Donor Database and Operations Senior Manager

The Organization

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (GLI) is the nation’s leading American history organization dedicated to K–12 education. The Institute’s mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources. Since its founding in 1994, GLI has created powerful and meaningful ways to teach and learn history. Focusing on primary sources, the Institute offers teacher seminars, online courses, exhibitions, digital materials, and print publications that enable students of all ages and backgrounds to study the nation’s past.

The Institute brings the work of today’s leading historians into classrooms and homes worldwide. Through public events, publications, posters, videos, exhibitions, essays, and a dedicated website rich in primary sources, GLI brings every period of American history to life. Diverse education programs, including the acclaimed Hamilton Education Program, provide opportunities to explore five centuries of American history. The Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School network comprises more than 14 million students and 97,000 educators from more than 36,000 schools worldwide.

The Role

Are you passionate about using systems, data, and operations to drive positive change? Do you thrive on building efficient processes that strengthen fundraising and marketing strategy and execution?

We are currently seeking a Donor Database and Operations Senior Manager, who will report to the Director of Development. The newly created position will be joining GLI at a dynamic time as we continue to enhance our nonpartisan K–12 and public programming in response to the urgent needs of the moment. We are looking for a “development operations wiz” who can lead the use of Salesforce by the development team. In particular, the Senior Manager will establish new fundraising systems and processes to help our team to achieve the next level of revenue growth and deepen donor engagement. This position will benefit from working closely with GLI’s technology team, which oversees organizational uses of Salesforce beyond its fundraising functions, and with GLI’s marketing team.

The Senior Manager will support fundraising activity by leading the optimization and execution of operations systems, database management and reporting, data analysis, and prospect research. They will be an integral member of GLI’s Development team, with influence on overall fundraising strategy and room for growth in the future.

This role is responsible for managing and enhancing the Development team’s use of Salesforce, ensuring high-quality data and reporting, overseeing gift processing, streamlining operational workflows, and partnering with colleagues to strengthen revenue growth strategies. The position also plays a key role in general systems and back-end support for fundraising activity. This will include managing data and key performance indicators (KPIs), and developing calendars to ensure alignment, accountability, and efficiency across the team. The ideal candidate will be a skilled, detail-oriented database manager and operations generalist with a strong background in fundraising.

This role will be based in New York City and currently requires working in person at least one day per week in GLI’s midtown office.

Responsibilities

The Donor Database and Operations Senior Manager will lead all data analysis, reporting, and database management for the Development team, assisting other functions as needed.

Data Analysis and Reporting to Drive Revenue Growth (30%)

• Leverage data within Salesforce to recommend prospect and donor engagement strategies and to guide the moves management pipeline for both the President and the Development team
• Partner with senior Development staff to create a comprehensive reporting dashboard in Salesforce and develop team KPIs
• Use data to track revenue, goals, and metrics, and identify trends, patterns, and opportunities for growth and improved donor stewardship
• Analyze and strengthen current Salesforce processes for projecting annual revenue targets, including methodologies for setting, managing, and tracking opportunity targets for annual, major, lapsed, active, and prospective donors
• Generate regular and ad hoc reports for the Development and C-Suite teams, including metrics on donor retention and acquisition, and progress toward annual revenue targets
• Segment donor lists for targeted digital communications, appeals, and stewardship efforts in order to tap into donor behavior patterns and increase donor engagement and contributions
• Analyze data and results of campaigns, working closely with the marketing team

Development Operations and Gift Processing (30%)

• Oversee gift processing and production of acknowledgment letters, supported by junior staff and/or interns
• Partner with the Development team’s Events Coordinator to implement systems for managing event invitations, attendance, and follow-up
• Develop and manage fundraising calendars and project management systems to coordinate cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and reporting cycles across the team
• Support operational efficiency by developing systems, policies, and workflows that enhance the Development team’s performance, including the use of other software systems such as Asana
• Collaborate with the Finance Department to ensure alignment across revenue tracking, reporting, and reconciliation processes

Database Management and Maintenance (30%)

• Manage and maintain donor records in the Salesforce CRM, ensuring accurate data entry
• Conduct regular audits to maintain data integrity, including cleansing, de-duplicating, and updating contact information
• Train current and onboard future staff members on database tools and processes
• Partner with GLI’s Technology team to troubleshoot issues, enhance functionality, and maximize Salesforce capabilities across the Development office

Prospect Research Oversight (10%)

• Provide oversight of individual and institutional prospect research activities to support pipeline development
• Coordinate with staff, interns, or consultants on research assignments and data entry
• Deliver occasional research briefings or updates to inform donor engagement planning

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Commitment to GLI’s mission and enthusiasm for leveraging data and research to amplify impact
• Progressive experience in a nonprofit or mission-driven organization with a focus on donor data management and engagement; understanding of fundraising principles and practices
• Expertise in Salesforce CRM, specifically as used to support fundraising (Nonprofit Success Package preferred) Salesforce Administrator Certification is preferred, or a willingness to pursue this certification in the future
• Outstanding project, time management, and problem-solving skills with a strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to drive projects forward independently
• Strong analytical skills with experience in data management, reporting, and trend analysis
• Team-oriented with a desire to participate in creating a strong team culture
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong Excel and technical skills

The Gilder Lehrman Institute offers a generous and inclusive benefits package, including employer-paid health, dental, disability, and life insurance, 401(k) and FSA plans, and paid time off in the first year of hire, including a paid winter recess from December 25 to January 1. GLI also offers a comprehensive flex time and comp time policy.