Development Operations Manager (Emily Dickinson)

Amherst has taken a leadership role among highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities in successfully diversifying the racial, socio-economic, and geographic profile of its student body. The College is similarly committed to enriching its educational experience and its culture through the diversity of its faculty, administration and staff.

Job Description:

Amherst College and the Emily Dickinson Museum invite applications for the Development Operations Manager (Emily Dickinson Museum) position. The Development Operations Manager (Emily Dickinson Museum) is a full-time, year-round position. The expected salary range for this job opportunity is: $60,000 - $65,000 per year.

The salary offered will vary based on a number of factors, including but not limited to relevant education, training, and experience, tenure status, and other nondiscriminatory business considerations. Amherst College is pleased to provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package that meets the needs of staff and faculty and their families. Click here for Benefits Information.

The Emily Dickinson Museum seeks an experienced systems thinker and data administrator to join a highly collaborative and entrepreneurial three-person development team as Development Operations Manager. Reporting to the Senior Director of Development, the successful candidate will help support a culture of donor appreciation and ensure that the Museum’s data-management and administrative functions are optimized to support fundraising growth.

The Development Operations Manager oversees the accuracy and continued improvement of the Museum’s constituent database, with a focus on developing reporting tools and models to inform fundraising strategy, enhance pipeline and portfolio management, and deepen the Museum’s relationships with its donors, friends, and prospects. The position is responsible for processing gifts and gift acknowledgments, and for generating targeted lists for fundraising appeals, events, and stewardship communications. Finally, the Development Operations Manager will organize the department’s grant administration calendar, conduct research on grant-making organizations and manage wealth screenings for individual prospects, and assist with planning and producing donor programs and stewardship events.

This role requires exceptional organizational, time-management, and relationship-building skills. The ideal candidate is someone who approaches their work with enthusiasm and care, is adaptive to change, attentive to details, and is curious about people, museums, and trends in philanthropy. A passion for the mission of the Emily Dickinson Museum is essential.

The Emily Dickinson Museum comprises two historic houses in the center of Amherst, Massachusetts, associated with the poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) and members of her immediate family during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Homestead was the birthplace and home of the poet Emily Dickinson. The Evergreens, next door, was home to her brother Austin, his wife Susan, and their three children. The Emily Dickinson Museum welcomes 15,000 visitors each year, as well as thousands of virtual and in-person program participants and students of all ages. It conducts an active program of restoration and preservation of the historic structures and grounds, and stewards a collection of 10,000 Dickinson family objects. The Museum was created in 2003 when the two houses merged under the ownership of Amherst College. It is overseen by a separate Board of Governors and is responsible for its own operating, program, and capital funds. Its mission is to spark the imagination by amplifying Emily Dickinson’s revolutionary poetic voice from the place she called home.

Note: The Museum currently uses Veevart as its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. Veevart is a Salesforce-based software designed for museums that integrates fundraising, ticketing, shop sales, and events.

Summary of Responsibilities:

Database Management, Financial Reporting, and Analytics

• Oversee the management and maintenance of our CRM, which is currently Veevart, a Salesforce-based platform designed for Museums.
• Serve as the primary system administrator for the CRM, and manage vendor relationships with other development platforms, including KindSight (iWave).
• Develop and deliver reports, dashboards, and analysis to support fundraising strategies, prospect segmentation, donor stewardship, portfolio management, and track progress toward goals.
• Ensure data integrity by performing regular quality-control activities, including updating constituent records, monitoring gift accounting and crediting, and auditing internal workflows.
• As needed, build and maintain integrations between the CRM and third-party platforms, e.g., wealth screening, email marketing, and event platforms. 
• Monitor and track new major gifts, increased gifts, program and event participants, and evaluate responses to appeals and invitations to help identify donors with the potential for further cultivation and stewardship.

Gift Processing, Donor Stewardship, and Financial Administration

• Process and record all individual gifts and government/foundation grants, and oversee the accurate and timely production of gift and tax receipts, special acknowledgments, and pledge reminders.
• Monitor the development team’s general email account and respond to donors and prospects who have inquiries about event invitations or fundraising appeals, or who have questions about their gifts and pledges.
• Manage and improve gift administration and donor-recognition systems to support donor-centered communications and impact reporting.
• Ensure that monthly, quarterly, and annual gift reporting and tracking is complete and accurate, and manage the Museum’s monthly and annual reconciliation of gifts and fundraising records with the Controller’s Office of Amherst College.

Department Operations, Pipeline Management, and Events

• Collaborate with Development team colleagues on operational planning, prioritization, and departmental initiatives.
• Prepare, upload, and review data files for wealth screening and prospect research.
• Assist development team colleagues with researching and identifying opportunities for grant funding, organize and maintain the annual grants calendar, track application submissions and reporting.
• Help prepare donor briefings, prospect profiles, and research summaries on individuals and grant-making organizations to support cultivation and solicitation strategies, cultivation/stewardship events and communications, and donor visits.
• Provide planning and logistical support for donor programs and stewardship events, board meetings, and volunteer activities.
• Coordinate invitations, RSVP tracking, guest lists, and logistics.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with staff, consultants, vendors, and external partners to support fundraising operations and organizational initiatives.

Qualifications:

Required

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum 3–5+ years of experience in development operations, nonprofit administration.
• Minimum 2-3+ years of working within a fundraising team.
• Demonstrated proficiency in database administration and reporting.
• Strong proficiency with spreadsheets, including Excel and Google Sheets.
• Keen attention to detail and excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Knowledge of fundraising best practices, donor lifecycle, and campaigns.
• A high degree of discretion and adherence to all confidentiality and data privacy policies related to donor recordkeeping and personal financial information.
• Ability to work collaboratively and positively on a mission-driven team.
• Commitment to contributing to an inclusive, welcoming, and respectful workplace.
• Sincere interest in the arts and humanities, museums, history, and in the life and legacy of Emily Dickinson.
• Successful completion of required reference and background checks.
• An acceptable criminal offender records information (CORI) check.

Preferred

• Prior Experience with Salesforce and/or Workday.
• Interest in current demographic and economic trends affecting charitable giving.
• Experience with events planning and management.
• Facility with presentation of data and financial information and data visualization.

Interested candidates are asked to submit a resume and cover letter online at https://amherst.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Amherst_Jobs. Please be sure to upload all requested documents prior to clicking Submit. Applications cannot be revised once submitted. (Current employees and students should apply by clicking on the Jobs Hub icon from their Workday home screen.) Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Amherst College is committed to an inclusive hiring process and will provide reasonable accommodations for candidates throughout the application and interview process upon request.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.