Development Operations Manager

The Bruce Museum stands at a pivotal moment. With a recently completed $68 million transformational expansion that tripled gallery space, the Museum is building upon institutional momentum to secure its long-term sustainability and philanthropic growth. The Museum seeks an experienced development operations professional to serve as Development Operations Manager, a role that combines rigorous data management, prospect pipeline stewardship, and strategic analytical support for the entire advancement team.

Position Overview

The Development Operations Manager is the engine behind the Bruce Museum's fundraising infrastructure. Reporting to the Director of Development, this role serves as the primary steward of the Museum's donor management system, prospect pipeline, gift processing, and fundraising analytics — ensuring that the Development team has the data, research, and reporting they need to make strategic decisions and that the CEO, Director of Development, and VP of Strategic Advancement and Principal Gifts have timely, accurate, and actionable intelligence on fundraising performance.

This role integrates prospect pipeline management, moves management support, and data-driven performance reporting as core functions alongside traditional gift processing and database administration.

Key Responsibilities

Prospect Pipeline Management \& Fundraiser Support (30%)

• Pipeline Stewardship: Serve as the primary manager of the department's prospect pipeline, ensuring all prospects are accurately staged, assigned, and moving through the donor cycle.
• Moves Management Support: Conduct weekly pipeline reviews with gift officers and the Director of Development to assess moves management activity and flag stalled relationships.
• Prospect Research \& Identification: Conduct and coordinate prospect research — identifying new major and principal gift prospects through screening, wealth analytics, and network mapping. Prepare donor profiles and briefings for gift officers.
• Portfolio Support: Maintain portfolio and necessary data and partner with the Director of Development and Development team to prioritize new prospects.
• Wealth Screening: Run regular prospect screenings using wealth intelligence platforms (e.g., DonorSearch, iWave, Blackbaud analytics).

Data Integrity \& CRM Management (25%)

• CRM Administration: Serve as the primary system administrator for the Museum's donor management system (Altru/Blackbaud), maintaining data quality standards.
• Data Standards \& Audits: Establish and enforce data entry standards, gift coding protocols, and record-keeping procedures for the full Development team.
• Finance Reconciliation: Reconcile gift and financial data with the Finance Department on a regular basis and produce all monthly reports for Finance and Development Team.
• Training \& Vendor Management: Lead CRM training for all Development staff, including onboarding for new hires. Serve as the primary contact for the database vendor.

Fundraising Analytics \& Reporting (25%)

• Reporting Infrastructure: Design and maintain a suite of dashboards and performance reports for the Director of Development, VP of Strategic Advancement \& Principal Gifts, and Executive Director.
• Campaign Analytics: Produce campaign-specific analytics including gift tracking, phase milestone progress, and forecasting.
• Fundraiser Performance Tracking: Track and report on frontline fundraising activity for all gift officers, including portfolio size, visits completed, proposals submitted, and gifts closed.
• Committee Reporting: Prepare Development Committee meeting materials including board-facing fundraising summaries and campaign dashboards.
• List Management: Generate donor and stakeholder lists, segmentation queries, and prospect pools to support cultivation events, giving days, and campaign communications.

Gift Processing \& Acknowledgment (10%)

• Gift Entry: Oversee timely and accurate gift entry and pledge processing, in coordination with the Development Assistant and other Development team members.
• Campaign Gift Administration: Maintain comprehensive campaign gift documentation including pledge agreements and gift intentions, ensure campaign gifts are coded and tracked separately from operating support, and reconcile campaign totals with Finance.
• Pledge Management: Maintain pledge schedules and produce timely status reports for the Director of Development, VP of Strategic Advancement and Principal Gifts, and Finance.
• Acknowledgments: Ensure gift acknowledgment letters and pledge reminders are distributed according to institutional timelines.

Collaboration \& Institutional Support (10%)

• Leadership Support: Support the entire Development Department, including CEO, Director of Development, and VP of Strategic Advancement \& Principal Gifts with reporting and coordination.
• Event Support: occasional support required at Fundraising events on nights and weekends
• Calendar Management: Maintain the Development Department's master calendar of project deadlines, reporting cycles, and donor events.
• Compliance and Data Privacy: Ensure compliance with fundraising regulations, gift acceptance policies, ethical standards, and donor confidentiality requirements. Maintain donor data privacy protocols, access permissions, and record retention practices consistent with Museum policy.

Required Qualifications

Experience

• Minimum of 3–5 years in development operations, advancement services, or a closely related role
• Demonstrated experience managing a donor database at administrative or power-user level (Altru/Blackbaud, Raiser's Edge, Salesforce NPSP, Tessitura, or equivalent)
• Experience with prospect research tools and wealth screening platforms
• Experience supporting frontline gift officers through pipeline management and donor profile preparation
• Proficiency in Excel, Google Sheets, or equivalent; dashboard experience a strong plus
• Bachelor's degree required

Skills and Competencies

• Data mastery: Treats data as a strategic asset; deep comfort with donor databases, querying, and analytics.
• Pipeline intelligence: Understands the donor cycle well enough to serve as a proactive partner to gift officers.
• Research proficiency: Skilled at synthesizing prospect research into clear, decision-ready profiles.
• Analytical thinking: Builds reports that inform strategy and decision-making, not just compliance.
• Attention to detail: Exceptionally detail-oriented with strong instincts for data hygiene and process improvement.
• Proactive communication: Anticipates information needs and brings solutions forward without being prompted.

Personal Characteristics

• Professional maturity and sound judgment
• High integrity and commitment to donor confidentiality
• Curious, solutions-oriented mindset
• Collaborative team orientation — takes satisfaction in enabling others' success
• Genuine passion for arts, culture, science, and community engagement