Fundraising Operations Associate

Position Summary

Join the expanding iNaturalist Fundraising Department in a new role! The Fundraising Operations Assistant supports the overall operations of the Fundraising Department, including database management, gift processing and acknowledgements, reporting and financial reconciliation. This position will also assist the Head of Fundraising with the administration of major gift and foundation tasks and meeting notes, grant management, scheduling, and event logistics. Applications are managed through Applied.

About iNaturalist

iNaturalist is one of the world’s largest biodiversity platforms—powered by millions of community scientists and supported by expert naturalists, researchers, and conservation organizations. With hundreds of millions of observations and 400,000+ active monthly contributors, iNaturalist data inform conservation decisions, accelerates biodiversity research, and inspires people everywhere to connect with nature.

Founded in 2008 and operating as a nonprofit committed to open data, iNaturalist blends crowdsourcing, machine learning, and community science to help people understand, document, and protect biodiversity. Our vision: a world where everyone can discover, understand, and help sustain life on Earth.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with the Administrative Department to process incoming donations from mail and electronic transfers into the Virtuous database.
• Reconcile donations with the Administrative Department on a monthly basis, resolving any discrepancies and ensuring correct tracking of donations in the CRM.
• Draft, produce, and send all receipts and acknowledgements, both electronic and mail.
• Support donor meeting scheduling and follow-up for the Executive Director and Head of Fundraising; enter meeting notes and tasks into the CRM.
• Coordinate the administration of grant applications, award letters, tasks, and deliverables.
• Support the Head of Fundraising with in-person events by coordinating logistics, communications, email invitations, RSVPs, and post-event follow up.
• Manage the matching gift process with external vendors and ensure accurate database entry of donations.
• Import contact and gift data into the CRM from external sources.
• Produce reports on revenue and fundraising metrics, including for weekly team meetings and quarterly Board meetings.
• Manage routine database maintenance and reporting. Initiate and manage special data projects in coordination with the Director of Fundraising Operations.
• Monitor and reply to incoming email, including donor support and sustainer cancellations.
• Manage routine data hygiene tasks, including updating contact information and managing duplicate accounts.
• Identify opportunities for improvement and make constructive suggestions for change.
• Perform other operations tasks for the Fundraising Department as needed.

Required Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or Associate’s degree plus two (2) years of full-time work in a fundraising/development team.
• Experience working or interning in a nonprofit development department.
• Experience with and understanding of CRM databases.
• Highly detail-oriented with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks and projects.
• Ability to exercise judgement, take initiative, follow through, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and external parties from different backgrounds, identities, and experiences.
• High level of integrity with an ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality.
• Comfortable interacting with external parties and interest in fostering positive relationships with donors.
• Ability to communicate effectively in English sufficient to convey information to colleagues, external vendors, and donors in writing and verbally.
• Ability and willingness to travel on occasion (e.g., annual staff retreat).

Preferred Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or Associate’s degree plus two (2) years of full-time work in a fundraising/development department.
• Understanding of nonprofit accounting principles.
• Experience assisting with event planning.
• Experience working with Virtuous CRM.
• Familiarity with data analytics, data warehouses, or BI tools.

Research shows that marginalized groups may not apply for jobs unless they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage anyone who would be excited to work in this role every day to apply.

Why it’s Great to work at iNaturalist

A mission that matters.

With species going extinct daily, the need to protect and document biodiversity has never been greater. iNaturalist has become the go-to data source for most species.

A great team

We value and celebrate unique perspectives and contributions. We are committed to collaborating, supporting, learning from and learning about each other.

Flexible work.

We are a virtual team, and this position’s work can be performed from home or wherever you are comfortable with a strong internet connection. You’ll even get some funds to set up your office and a monthly stipend to defray some of the costs.

For this position, to facilitate collaboration across time zones, we require that you be a resident of and eligible to work in the lower 48 states (i.e., not Alaska or Hawaii).

Competitive pay.

The starting compensation for this position is $70,310 a year, non-negotiable.

Great benefits.

We offer a pretty awesome benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, plus an employer-funded health reimbursement account and employee-funded flexible spending accounts. There is a 401k plan with a 5% match and an employee assistance plan. This position is eligible for unlimited personal time off, and unlike some tech companies, we really mean it – everyone is expected to take a minimum of three weeks a year off.

Additional Information

A background investigation is required prior to employment for applicants who receive a conditional offer of employment. Applicants given a conditional offer of employment will be required to sign authorization and release forms enabling such an investigation.

Application process

All applications must be submitted via Applied. Application materials submitted outside of Applied (e.g., via email) will not be considered.

Instead of a cover letter, we will ask you to answer a few questions that will be reviewed (by real people, not AI) and assessed separately from each other, your resume, and your name. Randomization and anonymization of each element in the initial review process allows us to focus on the content of your answers, which minimizes bias.

Applied asks for your demographic information, but we never see it in association with you—only summarized in aggregate. We use it to assess the overall demographics of the candidate pool.

After initial review of applications on a rolling basis, advancing candidates will be asked to answer a few more questions before candidates are selected for interviews.

Timeline Summary:

• Application: due by May 17th
• Written Follow Up: May
• Interviews: May
• Offer: early June
• Ideal Start Date: late June/early July

iNaturalist is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on gender, race or color, ethnicity or national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law.

iNaturalist is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities during the hiring process. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please contact Director of Finance & HR Adrienne Pettit at adrienne@inaturalist.org.

We offer a pretty awesome benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, plus an employer-funded health reimbursement account and employee-funded flexible spending accounts. There is a 401k plan with a 5% match and an employee assistance plan. This position is eligible for unlimited personal time off, and unlike some tech companies, we really mean it – everyone is expected to take a minimum of three weeks a year off.

Ability to communicate effectively in English sufficient to convey information to colleagues, external vendors, and donors in writing and verbally.