Y Combinator Donor Database Manager
Description
DREAM seeks a Donor Database Manager to join its Advancement team. Reporting to the Senior Director of Advancement Operations, this individual contributor serves as the primary owner and subject-matter expert for DREAM's donor database, fundraising technology, and data operations, ensuring systems and data effectively support fundraising strategy and growth.
Working closely with the Operations and Supporter Engagement Team, frontline fundraisers, Finance, Communications, and IT, this role administers and optimizes Salesforce, oversees gift and revenue operations, develops reporting and analytics, and identifies opportunities to leverage automation and AI-enabled solutions to improve data quality, decision-making, and operational efficiency.
Responsibilities
Donor Database & Salesforce Administration
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Serve as the primary administrator and functional owner of Salesforce for Advancement, ensuring the system effectively supports fundraising strategy and operations.
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Manage Salesforce configuration, user access, campaigns, reports, dashboards, workflows, and integrations with third-party fundraising platforms.
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Oversee data management and quality, including imports/exports, deduplication, record maintenance, data standards, governance, and recurring quality controls.
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Monitor database health, security, system performance, and documentation, partnering with IT and vendors to troubleshoot issues and implement improvements.
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Serve as the primary point of contact for Advancement Salesforce and donor database support, troubleshooting issues and escalating technical needs as appropriate.
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Train and onboard staff on Salesforce, fundraising technology, data standards, and best practices; maintain user documentation and SOPs; and gather feedback to strengthen system usability and adoption.
Data Governance, Gift & Revenue Operations
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Oversee gift and pledge processing workflows and data standards, including designations, soft credits, acknowledgments, and campaign attribution.
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Lead revenue reconciliation and quality-control processes across Salesforce, fundraising platforms, events, and Finance records, proactively identifying and resolving data inconsistencies.
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Partner with Finance on audit support, outstanding gifts, in-kind contributions, year-end processes, documentation, and allocation changes.
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Support fundraising events and campaigns through campaign setup, donor and attendee data management, post-event imports, revenue reconciliation, and closeout.
Reporting, Analytics & Fundraising Intelligence
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Design and maintain dashboards, reports, and analytical tools that provide visibility into fundraising revenue, pipeline, campaigns, events, donor engagement, and progress toward goals.
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Manage recurring Advancement reporting, including pipeline, phase, year-over-year, team, and leadership reporting.
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Partner with the Advancement Operations Manager and frontline fundraisers to translate business needs into scalable Salesforce reports, dashboards, and data solutions.
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Analyze fundraising and operational performance, identify trends and data gaps, and surface actionable insights to support planning and decision-making.
Fundraising Technology, Automation & AI Innovation
• Serve as the functional lead for Advancement's fundraising technology ecosystem, partnering with IT, vendors, and internal stakeholders to evaluate, implement, integrate, and optimize technology solutions based on business needs, user experience, data security, cost, and impact.
• Identify and implement opportunities to streamline Advancement processes through Salesforce automation, integrations, AI-enabled tools, and scalable workflows, while maintaining appropriate human review and data-quality controls.
Additional duties as assigned.
Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree required;
• Three to five years of experience administering Salesforce or a comparable fundraising CRM, preferably within nonprofit development, advancement services, or fundraising operations;
• Demonstrated experience with CRM administration, including data management, reporting, user access, workflows, integrations, and data quality;
• Experience with gift processing, fundraising revenue operations, reconciliation, or donor data management strongly preferred;
• Strong analytical, project management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex business needs into scalable data and technology solutions;
• Experience leveraging automation, AI-enabled tools, or emerging technology to improve business processes strongly preferred, with demonstrated curiosity and ability to learn new technologies;
• Exceptional attention to detail, commitment to data integrity, and ability to manage multiple priorities independently while collaborating effectively across departments;
• A proactive, service-oriented mindset and strong commitment to DREAM’s mission and values.
Working Expectations
- The Donor Database Manager is part of the Advancement Team, which currently works 3 days in the office and up to 2 days remote, per week (subject to change, and with some weeks requiring more time in-person, for example for donor events).
- Some evening and/or weekend work, for example to prepare for and attend donor events, is required.
Benefits and Paid Time Off
- Flexible Medical Health Plans, subsidizing the majority of costs for the employee, their spouse/domestic partner and children;
- The ability to select between a variety of medical plans according to what best suits the employee’s needs;
- Dental and vision plans;
- Disability benefits;
- Life insurance;
- Up to 12 weeks fully paid of Parental Leave;
- Flexible spending account options;
- Pre-tax commuter benefits (parking and transit);
- Fitness and entertainment discounts;
- A variety of support through our employee assistance program (EAP);
- A 403(b) retirement plan with employer matching up to 4% after one year of employment;
- Access to a professional development fund;
- Referral bonuses;
- All full-time Network Support employees are eligible for approximately 48 days off throughout the year including holidays, sick days, personal days and summer Fridays;
- Benefits are subject to change.
Compensation
- DREAM offers a competitive salary commensurate with relevant experience with the potential for an annual performance-based increase. The incoming salary range for this position is $80,000 to $95,000 per year. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary closer to the start of the range depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. All staff are eligible for annual performance-based increases. Because we value staff tenure in each role, we do not currently cap salary ranges.
Skills
As published by lever · 20 questions · 3 written answers
Basics
Resume/CV, Full name, Pronouns, Email, Phone, Current location, Current company, LinkedIn URL, Other website
Short answers (8)
- Please share your full legal FIRST name, as it appears on official documents (e.g., government-issued ID, social security card, passport)
- Please share your full legal LAST name, as it appears on official documents (e.g., government-issued ID, social security card, passport)
- What is your preferred FIRST name? (name you wish to be called and to appear on all non-legal documents)
- What is your preferred LAST name? (name you wish to be called and to appear on all non-legal documents)
- Do you have any immediate family members or persons with whom you have a close personal relationship who are employed by DREAM? Immediate family includes: spouse, parent, child, sibling, in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, and members of the household. Please write in the name(s) of the person(s) or N/A if this does not apply.
- If you were referred to DREAM, please provide the name of the person who referred you: optional
- If the person who referred you is not a DREAM employee, please provide their email address or contact information: optional
- Other optional
Pick from a list (9)
- Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
- Do you now (or will you in the future) require DREAM to sponsor an employment visa (e.g., H-1B)?
- Are you currently or have you ever been a DREAM employee? optional
- Are you a DREAM Legend? (You are a Legend if you are a past participant of a DREAM/Harlem RBI program, or a graduate of DREAM Charter Middle School or DREAM Charter High School)
- Were you referred by someone for this role? optional
- Please select the role that best describes the person who referred you to DREAM. optional
- How did you hear about DREAM?
- Check this box to affirm that all information included in this application is accurate. optional
- We may text you with updates about your application, like your offer letter.
Written answers (3)
- DREAM’s mission is to level the playing field by providing resources and empowering all children to recognize their potential and realize their dreams. Please describe your interest in working in support of this mission and with children from underserved communities.
- In 1-2 paragraphs, please describe your hands-on experience using and/or administering Salesforce. If you have experience with other CRM systems, you may include that as well. In your response, describe a time you used Salesforce or another data-related system to improve an inefficient, error-prone, or difficult-to-use process. What problem were you addressing, what solution did you implement, how did you bring others along, and what was the impact on efficiency, data quality, or user adoption?
- In 1-2 paragraphs, describe a time you partnered with fundraisers or other colleagues who relied on data to do their work. What information, report, dashboard, or analysis did they need, how did you determine what would be most useful, and how did you present it in a clear and actionable way? What decision or action did your work support?