Senior Gifts and Records Analyst

The California State University; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 101,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

San José State University seeks a Senior Gifts and Records Analyst to lead advanced gift processing, data quality, and CRM workflow optimization. The role oversees complex contributions and ensures policy compliance and audit readiness across donor records.

Key responsibilities include supervising data integrity, implementing SOPs, and guiding cross‑functional teams in data governance and privacy compliance within a high‑stakes advancement environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent training.
• Four years of administrative work experience involving study, analysis, and/or evaluation leading to the development or improvement of administrative policies, procedures, practices, or programs.

Responsibilities

• Record highly complex philanthropic contributions, including stock gifts, real estate, corporate matching programs, donor-advised funds (DAFs), complex planned giving commitments, and cryptocurrency.
• Audit MOUs and donor gift agreements to verify donor intent while enforcing CSU and IRS guidelines.
• Coordinate monthly reconciliation metrics between CRM data, online gateways, and financial ledgers to meet goals.
• Develop SOPs for the Analyst team to preserve institutional knowledge and compliance.
• Enforce data governance and privacy standards in FERPA and PCI-DSS compliance.

Skills

Gift processing

Data quality management

CRM workflow optimization

FERPA & data security

Auditing & journal entries

Communication

Data governance

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent training

Tools

Salesforce

Blackbaud CRM

Ellucian

Google Workspace

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job Summary

The Senior Gifts and Records Analyst performs advanced, highly complex administrative, analytical, and technical duties under broad direction to ensure comprehensive data integrity, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency of the university’s philanthropic gift processing and constituent records infrastructure. The incumbent serves as the department’s operational lead and subject matter expert on advanced gift processing, proactive data quality management, and CRM workflow optimization and is accountable to results associated with these business standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate, interpret, and independently execute the recording of highly complex, non-standard philanthropic contributions, including but not limited to stock transfers, real estate gifts, corporate matching programs, donor-advised funds (DAFs), complex planned giving commitments, and cryptocurrency
• Audit legal document frameworks, complex memoranda of understanding (MOUs), and donor gift agreements to verify, code, and execute donor intent while enforcing strict adherence to CASE campaign counting rules, IRS guidelines, and CSU auxiliary standards
• Participates in the planning and development of activities with the Tower Foundation Finance team and the Director to monitor and execute monthly financial reconciliation metrics between CRM gift data, online transactional giving gateways, and financial ledger accounts to meet departmental operating goals
• Review and finalize auditable adjusting journal vouchers, batch corrections, and transaction modifications
• Oversee the secure categorization of source documentation to maintain flawless internal controls and complete audit readiness for annual foundation and State Administrative Manual (SAM) evaluations
• Actively monitor the university clearance accounts, tracking matching eligibility and collaborating with colleagues to successfully resolve conditions for formal institutional acceptance
• With the Advancement IT and Advancement Analytics and Insights teams, design, schedule, and execute deep-dive diagnostic data quality audits to systematically discover and repair anomalies, structural tracking omissions, duplicates, broken biographical, relational, and employment attributes across stakeholder records
• Track and evaluate systemic operational metrics (e.g., historical error rates, data completeness gaps, throughput bottlenecks) to diagnose patterns in data entry errors and deliver actionable analytical summaries to division leadership
• Champion and enforce strict multi-tier data governance rules to protect constituent privacy, data security, and systemic confidentiality in compliance with FERPA, PCI-DSS, and university information security policies
• Continuously evaluate core gift recording and records management workflows to identify programmatic inefficiencies; research, engineer, and implement research-backed optimization strategies in collaboration with the Director and the Advancement IT and Advancement Analytics and Insights teams
• Independently lead the development, structural revision, and deployment of comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Analyst team to preserve institutional knowledge, solidify compliance standards, and stabilize data handling consistency
• Partner with the Advancement IT team to drive user acceptance testing (UAT), script validation rules, build automated gift tracking scenarios, and manage validation cycles for new feature rollouts and CRM and platform system integrations

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• General awareness of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), and a willingness to develop skills in their appropriate, responsible, and ethical use in a higher education environment, consistent with institutional policies and practices
• Expert-level command of charitable giving laws, asset valuation rules, and comprehensive counting standards established by the IRS, CASE (2024 Global Updates), AASP, and the CSU Chancellor's Office
• Thorough, deep knowledge of institutional bookkeeping methods, public non-profit financial structures, relational database architecture, and fundamental accounting internal controls
• Advanced technical proficiency with enterprise-level advancement databases (e.g., Salesforce, Blackbaud CRM/NXT, Ellucian, Affinaquest) alongside specialized data manipulation tools and productivity suites (Google Workspace, Microsoft Office)
• Superior quantitative ability to navigate voluminous raw data, discover systemic structural anomalies, troubleshoot complex software integration failures, and formulate creative, structured corrective interventions
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills; a proven ability to translate intricate and technical financial and gift data into highly comprehensible, persuasive prose for non-technical university staff leadership
• Exceptional capacity to self-manage vast, conflicting operational deadlines within a rapidly evolving, high-stakes campaign environment while organizing workflows for oneself and others to achieve key institutional milestones
• Ability to communicate with constituents in a professional and respectful manner

Required Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree and/or equivalent training
• Four years of administrative work experience involving study, analysis, and/or evaluation leading to the development or improvement of administrative policies, procedures, practices, or programs

Preferred Qualifications

• Three to five (3-5) years of direct experience specifically embedded within university advancement services, public higher education foundations, or complex multi-unit non-profit gift administration
• Advanced experience navigating, testing, or building validation rules within a modern relational CRM database (e.g., Salesforce, Blackbaud CRM)
• Prior professional experience operating within the California State University system, including a functional familiarity with the CSU State Administrative Manual (SAM) or CSU auxiliary compliance structures

Compensation

Classification: Administrative Analyst/Specialist - Exempt II

Anticipated Hiring Range: $6,658/month - $7,207/month (Step 8 - Step 12)

CSU Salary Range: $5,797/month - $8,445/month (Step 1 - Step 20)

San José State University offers employees a comprehensive benefits package typically worth 30-35% of your base salary. For more information on programs available, please see the Employee Benefits Summary.

Contact Information

People and Culture

[e-mail]

CSU Vaccination Policy

The CSU strongly recommends that all individuals who access any in-person program or activity (on- or off-campus) operated or controlled by the University follow COVID-19 vaccine recommendations adopted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) applicable to their age, medical condition, and other relevant indications and comply with other safety measures established by each campus. The system wide policy can be found at https://calstate.policystat.com/policy/9779821/latest/ and questions may be sent to [e-mail].

Additional Information

Satisfactory completion of a background check (including a criminal records check) is required for employment. SJSU will issue a contingent offer of employment to the selected candidate, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the continued employment of a current CSU employee who was offered the position on a contingent basis.

The standard background check includes: criminal check, employment and education verification. Depending on the position, a motor vehicle and/or credit check may be required. All background checks are conducted through the university's third party vendor, Accurate Background. Some positions may also require fingerprinting. SJSU will pay all costs associated with this procedure. Evidence of required degree(s) or certification(s) will be required at time of hire.

SJSU IS NOT A SPONSORING AGENCY FOR STAFF OR MANAGEMENT POSITIONS. (e.g. H1-B VISAS)

All San José State University employees are considered mandated reporters under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and are required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment. Incumbent is also required to promptly report any knowledge of a possible Title IX related incident to the Title IX Office or report any discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation to the Office of Equal Opportunity.

Education Code 89521 Requirements: Applicants will be required to disclose whether they have received a final administrative decision or final judicial decision determining that they have committed sexual harassment within the last 7 years only after a determination is made that they meet the minimum qualifications for the position, and before an offer of employment is extended. Applicants who reach the final stages of the application process must also sign a release form that authorizes the release of information by the applicant’s current and/or former employers to the CSU concerning any substantiated allegations of misconduct.

Equal Employment Statement

San José State University is an equal opportunity employer. The university prohibits discrimination based on age, ancestry, caste, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military status, nationality, race, religion, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, sex stereotype, and veteran status. This policy applies to all San José State University students, faculty, and staff, as well as university programs and activities. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and certain other federal and state laws, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs and activities operated by the university (both on and off campus). Reasonable accommodation is made for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose. San José State University employees are considered mandated reporters under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and are required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.