Development Operations Analyst

Does the opportunity to devote your talents to a cause much greater than yourself excite you? Do you have an analytical mind and a passion for fundraising? As one of the world’s largest conservation organizations, the Arbor Day Foundation inspires people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees, building partnerships and solutions that strengthen communities and address critical global challenges. It’s a place to do work that matters with people who care. After all, life is short, love where you work.  

Join us as a Development Operations Analyst to support our Major Gifts program through strong data stewardship, analysis, and operational excellence. In this role, you’ll contribute to prospect research, CRM administration, portfolio reporting, and fundraising opportunities, ensuring accurate, reliable data that informs donor strategy and strengthens portfolio management. Working closely with development leadership, Development Officers, and cross functional partners, you’ll enhance data quality, reporting, and operational workflows that drive effective decision making, deepen donor engagement, and amplify our philanthropic impact.

This role is based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Team members in Lincoln work in-office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with optional remote work on Wednesday and Friday. The Development Operations Analyst reports to the Director of Development. 

What you'll do:

• Produce timely and accurate portfolio, and performance reports that support donor strategy, solicitations planning, forecasting and portfolio review.
• Advance portfolio management and fundraising strategy through reporting, pipeline insights, and operational improvements that drive engagement and revenue growth.
• Serve as the primary CRM power user for the Major Gifts program, maintaining accurate and timely donor and portfolio records, supporting reporting accuracy, and promoting consistent user best practices. 
• Enable efficient fundraising execution through gift processing coordination, data integrity, reconciliation activities, and campaign and donor list management. 
• Analyze and support improvements to Major Gifts operational processes and workflows to reduce manual work, improve data reliability, and support efficient fundraising execution.
• Provide strategic program support through research, portfolio insights, donor briefing materials, and participation in prospect strategy and planning discussions. 

What success looks like:

• Maintain high data integrity across donor and portfolio records, demonstrated by accurate, complete, and timely CRM updates and consistent system usage across the Major Gifts team.
• Deliver timely and actionable prospect research, reporting, and pipeline insights that improve prospect qualification, solicitations tracking, and visibility into portfolio performance and donor engagement. 
• Strengthen pipeline development and fundraising effectiveness through high quality prospect research and support of strategic portfolio planning and qualification efforts. 
• Improve fundraising operations and workflow efficiency by enhancing processes and enabling effective cross functional coordination with Development, Finance, IT, and Business Intelligence teams.

What you'll bring:

• Passion for the Foundation's mission, nature, environmental stewardship, and people.
• 3+ years of experience in fundraising operations or comparable experience in sales or marketing.
• Experience supporting fundraising operations, prospect research, and donor data management or CRM administration.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Proficiency using CRM systems and reporting tools to support fundraising strategy and relationship management.
• Experience conducting donor and prospect research and preparing clear, concise briefing materials for stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a collaborative, fast paced environment.

Love Where You Work:

• Our work changes the world. We find deep purpose in our daily work; we're helping to shape the planet for future generations.
• We're in this together. A culture focused on a genuine interest in the wellbeing of others, collaboration, and the intrinsic shared purpose to do what's right.
• We care about your health. We offer competitive healthcare (health, dental, vision) coverage for you and your loved ones matched with a wellness incentives program.
• We invest in your future. Company paid short-team and long-term disability, paid parental leave, life insurance and 401k with company match are available.
• We know the little things matter. Lincoln team members receive a monthly parking stipend, a fully stocked kitchen, and access to a plethora of benefits at Arbor Day Farm.
• We care about your growth. We allocate 40+ hours annually for our team members to focus on learning and development.
• We want you to unplug when needed. We believe in taking your time off without guilt, including the week between Christmas and New Years that we close our Lincoln Campus to recharge.
• We'll round out the experience. We put our culture first, and we host events and experiences throughout the year to show that we care about you and your family.