue, in-kind contributions, and other charitable transactions. 

• Review gift documentation to ensure gifts are entered accurately and assigned to the appropriate donor, campaign, fund, appeal, program, and designation. 

• Process recurring gifts, pledge schedules, adjustments, write-offs, refunds, and other approved transactions. 

• Generate timely gift acknowledgments, tax receipts, pledge reminders, tribute notifications, and other donor correspondence. 

• Maintain appropriate documentation and audit trails for gifts, adjustments, and donor instructions. 

• Identify unusual, incomplete, or complex gifts and elevate them to the Development Operations Manager for review. 

• Support the secure handling and transfer of checks, credit card information, and other sensitive donor or payment information. 

Data Quality and Compliance 

• Perform routine data-quality reviews and reconcile identified discrepancies. 

• Follow established standards for data entry, gift acceptance, record retention, confidentiality, and donor privacy. 

• Help ensure donor restrictions, recognition preferences, anonymity requests, and communication preferences are accurately documented and honored. 

• Maintain documentation necessary to support internal reviews, financial audits, and donor inquiries. 

• Protect confidential donor, financial, and organizational information and access such information only for authorized business purposes. 

• Stay current on database functionality and applicable charitable gift-processing practices. 

Reporting and Reconciliation Support 

• Produce standard donor, gift, pledge, campaign, appeal, event, and acknowledgment reports. 

• Prepare recurring database reports and data files according to established schedules. 

• Provide accurate data extracts, mailing lists, segmentation files, and other information needed for donor communications and fundraising activities. 

• Assist Development Leader with dashboard preparation and reporting by validating source data and completing routine reports. 

• Support monthly and year-end reconciliation between the donor database, payment-processing systems, and Finance records. 

• Research and help resolve gift-entry, deposit, coding, and reconciliation discrepancies. 

• Maintain organized supporting documentation for deposits, batch records, reconciliations, and audit requests. 

• Assist with calendar-year and fiscal-year close activities, including pledge and fund reviews, acknowledgment completion, and data validation. 

Fundraising and Campaign Support 

• Establish and maintain campaign, appeal, event, and fund codes as directed. 

• Prepare donor lists, prospect lists, mailing files, pledge reports, and campaign-progress reports. 

• Support events by maintaining registration, sponsorship, attendance, payment, donor-engagement information and logistics as needed. 

• Assist with list segmentation and data preparation for annual campaigns, special appeals, stewardship communications, and donor-recognition activities. 

• Record donor interactions, moves-management activities, proposals, and other fundraising information when requested. 

• Collaborate with Development team members to ensure timely and accurate entry of donor-related activity. 

User Support and Process Improvement 

• Serve as a resource to Development team members for routine database questions and established procedures. 

• Train authorized users on basic database functions, data-entry standards, and reporting procedures. 

• Monitor recurring issues and recommend improvements to data-entry practices, workflows, reports, and system use. 

• Participate in database testing, upgrades, integrations, conversions, and other system projects. 

• Assist with the creation, implementation and maintenance of standard operating procedures established by the Development Leader 

• Promote consistent use of the database as the organization’s primary source of donor and fundraising information. 

• Other administrative duties as assigned. 

What You Bring to the Y

• Associate degree in business administration, nonprofit management, information systems, accounting, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. 

• Two or more years of experience working with donor, customer relationship management, membership, financial, or other relational database systems. 

• Experience administering a non-profit fundraising or donor-management database preferred 

• Experience with gift processing, donor acknowledgements, pledges, recurring gifts, and fundraising campaigns. 

• Experience entering and maintaining high-volume, detail-sensitive data. 

• Demonstrated ability to produce reports, manage data files, and conduct routine data-quality reviews. 

• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including sorting, filtering, formulas, data validation, and basic data analysis. 

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy. 

• Ability to manage confidential donor, financial, and organizational information appropriately. 

• Strong organizational, time-management, and problem-solving skills. 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet recurring daily, monthly, and year-end deadlines. 

• Effective written and verbal communication skills. 

 

Physical Requirements:  

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, bend, talk, and occasionally lift and/or move items, including equipment, furniture, and/or children. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.