Assistant Director of Athletics Gifts and Donor Records

Assistant Director of Athletics Gifts and Donor Records

James Madison University, a Division I member of the NCAA and Sun Belt Conference, is accepting applications for an Assistant Director of Athletics Gifts and Donor Records. This is a 12 month position with full benefits package.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead and oversee the timely intake, review, and recording of athletics charitable contributions in Paciolan, exercising independent judgment to ensure the accurate recognition of multimillion-dollar gift activity across Athletics and University Advancement channels.
• Analyze complex gift transactions to confirm proper donor credit, designations, allocations, gift dating, and compliance with university policies, JMU Foundation standards, and Affinaquest records.
• Proactively evaluate non-routine or complex gifts to determine appropriate system handling, troubleshoot discrepancies, and resolve cross-platform inconsistencies that may affect donor recognition, benefits eligibility, or financial reporting.
• Review and validate transactions entered directly in Paciolan, ensuring accuracy of coding, documentation, and supporting records prior to final posting.
• Identify, investigate, and resolve discrepancies or data inconsistencies, proactively mitigating financial risk and protecting the integrity of donor records and departmental reporting.
• Serve as a liaison with Advancement Information Services to support donor account integration and system enhancements affecting gift intake and data integrity workflows.
• Oversee fundraising configurations within Paciolan to support operational transparency, strategic structure, and effective management of donor and allocation data.
• Maintain and update donor accounts to ensure records remain accurate, properly coded, and aligned with current allocation structures.
• Administer and monitor the Duke Club Priority Point system, maintaining daily functionality and ensuring consistent application of policies and accurate calculation of points as giving structures or designations evolve.
• Ensure accurate donor account coding that enables ticketing access and upholds the integrity of the Duke Club benefits structure.
• Maintain and distribute a standardized portfolio of recurring reports that support Athletics fundraising operations and decision-making.
• Respond to ad hoc fundraising reporting requests from internal stakeholders and leadership.
• Serve as a resource for staff by explaining how fundraising data is structured, sourced, and aggregated, and by fielding questions related to reporting outputs.
• Train staff on how to access and run standardized reports to promote consistency and appropriate self-service.
• Lead and facilitate weekly account audit meetings to review outstanding balances, payment plans, and account activity related to donations and ticketing.
• Delegate action items and ensure appropriate follow-through while coordinating with the Athletic Ticket Office and Duke Club staff to maintain alignment on account status, next steps, and resolution of discrepancies.
• Conduct quarterly reviews of delinquent and past-year payment plans and pledges to support consistency across systems and timely follow-up.
• Lead and oversee monthly reconciliations between Paciolan and Affinaquest to ensure alignment of gift records, donor accounts, and allocations.
• Validate gift entries, investigate discrepancies, and resolve data inconsistencies in collaboration with both Advancement, Gifts, and Records and Athletics staff on a monthly basis.
• Maintain reconciliation documentation and tracking to support internal controls, audit requirements, and reporting accuracy.
• Develop and refine processes that strengthen data accuracy, consistency, and reliability across fundraising platforms

Qualifications:

• Experience providing detailed reporting and data analytics in an athletic fundraising or similar work environment.
• Experience with database management, reporting and analytics applications and budgeting operations.
• Proficiency in reporting tools and Microsoft Excel to support data analysis and recurring reporting needs.
• Demonstrated skills in enterprise system operations, accurate gift entry and donor record management, transaction tracking and reconciliation, report generation and data analysis, and eCommerce/payment processing, including identifying and resolving data discrepancies across integrated systems.
• Hands on experience with Paciolan, Advance, Sales Force (or similar) donor management and CRM softwares.
• Understand college athletics fundraising and the ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Understanding of general university operations and procedures.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to review complex transactions, apply business rules, and resolve discrepancies impacting donor credit and revenue reporting.
• High attention to detail and organizational skills in managing multimillion-dollar gift activity.
• Ability to interpret policies and exercise sound judgment in non-routine or…