Donor Acknowledgment and Research Coordinator

About the BSO

Founded in 1881, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is one of the premier orchestras in the world. The BSO is committed to bringing world class music and performances to the local and international communities. The key to our success has been our employees from the musicians onstage to those behind the scenes.

About the Role

The Donor Acknowledgment and Research Coordinator plays a dual role within the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Development Office, with responsibilities evenly divided between donor acknowledgment and prospect research.

• Donor Acknowledgment (50%): As a member of the Development Operations team, the Coordinator ensures the accurate and timely processing of tax receipts and donor acknowledgment correspondence, helping to properly recognize and thank donors for their contributions.
• Prospect Research (50%): In collaboration with the Senior Director of Prospect Strategy and Development, the Coordinator conducts research and evaluates donor giving capacities to strengthen fundraising efforts. This portion of the role involves a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Senior Director.

This position provides a unique opportunity to gain broad exposure to both donor stewardship and fundraising research within a major performing arts organization. The role officially reports to the Associate Director of Development Information Systems, with a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Senior Director of Prospect Strategy and Development.

Job Responsibilities

Donor Acknowledgement:

• Following an established timetable and protocol, manages weekly gift acknowledgment system, including generating, editing, and tracking IRS required tax receipts and acknowledgment letters for various brands, purposes, and signers.
• On occasion, and in collaboration with other members of the organization, writes highly personalized correspondences to high-level donors to recognize and communicate the impact of their contributions to the BSO. Requires cross-department collaboration to ensure these letters are signed, scanned, and mailed.
• Develops a thorough knowledge of constituent records, data reports, list building, and acknowledgment rules in Tessitura, the relational database software system utilized by the BSO.
• Collaborates with the Development Communications team to regularly update and refresh standard acknowledgment text as well as facilitate weekly acknowledgment emails.
• Assists with other daily data and gift processing and reconciling activities as directed and provides support for other projects as assigned by the Assistant Director of Development Information Systems and/or senior management in the department.

Prospect Research:

• Conducts biographical and financial research on individual, corporate and foundation donors and prospects for the BSO, Pops, and Tanglewood
• Assists with the creation of event bios for galas to small donor and prospect gatherings
• Conducts weekly screenings of new Society level donors for potential gift officer assignment
• Manages the annual subscriptions and contracts for various research resources and the research budget, and monitors the research request email in-box and tracker
• Enters donor and prospect information into Tessitura, including the most current event bios and data uncovered through research
• Working closely with other members of the Research team, help with multiple research requests and prospect identification projects

Qualifications

• One to three years of experience writing in a professional environment with exceptional ability to write and edit clearly, accurately, and concisely.
• Exhibit strong attention to detail and accuracy in both the recording and outputting of donor information.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office, including experience working with Excel, mail merges, and correspondence standards.
• Proven proficiency in complex document output from a data-based software; experience in Tessitura a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise good judgment and diplomacy and maintain highly confidential information.
• Ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively within a dynamic, sophisticated organization.
• Interest in and knowledge of the non-profit environment, particularly the arts, preferred.
• Bachelor's degree.

Pay Rate Range: $20.87 - $24.81

The BSO is an equal opportunity employer deeply committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). As such, the BSO does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law, as well as our own institutional EDI values.