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 invites applications for the Advancement Data Specialist position. The Advancement Data Specialist is a full-time, year-round position with the potential of a hybrid schedule, starting at $20.56 per hour - commensurate with experience. Given Amherst’s distinction as one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country, the successful candidate will demonstrate the ways in which they bring value to and will work towards supporting a broadly diverse community. Maintaining thorough, high quality data is crucial to Advancement's ability to carry out its mission of engaging alumni and families, and securing fundraising support.
Under the supervision of the Assistant Director of Advancement Data Management, this position will play a critical role in the maintenance of Advancement data and its integrity and will manage critical data functions and updates including, but not limited to:
Biographical information updates for a diverse set of alumni and donors, including demographic, employment, and contact information. Current, complete contact information is vital to maximizing outreach. The Advancement Operations team makes approximately 24,000 updates to biographical records annually.
Gift administration - specifically processing and auditing donor gifts. Advancement Operations enters approximately 19,500 individual gifts and pledges each year. These gifts are processed, validated, receipted, and audited daily, with the heaviest volume on giving day and during calendar and fiscal year-end.
Ad-hoc critical data entry projects that maximize our fundraising efforts including auditing existing alumni and student contact data; constituent feedback data, alumni directory updates, LinkedIn searches/job information, and updating and correcting duplicate and out of date records.
Provides back-up support and training for reception duties. This includes answering the Advancement Main Line at the reception desk and training students/new hires with reception duties and data projects, as needed.
This position will provide support for the division by expediting data entry with accuracy. The data entry managed by this role (and Advancement) is used broadly across the college by various divisions, including the Office of the President, Athletics, CASE, Student Services, Libraries/Museums, and Office of the Provost/Academic Departments. Such examples include commencement invitations, move-in day information to families, and athletic team newsletters/solicitations. In addition, the person in this role will respond to phone and email inquiries from our highly diverse constituents, which includes responding to donors about their giving history, assistance with online giving and more. Superior attention to detail and confidentiality are key.
The Advancement Data Specialist responds to donors and alumni by phone and email including, but not limited to: taking gifts by phone, managing reunion registration issues, responding to online giving questions, addressing alumni directory questions and providing password reset instructions and problem solving general questions as well. This will include reception phone coverage and related duties as needed.
The person in this role is expected to work as part of a collaborative and inclusive team including taking appropriate actions to support a diverse workforce and participating in the College’s efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment. In addition, all advancement staff members are required to support and staff key events such as Reunion, Homecoming, and Family Weekend. These events may require occasional evening and weekend hours.
Summary of Responsibilities:
Supports the efforts of the Advancement team by maintaining the integrity of all data for our diverse group of constituents and using auditing reports to update inconsistent data
Maintains biographical records, including updating addresses, contact information, employment and relationship data
Works on projects and performs testing related to the Slate database conversion and subsequent projects in Slate
Proactively identifies constituent biographical and employment updates through processes including LinkedIn screenings, press releases, and internet research
Collects and documents student extracurricular activity data for use in fundraising efforts
Entering directory information such as record update requests
Maintaining deceased records and all updates related to that process
Documents updates from reunion books, clippings, and the quarterly magazine, entering contacts and affiliations
Audit and update a variety of biographical data including but not limited to address changes, email addresses, marital status, children, and employment for a diverse group of constituents
Audits duplicate records and other data discrepancies uncovered by alert reports
Provides gift processing support
Provides customer service to colleagues and outreach to alumni and donors
Creates an inclusive and inviting environment for a diverse set of colleagues and visitors
Performs other duties as needed
Routine decisions are made daily; some decisions are arrived through consultation with supervisor or other colleagues, while others are made independently. Employee plans and arranges own work, referring unusual cases to supervisor or others. Considerable discretion is necessary in the disclosure of biographical information. Some independence of action within stated guidelines and creativity required to respond to a variety of inquiries. Exercises sound judgment when writing to and speaking with key volunteers and board members
Qualifications:
High School Diploma or equivalent
Experience working with a Customer Relationship Database (CRM)
Equivalent combination of education/experience in lieu of minimum education and related experience
Sensitivity to issues of confidentiality
Exceptional attention to detail
Strong organizational, time management, interpersonal, and written and verbal communication skills
Ability to take initiative, work independently and collaboratively
Proficient in Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and ability to learn new software
Commitment to or experience working with diverse communities
Preferred
Experience working in a higher education setting with data for a diverse group of individuals.
Associate degree or experience in lieu of degree
Amherst College offers many opportunities for professional growth and development, continued learning, and career advancement.
Amherst College is pleased to provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package that meets the needs of staff and faculty and their families. Benefits are an important part of our overall compensation, so it is critical that you review all of the options to ensure it meets your total compensation requirements. Click here for Benefits Information.
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.