Director, Donor Services

Jimmy Jazz; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 79,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

Nashville Rescue Mission is seeking a Director of Donor Services to lead the donor services team, oversee gift processing, reporting, analytics, and stewardship, and ensure compliant, timely gift receipting.

Reporting to the VP of Development and Marketing, this role drives donor engagement, data hygiene, vendor relations, and collaboration across Development, Marketing, and Finance to advance fundraising goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, public relations, or related discipline required.
• Five to seven years nonprofit experience, including Donor Services or University Advancement Services duties.
• Experience supervising others and building collaborative teams.
• Demonstrates knowledge of CRMs and wealth-screening software.
• Strong communication and professional phone/online etiquette.

Responsibilities

• Hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates Donor Services staff; conducts CRM SOP training.
• Ensures daily gift processing, receipting, weekly reconciliation, reporting and month-end close.
• Liaises between Development, Marketing, and Finance to ensure data flow.
• Provides information for tax filings, audits, and related requirements.
• Manages relationships with external vendors handling donor records and communications.
• Participates in donor portfolio activities and stewardship efforts.
• Produces and analyzes reports and dashboards to inform strategy.
• Staffing special events as needed, including evenings or weekends.

Skills

CRM proficiency

Data analysis

Donor relations

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, public relations, or related discipline

Tools

Virtuous CRM

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Job description

• Base Pay $79,400.00 - $99,200.00 / Year
• Relocation Expense Covered No
• Employee Type FT Exempt
• Required Degree 4 Year Degree
• Manage Others Yes

Description

Hope Lives Here!

At Nashville Rescue Mission, you'll be empowered to influence and impact lives. Join our team today!

Nashville Rescue Mission is actively seeking a Director of Donor Services to join our Development team. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Development and Marketing, this position will lead a donor-centered, relational, calm, empathetic, highly responsive, and process-oriented Donor Services department dedicated to gift processing, customer service, reporting and analytics, and receipting. Responsible for daily operations and management of donor services, data hygiene, gift processing and receipting, reporting and analytics, stewardship, and consistent adherence to established procedures. This leader sets the “Culture of Honor” tone for donor interactions by modeling a steady, gracious, responsive, and highly professional demeanor in all dealings with donors, the public, and internal team members, ensuring inquiries, needs, and follow-up items are addressed promptly, thoughtfully, and in accordance with approved processes.

• Hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates Donor Services staff; facilitates CRM standard operating procedure training for end-users.
• Follows, reinforces, and holds the Donor Services team accountable to established procedures, internal controls, documentation standards, and deadlines for daily gift processing, receipting, weekly reconciliation, reporting and month-end close.
• Serves as liaison between Development, Marketing, and Finance department staff on gift batching, posting, reconciliation, and related operations to ensure accurate and comprehensive data flow.
• Provides information needed for the preparation of tax filings, audits, accreditations, and related financial requirements.
• Manages relationships with outsourced vendors responsible for constituent records, gift processing, solicitations, and related donor communications.
• Participates in the departmental portfolio compositions and actions among gift officers.
• Proactively manages alerts and other tools to keep gift officers apprised of activities of assigned donors and responds quickly to donor- or team-related information needs that support timely stewardship and follow-up.
• Retention/Stewardship – supports the team with data analysis and preparation of mailing lists for stewardship and event related activities (Ex: Christmas cards, donor appreciation events).
• Organizes any lists/tasks related to stewardship of donors by Board, CEO, team, and volunteers.
• Participates with Development and Marketing team members in staffing special events as needed with occasional availability on evenings or weekends.

Donor Services

• Establishes donor-centric culture for department, demonstrating radical gratitude for the Mission’s supporters by carefully designating gifts as directed by the donors.
• Designs and executes protocols for stewarding donors and their gifts, including gift processing, receipting, acknowledging, thanking, and inspiring, to engender engagement and retention.
• Devises and implements a comprehensive system for segmentation of receipt messages (i.e., acknowledgments), regularly updated to enhance the donor experience.
• Prioritizes and facilitates donor inquiries and requests with timely, thoughtful follow-up. Assigns next steps to the appropriate Donor Services team member, Development team member, or other staff as needed and monitors completion to ensure donors and internal partners receive prompt, accurate responses.
• Facilitates donor recognition programs, including tracking for giving societies, peer-to-peer programs, Partners of Hope recurring programs, and/or planned giving programs.
• Stewards a portfolio of donors with capacity to give mid-major or planned gifts to the Mission.

Database Management/Gift Processing/Receipting

• Establishes, documents, maintains, and enforces donor-centered processes and protocols for using the CRM, including data integrity and entry, configurations, global adds/changes, quality control, and team compliance, in collaboration with the Database and IT Administrator as needed.
• Oversees processing of donations and recording/tracking of pledges and a system for pledge reminders.
• Coordinates with the Finance and Operations teams to facilitate the processing and recording of non-cash (in-kind) assets, as well as other income.
• Ensures consistent adherence to IRS and State regulations, standards of internal policies and ECFA, approved gift accounting procedures, receipting protocols, reporting requirements, and industry best practices.
• Provides efficiency and effectiveness in providing accurate and timely gift receipts (generated within 48 hours upon receipt of gift).
• Develops and maintains protocols to ensure donor confidentiality and security of database records and related documents.
• Regularly reviews daily, weekly, and month-end processes to confirm procedures are being followed, exceptions are documented and resolved, and improvements are implemented without compromising accuracy, controls, and donor experience.

Reporting/Analytics

• Leverages functions of Virtuous CRM and spreadsheet tools to produce, analyze, reconcile, and maintain a suite of reports, dashboards, and other measurements that provide insights into performance, trends, funds raised, and constituency participation.
• Builds queries and generates lists, segmentations, and reports as requested for internal planning/operations, grants writing/reporting, and executive updates.
• Works collaboratively with Database and IT Administrator to provide data analysis for fundraising and communications strategies.
• Uses strong analytical, numerical, and spreadsheet proficiency skills to review data, identify trends or discrepancies, support reconciliations, and translate information into clear reports and actionable insights.
• Assists as needed with prospect and donor research activities to identify likely contributors (current or planned giving) as leads for further qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

Other Duties:

• Other duties may be assigned by the supervisor.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degreefrom an accredited college/university in communications, marketing, public relations, or related disciplinerequired.
• Five to seven years of nonprofit experience, including similar duties with Donor Services or University Advancement Services experience.
• Experience successfully supervising others and building collaborative teams.
• Calm, empathetic, professional, and affable demeanor; strong problem-solving, resourcefulness, flexibility to manage multiple tasks and pivot as needed, sound judgment, discretion, process discipline, and systems-thinking to translate strategies and goals into practical, repeatable processes and procedures.
• Demonstrates a strong knowledge of CRMs and wealth-screening software.
• Good letter writing, ability to research on the internet, professional phone and communication skills are essential to this job.
• Polished and professional over the phone, able to listen and respond with kindness.
• Must possess strong computer skills with emphasis on Microsoft Excel, including spreadsheet creation, sorting/filtering, formulas, reconciliations, data review, and analysis, as well as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and online video conferencing.
• Ability to qualify as adesignated Missionvehicle driver under NRM insurance policy:
  • Valid driver’s license
  • Have no more than two moving violations in a 3-year period or more than one accident in a 1-year period
  • Proof of insurance on personal vehicle (current)