Development Database Specialist

4667 TELEGRAPH RD, VENTURA, CA 93003| 805.289.6461 | VenturaCollegeFoundation.org

DEVELOPMENT DATABASE SPECIALIST  | FULL-TIME POSITION

POSITION SUMMARY

Excellent opportunity for a Database Specialist with at least 2-3 years of relevant nonprofit or higher education database experience, reporting to the Development Manager at the Ventura College Foundation. The ideal candidate will be a strong, collaborative, organized, and detail-oriented, individual with experience working with databases in the fundraising fields. Opportunity for growth within the organization.

For 39 years, the Ventura College Foundation, a (501(c)(3) non-profit) organization that operates financially independent from Ventura College, has raised more than $46.7 million for the students and programs of Ventura College, a Hispanic-serving institution as designated by the U.S. Department of Education. The Foundation has assets of over $26.4 million and receives support from individuals, corporations, foundations, and its Weekend Marketplace operations to provide Ventura College students scholarships, textbooks, and other program support. The Foundation is governed by a 19-member Board of Directors and works toward an annual fundraising goal of $1M from annual giving, major giving, and planned giving efforts. The database size is 50K+ records and rapidly growing.

The Database Specialist is responsible for database support for annual giving, major and planned gifts, campus fundraising activities, alumni, and event aspects of the fundraising program at the Foundation. The Database Specialist is part of a high-performing Development team that together, implements a comprehensive development program of identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding annual, major, and planned gift donors and prospects for restricted and unrestricted needs in support of the Foundation’s mission.

VENTURA COLLEGE FOUNDATION MISSION STATEMENT

The Ventura College Foundation transforms students’ lives through education by providing innovative and vital resources and financial support. The Foundation collaborates with Ventura College to enhance human potential, civic engagement, careers, and academic success of students enabling their effective impact and legacy on the college, local workforce, and our community.

RESPONSIBILITIES

TIMELY & ACCURATE GIFT PROCESSING:

• Prepare and enter all cash, pledges, and in-kind gift donations received; download and enter online donations from outside vendors, including ACH donations, employee giving match programs, crowdfunding platforms, social media channels, and the credit card processing vendor.
• Generate and print acknowledgment letters/receipts for the Executive Director’s review and signature within 48-72 hours of receiving a donation.
• Scan, fold, seal, and mail gift acknowledgment letters/receipts after signed.
• Provide on a weekly basis accurate gift deposit reports and documentation for the Development Manager’s approval and to the Finance Department in a timely manner.
• Ensure gift information such as pledge cards, gift agreements, payroll deduction forms, documentation regarding gift restrictions, signed acknowledgment letters, and check/credit card/ACH documentation scans are uploaded to the VC Foundation database for user access.

DONOR STEWARDSHIP SUPPORT:

• Produce a monthly list of donor birthdays for the Development Manager to review, then generate and print donor birthday cards, and place them in the mail.
• Produce a monthly list of tribute gifts received for the Development Manager to review, then generate and print tribute cards for honorees and family members of deceased donors.
• Produce a monthly list of donors celebrating the anniversary of their first gift for the Development Manager to review, then generate envelopes, stuff envelopes with anniversary cards, and place them in the mail.
• Produce greeting cards (i.e., Sympathy, Get Well, Thinking of You, Congratulations) as assigned by the Development Manager for VC Foundation constituents.

DATABASE FUNCTION SUPPORT:

• Add/update constituent records in a timely manner as needed, analyze donor information, and populate all appropriate data fields according to Foundation Data Entry Standards as outlined in the Development Database Policies and Procedures Manual.
• Assist the VC Foundation staff with entry/updates of Actions and Notes in the VC Foundation database.
• Manage email subscription additions, bounces, unsubscribes, bad email changes from the VC Foundation’s Email Platform via a CVS file Import.
• Update & Create Thank You Letters/Gift Receipts for donor gifts.
• Assist the Development Manager with implementing all import/export projects and scheduled data health/cleansing projects.
• Coordinate all database import/export projects for Development, Programs, Alumni, and Event team members.
• Accurately implement established Foundation gift coding for appeals, funds, campaigns, packages, constituent data, and special attribute systems.
• Run and provide support related to Development, Programs, Alumni, and Event constituent lists/reports.
• Assist Development, Programs, Alumni, and Event staff in capturing data they wish to record in the VC Foundation database.
• With the Development Manager’s approval, the Development Database Specialist will administer all database user access and permissions that are appropriate by user roles.
• Serves as the lead in system training and addressing user problems associated with the database. This includes researching solutions using the database’s online help articles, contacting technical support when needed, and creating/updating documentation as new database updates are made to the database platform.
• Creating, testing, and implementing of standard queries and reports that database users can run at their discretion.

DATABASE REPORTING:

• Run the weekly Development Fundraising Report for the Director of Major & Planned Giving to circulate to the Program Sustainability Committee and Development Team.
• Build/run weekly Donor Action Reports that summarize the number of meaningful connections, stewardship connections asks, and total dollars raised during the previous week for each Development Team Member for review at weekly meetings.
• Build/run Fundraising Next Steps/Task List for Development Team to Review at Weekly Meetings.
• Build/run Weekly Crowdfunding Campaign Reports for campus partners and email them to the appropriate contact.
• Weekly enter offline donations (i.e., ACH, checks, manual credit card transactions) to appropriate Crowdfunding Campaigns to keep goal progress updated for active appeals.
• Run Monthly Gift Sustainability Reports for the Finance and Programs Team.
• Produce a Monthly Pledge Reminder List for the Development Manager to review, mail merge information into pledge reminders for the Executive Director’s Signature, and mail to donors.
• Build/run a Monthly Fundraising Dashboard Report to Track Donations by source.
• Build/run Monthly Appeal & Package Reports for Direct Marketing Analysis.
• Build/run Major Donor/Planned Giving Prospects List for the Development Team.
• Build/run Donor Prospect Research Reports.
• Work with the Finance Department to reconcile Quarterly Board Reports.
• Build/run Turnkey 990 and Audit Reports for the Director of Finance.
• Run and keep Online Honor Roll Up to Date.

OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED:

• The purpose of this job description is to provide an overview of job responsibilities for the Development Database Specialist position. This is not a comprehensive list of duties/responsibilities. Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree preferred; otherwise, Associate degree required.
• 2-3 years of experience required in an office setting performing data entry and database integrity functions. Proficiency and experience in using donor databases (current database, Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge/NXT, preferred).
• Progressive, successful, and specific experience working in the development department of a non-profit organization and/or understanding of the development/advancement office process, preferably in higher education.
• Intermediate to Advanced computer skills, including the Microsoft Office Suite, especially Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Knowledge and ability to execute Microsoft Office Suite mail functions, including mail merges for letters, envelopes, and labels required.
• Experience with using online fundraising platforms that include crowdfunding, online giving forms, and text-to-give capabilities (current platform, MobileCause, preferred).
• The ability to establish and maintain positive and honest relationships with a variety of people in a multicultural and diverse environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to practices that promote and enable greater equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Professional in demeanor and conduct with the ability to maintain composure under pressure. Experience adhering to the highest standard of professional ethics and an agreement to comply with AFP’s (Association of Professional Fundraisers) Code of Ethical Standards and Donor Bill of Rights, familiarity and adherence with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) Compliance and Federal and State Consumer Privacy Laws.
• Ability to use discretion and maintain sensitive/confidential information.
• Excellent time management and organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks efficiently and accurately, meet time-sensitive deadlines, and troubleshoot database challenges.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including editing and proofreading. Careful attention is required in regard to detail with numbers, codes, math, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and document formatting.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with Foundation colleagues, in a fast-paced environment, adapting quickly to change. A genuine commitment to excellence and to the mission of the Foundation.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• ENVIRONMENT:
  • College Office environment
  • Constant interruptions
  • COVID vaccine mandate in place
  • Mask protocols in place
• PHYSICAL ABILITIES:
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to take notes and to operate a computer keyboard and other office equipment
• Sitting for extended periods of time and working on a computer
• Hearing and speaking to exchange information on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, the telephone, or in-person
• Seeing to read and review documents
• Reaching to retrieve and file records
• Must be willing to lift up to 25 pounds at times

THE FINE PRINT

• Full-time position: 40 hours per week
• Compensation: Salary will be commensurate with experience; Salary range: $27-$29 per hour; plus, fully paid medical, dental, and vision benefits; CALPERS retirement plan benefits that include contributions by the Foundation.
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and other Supplemental Insurance benefits.
• Paid time off includes: 17 paid holidays, two floating holidays, two weeks of accrued vacation a year, and Winter Holiday Break as aligned with the Ventura County Community College District’s Calendar (typically Christmas Eve – New Year’s Day); two weeks of sick time.
• To apply, please email Julie Harvey, Development Manager, (jharvey@vcccd.edu) your cover letter and resume. Only applicants who submit both items will be considered for the position.
• No calls please, only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
• Web site: https://venturacollegefoundation.org