Director of Gift Administration

The Director ensures the integrity of gift records, responds to specific donor and staff requests where necessary, ensures the University’s compliance with IRS regulations regarding the processing and receipting of charitable gifts, and maintains effective customer service policies and procedures.

Meets with and corresponds with donors, their advisors or representatives, staff, faculty, and administrators regarding gift transactions and the delivery of assets to the university.

Oversees gift administration data quality and transaction accuracy and prioritizes customer service related to the university’s charitable contributions.

Reviews and reconciles transaction and cash reports and receipts regularly; reconciles gift accounts internally and with the university accounting office on a regular basis.

Leads pledge review process and oversees the semi-annual pledge reminder process to assure the collection of funds expected by the university.

Verifies the accuracy of information communicated to donors and development staff, and proposes and directs modifications to technical processes that support this activity.

Ensures regulatory compliance with charitable gift accounting policies and reporting standards as outlined by CASE, NACUBO, FASB, and the IRS.

Monitors and understands the IRS regulations as they pertain to gift acceptance, processing, and receipting, and to 501(c) 3 organizational operations

Hires, trains, and directs gift administration staff.

Ensures that all staff are trained extensively on internal gift accounting practices, policies, and procedures, and have a thorough understanding of the University Advancement database and external guidelines (CASE, NACUBO, FASB, IRS, etc.) that govern the recording, receipting, and reporting of gifts.

Directly supervises the Assistant Director of Gift Administration and indirectly supervises at least two gift specialists.

Ensures that the team’s workload is distributed efficiently and is executed with precision.

Designs and implements policies and procedures, relying on advanced technological solutions such as custom reports and audit dashboards, to evaluate staff performance and identify deficiencies in real time.

Oversees the corporate matching gift program, ensuring that matching gift forms are processed promptly and accurately.

Directly supervises the Assistant Director of Gift Administration, Special Gifts. Ensures that complex contributions such as non-federal grants, planned gifts, estate administration, securities gifts, and contributions from VIPs, trustees, corporations, foundations, and donor-advised funds are handled with precision.

Directs the Gift Administration unit to provide maximum customer service to donors, staff, faculty, and administration with minimal complaints. Judgement is exercised in administering daily operations and in evaluating the efficiency and utility of procedures and personnel.

Monitors new commitments, status of work in progress, and unit and interdepartmental problems encountered.

Continuously leads strategic and tactical planning for the department.

Maintains professional affiliations, keeps abreast of legislative activities affecting charitable gift issues, and participates in professional and continuing education training (including webinars and conferences) to remain current on trends and challenges in non-profit gift administration for higher education.

Monitors activity corporate matching gift policies, corporate philanthropy, and non-federal foundation grants and re-trains staff accordingly to ensure compliance.

Serves as a resource and primary liaison to various constituency groups served by Gift Administration on matters of gift entry, reporting, gift data quality, and gift record management in the database.

Communicates directly with finance staff, divisional business officers, chief development officers and other fundraisers, and other administrators as needed.

Provides advice and assistance to university colleagues on gift handling practices, gift acceptance policies, campaign counting policies, and reconciliation of gift revenue.

Partners closely with the Reporting and Analytics unit to produce and distribute accurate detailed and summary gift reports, including campaign and fiscal year cash and commitment reports.

Partners closely with the Donor Relations unit to produce pledge reminders, conduct the annual pledge write-off review, produce gift and pledge accountings, and complete other joint projects both planned and ad hoc.

Serves as a member of the Advancement Operations leadership team, meeting regularly with other Advancement Operations directors and partnering on joint projects.

Reports to University Advancement and university leadership as needed with timely updates on fundraising progress, industry-wide trends, AU trends, and relevant federal and DC legislation.

Performs other related duties as requested or required.

Assistant Director of Gift Administration.

Assistant Director of Gift Administration, Special Gifts.

2 Gift Specialists.

1 Part Time Employee.

Building and Supporting Teams.

Championing Customer Needs.

Developing Plans.

Evaluating and Implementing Ideas.

Making Accurate Judgments and Decisions.

Managing Talent.

Full-Time.

35 hours per week.

Expected 3 days in office, 2 remote.

This position may be designated as essential and required to work during the university’s winter holiday break.

$100,000-$125,000 annually.

Bachelor’s degree required with a preference for accounting, finance, or a related field

8-10 years of experience in Development, with increasing level of responsibility.

Prior supervisory experience.

Extensive knowledge in areas of financial controls, gift acceptance, accounting, and information systems.

Experience with data entry, preferably in an accounting or fund-raising environment.

Familiarity with gift processing and fundraising required, preferably in higher education.

Strong leadership capabilities, excellent judgement and decision-making abilities, ability to interpret and evaluate policies and procedures, and skill in producing and analyzing data.

Effective written and oral communication skills, presentation skills, and organizational and interpersonal skills.

Must be able to manage multiple competing priorities in a deadline-oriented environment.

Must be able to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.

Proficiency with MS Office, particularly Word and Excel, is required.

Ability to maintain confidentiality of donor information is required.

Must maintain and exhibit the highest standards of ethical conduct.

Commitment to hiring and leading a diverse team.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.

Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Hiring offers for this position are contingent on successful completion of a background check.

Employees in staff positions at American University must deliver their services to the university from either the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia, or perform work on-site at the university.

Please note this job announcement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

American University is an employer.