Gift Processing and Fundraising Analytics Associate

obama; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Obama Foundation in Chicago is seeking a Gift Processing and Fundraising Analytics Associate to manage and process gifts, pledges, and donor records in Salesforce. You will ensure accurate donation processing, proper acknowledgments, and robust data for fundraising strategy.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Development Operations, you’ll train staff, document procedures, and maintain data integrity across systems, supporting donor engagement and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• Experience entering and processing donor gifts and pledges in Salesforce.
• Design and deliver training on data integrity and donation processing.
• Create reports and manage donor database with clean data.

Responsibilities

• Extract, review, and process gifts and pledges in Salesforce with accuracy.
• Design and deliver quarterly training for Development Analysts on data integrity and donation processing.
• Document gift processing procedures and create reusable templates for automated workflows.
• Create and maintain Salesforce reports and campaigns for Development needs.
• Provide QA testing in Salesforce environment and troubleshoot issues with Development staff.
• Collaborate with IT and external vendors to improve fundraising solutions.
• Serve as main contact for donor inquiries by phone and email.

Skills

Data Entry

Salesforce

Data Analysis

Training

Documentation

Database Management

Quality Assurance

Testing

Reporting

Vendor Collaboration

Tools

Salesforce

FreshServices

Job description

At The Obama Foundation, our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We seek to build an active democratic culture where people are equipped and motivated to make change in the communities where they live, work, and play. Right here on the South Side of Chicago, we're building a home for this vision, a global center for change with a range of opportunities - coordinated programming, community outreach events, educational moments, and more - that invite visitors from down the block or across the globe to turn hope into action.

Achieving our ambitious goals starts with an exceptional team built on our Hope to Action Values - Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope. A Framework that anyone, anywhere, can use to build trust, activate participation, and expand opportunity in their community.

Purpose of the Role

As a member of the Development Operations team, the Gift Processing and Fundraising Analytics Associate manages and processes gifts, pledge donations, and pledge agreements while maintaining the donor database. This position ensures donations are recorded accurately, donors are appropriately acknowledged, and fundraising efforts are tracked and analyzed for future strategy.

In this role, you will report directly to the Senior Director, Development Operations, and work collaboratively across teams to deliver outstanding customer service to donors and support Development-related systems.

Core Job Responsibilities

Data Entry

Extract, review, and process gifts and pledges in Salesforce, reconciling with the Finance team. Maintain pledge reminders and gift invoicing. Oversee weekly gift processing reviews for all Development transactions. Manage gift and grant accounts with third-party databases and Helpdesk items. Assist in pledge reconciliation between Development and Finance.

Development Training

Design and deliver training on data integrity, database management, analysis techniques, and donation processing to enhance team skills. Develop curriculum and conduct quarterly training for Development Analysts. Develop and implement new database features. Address Salesforce and data-related questions during bi-weekly office hours as a Development Operations team member.

Technical Writing and Policy Documentation

Serve as the subject matter expert for gift entry, resolving issues, and revising procedures as needed. Consult with internal teams to ensure data integrity. Support the delivery of pledge agreements, reminders, overdue notices, and acknowledgment letters. Establish baseline reporting for quarterly pledge reviews. Document gift processing procedures, including financial adjustments, donor-advised fund grants, matching gifts, and automated processing. Create and maintain templates for automated gift batch entry.

Database Management

Create and manage Salesforce reports and campaigns to ensure accurate and up-to-date data for the Development team. Maintain the donor database, including handling duplicate account merges, and develop procedures for effective data management. Assist staff in creating queries and reports and oversee database maintenance to ensure data accuracy and adherence to best practices.

Quality Assurance and Testing

Provide quality assurance testing and analysis in the Salesforce testing environment to optimize and identify issues and limits before final enhancements and bug fixes are delivered into production. Troubleshoot Salesforce and other system issues reported by Development staff to address bugs and training opportunities via the FreshServices ticketing system.

Third-Party Vendor Collaboration

Work closely with external vendors and IT to develop fundraising solutions, leveraging their expertise and resources to enhance fundraising capabilities.

Record-keeping and Correspondence

Capture and maintain accurate donor and prospect information. Serve as the Development team's primary point of contact for incoming donor phone and email inquiries.

Other duties as assigned .

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Incoming donations, pledge agreements, and donor contact information are accurately recorded and maintained in Salesforce.
• Gift receipts, pledge reminders, overdue notices, and acknowledgments are punctually and accurately generated.
• Collaborate with the Finance team for pledge and ledger reconciliation, including notifying key staff members concerning outright gifts, pledge payments, and gift agreement amendments.
• Accurate documentation of the manual and automated gift processing workflows is created and maintained.
• Work closely with the IT team to test and implement new database features for the Development team and to deliver system updates for the foundation's end users.
• Trains the Development team on new system features.
• Troubleshoots database issues promptly.
• Incoming donor inquiries are addressed promptly and with outstanding customer service.