Philanthropy Operations Specialist

Description

YMCA of Columbia-Willamette

Reports to: Chief External Affairs Officer (CEAO)

Direct Reports: None

FLSA Status: Exempt

Location: Association Office / Hybrid

Pay: $58,000–$65,000

Position Summary

The Philanthropy Operations Specialist strengthens the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette’s mission by serving as the operational and data governance lead for philanthropy systems, donor accuracy, stewardship workflows, and cross-department coordination. Reporting to the Director of Philanthropy, this exempt specialist role maintains disciplined data integrity, ensures reliable CRM workflows, and supports the association’s modernization efforts.

The Specialist ensures accurate donor and gift information across Virtuous, Daxko CRM, Daxko Engage, and Crescendo; designs operational workflows for acknowledgments, stewardship, and monthly giving; and partners with Finance to support coding accuracy and batch readiness. The role collaborates with Marketing, IT, and regional teams to deliver consistent donor experiences and data-informed insights.

As the primary internal owner of philanthropy data standards, workflow implementation, and integration hygiene, the Specialist applies judgment in operational decisions, resolves data discrepancies, recommends coding solutions for leadership approval, and maintains data quality that informs fundraising strategy. The Specialist upholds high standards of confidentiality, accuracy, and equity-centered practices in support of the Director of Philanthropy, CEAO, and CEO.

Key Responsibilities

Donor Data Integrity & CRM Operations

• Maintains accurate donor and gift data across Virtuous, Daxko CRM, Daxko Engage, and Crescendo, ensuring the reliability needed for informed decision-making.
• Conducts regular data hygiene reviews, cleanup cycles, documentation of workflows, and monitoring of multi-system integrations.
• Monitors integration hygiene across CRM systems, identifies discrepancies, resolves issues within scope, and coordinates solutions with IT and Finance when needed.
• Designs and maintains standardized data entry procedures and operational workflows that support consistency across branches and departments.
• Builds reports, queries, lists, and dashboards that support the portfolios of the Director of Philanthropy, CEAO, and CEO with professionalism, discretion, and accuracy.
• Ensures correct donor coding (fund, campaign, appeal, package), accurate batch preparation, and clean pre-reconciliation handoffs to Finance.
• Owns accuracy and completeness of all pre-batch data and makes coding determinations within established standards, escalating exceptions to the Director of Philanthropy or Finance as appropriate.
• Tracks pledges and recurring gifts, ensuring integrity of commitments and timely updates.
• Prepares donor records for year-end tax statements with a commitment to accuracy and risk mitigation.
• Upholds confidentiality of donor information, financial data, and executive portfolios.
  
  

Stewardship Administration & Donor Experience

• Executes timely acknowledgments, tribute notifications, stewardship letters, and inclusive donor recognition touchpoints.
• Implements and maintains operational stewardship workflows that support accuracy, timely follow-through, and consistent donor experiences across regions.
• Coordinates stewardship calendars established by the CEAO, ensuring all donor touchpoints (welcome series, birthdays, anniversaries, holiday outreach) are executed consistently and equitably.
• Prepares segmented lists and mailing data aligned with list criteria selected by the Director of Philanthropy.
• Drafts donor stewardship content aligned with the Director of Philanthropy’s donor communications strategy and Marketing brand standards, with final approval from the Director of Philanthropy or CEAO.
• Provides donor service support for technical or logistical giving questions, recurring gift adjustments, and general inquiries.
• Provides accurate donor data and stories for the Annual Report, storytelling materials, and board reporting packets.
• Applies the Y’s equity commitments to ensure segmentation, naming conventions, communication lists, and donor touchpoints reflect inclusion, respect, and belonging.
• Identifies opportunities to strengthen donor experience workflows and recommends improvements to the Director of Philanthropy based on data trends, donor feedback, or system needs.
  
  

Monthly Giving Program Leadership

• Leads the execution, refinement, and measurement of the association’s monthly giving program.
• Designs donor journeys, stewardship plans, upgrade strategies, and segmentation tests, with approval from the Director of Philanthropy or CEAO when strategy-level decisions are required.
• Analyzes retention, upgrade, churn, and engagement patterns, providing insights that strengthen fundraising strategy.
• Serves as primary point of contact for monthly donors, ensuring outstanding service and accurate account updates.
• Documents improvements, tests new approaches, and contributes learnings to broader modernization efforts.
• Implements operational procedures and workflows that support a strong monthly donor experience, including recurring gift adjustments, payment updates, and accurate data capture across CRM systems.
• Identifies risks impacting monthly donor retention and recommends operational or messaging adjustments to the Director of Philanthropy. Campaign, Event, & Portfolio Support
• Supports annual and targeted campaigns by preparing segmented lists, running reports, coordinating vendors, and ensuring data accuracy.
• Supports portfolio moves management for the Director of Philanthropy, CEAO, and CEO through timely donor profiles, giving histories, and research insights.
• Provides event support through list creation, materials preparation, seating assignments, and onsite logistical coordination.
• Coordinates vendors for events and campaigns with leadership approval), ensuring timely and accurate production.
• Supports the Director of Philanthropy’s event and corporate partnership strategies through accurate data preparation, operational follow-through, and clean donor tracking.
• Leads operational planning for event-focused committees by preparing materials, coordinating logistics, and ensuring committee work aligns with data accuracy, timelines, and donor experience standards set by leadership.
• Maintains event and campaign data integrity across CRM systems and identifies discrepancies or risks that could impact revenue reporting, stewardship, or donor experience.
• Prepares clean, accurate campaign and event reports that support leadership decision-making, revenue tracking, and portfolio movement.
  
  

Reporting, Analysis, & Continuous Improvement

• Prepares accurate donor reports, summaries, and dashboards for leadership, board reporting packets, and the Annual Report.
• Supports grant reporting data pulls, fundraising forecasting, and case-building efforts through accurate donor and giving analytics.
• Monitors stewardship completion rates, donor retention trends, recurring giving stability, and data accuracy metrics.
• Identifies data irregularities, integration issues, or coding concerns and recommends corrective actions to the Director of Philanthropy or Finance as appropriate.
• Develops and maintains reporting procedures and documentation that ensure consistency, clarity, and alignment with philanthropy data standards.
• Identifies process improvements and contributes directly to CRM modernization, operational alignment, and workflow clarity.
• Tests new CRM features, workflow updates, and integration enhancements, providing feedback that supports modernization and cross-department readiness, developing and maintaining appropriate SOPs.
  
  

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Coordinates association-wide adherence to donor data standards established by the CEAO and Director of Philanthropy.
• Partners with regional staff and membership teams to maintain clean data flow and address data inconsistencies collaboratively.
• Coordinates with Marketing to align donor lists, communications, and stewardship content with brand and equity standards.
• Coordinates with Finance on batch preparation, gift accuracy, pledge tracking, and year-end donor data.
• Coordinates with IT on system tickets, integration needs, and CRM improvements.
• Serves as the operational lead for implementing donor data procedures, ensuring staff across departments follow consistent workflows and understand their roles in data integrity.
• Provides guidance, troubleshooting, and training for staff who interact with donor data, supporting consistent adoption of data standards and CRM best practices through creation and maintenance of related SOPs.
• Assists in building internal capacity by sharing data best practices and simple CRM guidance with staff as needed.
• Represents philanthropy operations within cross-department meetings or modernization efforts when operational clarity, data governance, or integration alignment is needed.
  
  

Additional Responsibilities

• Performs additional duties as assigned that align with philanthropy operations, donor data integrity, stewardship workflows, and CRM systems support.