Donor Operations Specialist

Mercatus Center Inc; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is seeking a Development Associate to join the Development Operations team in Arlington, VA. The role focuses on accurately recording donors’ gifts and ensuring timely acknowledgements to support fundraising efforts.

You will maintain gifts in Salesforce, generate daily and monthly reports, assist with donor communications, and help keep gift documentation in sync with Finance and GMU Foundation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and work experience.
• Strong attention to detail in data entry and donor acknowledgement.
• Familiarity with Salesforce or a similar CRM system.
• Experience in fundraising, prospect research, customer relations, or data entry.
• Ability to manage multiple daily tasks and meet tight deadlines.
• Self-starter with the ability to work effectively in a team environment.
• Clear understanding of donor confidentiality and the importance of professional customer service.

Responsibilities

• Records and tracks all incoming donations for the Mercatus Center in the Salesforce database.
• Reports daily to the Development Team all donations recorded for that day.
• Conducts monthly prospect research and report findings on major donor prospects to the Donor Relations Team.
• Maintains accurate gift documentation in coordination with the Development, Finance, and GMU Foundation teams.
• Investigates and troubleshoots payment issues in coordination with the bank and internal stakeholders.
• Maintains donor acknowledgement supplies in ordering and restocking as needed.
• Responds to donor inquiries and requests in a timely manner.
• Reviews and manages physical Development-related mail.
• Oversees the formatting and distribution of thank-you letters and receipts to donors.
• Assists with handwritten thank-you notes as needed and performs other duties as assigned.

Skills

Attention to detail

Customer service

Data entry

CRM experience

Team player

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is seeking a Development Associate to join the Development Operations team in Arlington, VA. The role focuses on accurately recording donors’ gifts and ensuring timely acknowledgements to support fundraising efforts.

You will maintain gifts in Salesforce, generate daily and monthly reports, assist with donor communications, and help keep gift documentation in sync with Finance and GMU Foundation.