Associate Director, Data Integrity & Gift Processing

Job Summary

Loyola University Chicago’s Advancement division is seeking a collaborative leader with a commitment to the highest quality of data entry and maintenance, management, and standards to join its team. In partnership with the Director, Data Integrity and other members of the Advancement Operations team, the Associate Director of Data Integrity Gifts develops and manages the administration of all University contributions, including the development and management of policy and procedures regarding the accurate processing, storage, and data related to University contributions in Loyola’s donor database. The Associate Director will also work cross‑functionally and be a significant point of contact both within the University Advancement Division (such as Gift Planning and Corporate and Foundation Relations) as well as with various University departments (such as General Accounting, Cash Management, and Office of Sponsored Program Accounting). Additionally, the Associate Director will supervise, mentor, and train two to three Data Integrity Analysts focused on gift processing. This position is hybrid, with a regular presence in the Loyola University Water Tower campus expected.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversight, reporting on, documentation, training, executing, and evolving process for manual entry, import processes, quality control measures, and fiscally sound processing and corrections/adjustments of gift and advancement-related event transactions.
• Manage training or otherwise communicate complex data and systems to Data Integrity Specialists, as well as to a wide variety of audiences with varying levels of familiarity.
• Have a clear understanding of the Loyola University Chicago Gift Acceptance Policy, FASB accounting standards, CASE fundraising standards, general IRS standards for gifts and gift receipting, and other best practices and standards associated with higher education fundraising.
• Collaborate with the Associate Director, Data Integrity Data to ensure clean entry of biodemographic and receipting data during gift entry processes and workflows.

Gift Record Management and Entry

• Ensure that pledges, gifts, and biodemographic changes are processed accurately and on a timely basis, processing gifts as needed, based on volume, knowledge, and sensitivity.
• Ensure that all IRS guidelines pertaining to the processing of donations are met.
• Receive, accept, and organize incoming transactions from all appropriate sources; set up, prepare, assign, and monitor entry.
• Aid Gift Processing Analysts with in‑office procedures, including check and credit card processing, ensuring that gifts are deposited to the bank and reconciled in accordance with University policies and procedures.
• Follow all standards for gift documentation storage and shredding.

Quality Control

• Conduct research as necessary to ensure that all transactions are reflected correctly and that inquiries and problems are addressed quickly and accurately; resolve missing, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
• Monitor and execute or assign tasks from the Gift Corrections queue, respond to inquiries as needed, and ensure documentation for corrections is properly saved and tracked.
• Audit gift records to proactively improve gift record quality, and review transactions on a regular basis as needed.
• Collaborate with the Associate Director, Data Integrity Data, to ensure gift data and associated demographic data are entered in an efficient and accurate manner to flow through the receipt generation workflows.

Fiscal Administration

• Be able to create and update Designation and Accounting Unit records in the CRM.
• Communicate and address (in partnership with the Director of Data Integrity) various fiscal situations with appropriate division-wide partners, including but not limited to Donor Relations, Executive Leadership Team, Corporate and Foundation Relations, Gift Planning, Major Gifts, Annual Giving, the Gift Acceptance Committee, and Information Services and Reporting.
• Request from and communicate with appropriate campus partners, including but not limited to Cash Management, General Accounting, Office of Sponsored Program Accounting, Athletics, and Office of Student Affairs.

Problem‑solving & Critical Thinking

• Apply critical thinking skills to assess complex gift entry scenarios, identify potential issues, and determine the most accurate and appropriate ways to proceed and communicate the issue.
• Demonstrate a proactive approach to gift processing by not merely adhering to instructions but also applying critical thinking to anticipate potential issues before they arise.
• Take initiative to identify and address gift data quality concerns, making gift data accuracy and integrity a personal responsibility.
• Engage in ongoing self‑assessment of gift entry processes, seeking opportunities to improve efficiency, accuracy, and overall gift data quality.
• Collaborate with colleagues to share insights and innovative solutions, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement in gift processing practices.
• Analyze gift data discrepancies and inconsistencies, proactively investigate root causes, and implement corrective measures to maintain gift data accuracy.

Documentation

• Contribute to the development and improvement of data management training documents and procedures, incorporating best practices to enhance overall gift data integrity.
• Involvement in the entire gift processing lifecycle, including defining gift record standards, collaboration with end users and subject matter experts, sourcing gift data from various channels, identifying patterns and trends, and formulating gift entry and gift record standards that impact the division.
• Documenting business processes for historical records and future reference.

Adherence to Procedures

• Strictly follow gift and data entry procedures and guidelines to minimize errors and maintain consistency, ensuring the highest gift record quality standards are met.
• Creating, monitoring, and tracking gift entry quality metrics to ensure adherence to established gift entry standards.

Continuous Improvement

• Anticipating the impact of gift processing and structure on reporting generated by the Information Services and Reporting team, working in coordination to ensure gift data changes align with reporting updates and gift processing workflow expectations.
• Perform other duties as required.

Minimum Education and/or Work Experience

Bachelor’s degree and 4‑6 years’ experience in database/records management, gift processing, accounting, finance, and/or advancement. Advanced degree preferred. Demonstrated leadership with overseeing the processes and/or people that ensure the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of database information.

Qualifications

Role‑Specific Preferred Qualifications

• Experience and references demonstrating scrupulous accuracy and attention to detail, particularly in Gift Processing entry and bulk gift processing from multiple sources, with a growth mindset.
• Proven ability to prioritize and work independently, responsibly, and meet expectations for goals and timeline.
• Ability to follow departmental and University policies and procedures, and identify situations not covered therein.
• Superior knowledge of gift processing, gift receipting, and other regulatory requirements.
• At least four to six years of experience with gift processing or data management in a non‑profit environment.
• Understanding of CASE and other Advancement‑related reporting standards required.
• Understanding of IRS charitable gift rules and regulations required.
• Experience with Kindsight ascend, Salesforce, DemandTools, Kindsight Connect, GiveCampus, and CVent.

Language / Communication Skills

• Excellent spoken and written English language skills.
• Demonstrated strength and experience in supervising staff, particularly staff engaged in gift processing functions.
• Ability to train others on simple and complex processes.
• Ability to design and present clear and effective reports, visuals, procedural documents, and presentations to individuals and audiences of both internal and external origin.
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship‑building, and maintenance skills, and the ability to function well within multiple teams.

Reasoning Ability

• Ability to apply principles of logical thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems while maintaining creativity in problem‑solving.
• Demonstrated client service skills with the ability to think strategically and understand how each action and decision impacts the team, the division, and the organization.
• Ability to work under pressure of time and frequent requests from multiple sources, each having its own timelines and constraints, and with all levels of administrative staff.
• Demonstrated initiation and willingness to take on responsibility.
• Ability to apply an ethical code and good judgement, and to handle confidential materials and information with scrupulous honesty and discretion.

Computer Skills

• Experience utilizing fundraising databases; Kindsight ascend and Salesforce experience strongly preferred.
• Experience importing, exporting, and integrating data from multiple systems (Salesforce Interims, Kindsight ascend RTv2s). Experience with GiveCampus, TouchNet, Portal/Connect, CVent, DemandTools, or comparable tools preferred.
• Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, such as Excel and Word, is required. Advanced proficiency in Excel preferred.
• The person in this role will be trained to advanced proficiency on University systems (Loyola’s Database, Data Loader, LOCUS, etc.).

Supervisory Responsibilities

Yes

Open Date

03/25/2026

Salary

$95,000–$110,000 annually

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