Director of Development Operations

Israel Policy Forum is pleased to work with DRG to conduct this search. Read full job description HERE. The Position

Israel Policy Forum seeks a strategic, data-driven, and highly collaborative Director of Development Operations (DDO) to join the Development & Community Engagement team. The DDO will lead the operational infrastructure supporting a sophisticated major gifts and donor engagement-focused fundraising program. The ideal candidate will be a strong manager, analyst, and operator with deep knowledge of fundraising best practices who understands major gifts fundraising and enjoys building systems and processes that drive an energetic, robust fundraising effort.

Reporting to the Chief Growth and Organizational Strategy Officer (CGOSO), the DDO will serve as the department’s operational leader and be responsible for fundraising performance management, moves management discipline, forecasting, reporting strategy, operational planning, business process improvement, and staff accountability.

The DDO will ensure that fundraising staff have the systems, processes, data, analytics, and operational support necessary to maximize donor engagement and fundraising results. Working closely with the Director of Leadership Giving, Fundraising Systems Coordinator, Senior CRM Manager, and senior leadership, this position will help to translate fundraising and engagement strategies into measurable outcomes. The DDO will manage three team members including the Development Associate, the Donor Engagement and Events Manager, and the Development Systems and Analytics Coordinator.

• Lead the development department's fundraising performance management function, establishing the processes, tools, and accountability mechanisms needed to achieve annual and long-term revenue goals.
• Develop, monitor, and continually refine fundraising KPIs, metrics, and benchmarks to assess organizational performance and support strategic decision-making.
• Own the department's moves management, donor engagement, and pipeline review processes, ensuring prospects progress effectively through identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Facilitate regular portfolio and pipeline review meetings with fundraising staff, providing data-driven insights and recommendations to strengthen performance.
• Monitor fundraiser activity, solicitation progress, portfolio health, and donor movement, ensuring consistent execution of fundraising strategies.
• Identify fundraising risks, trends, and growth opportunities, and recommend corrective actions or strategic adjustments to maximize results.
• Analyze donor behavior, giving trends, campaign performance, and revenue outcomes to inform fundraising strategy and resource allocation.
• Develop quarterly and annual fundraising forecasts, projections, and scenario analyses to support budgeting, planning, and organizational decision-making.
• Monitor and evaluate the performance of major gifts, Leadership Circle giving, events, and other key fundraising initiatives.
• Present performance analyses, forecasts, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership, board members, and volunteer leaders.

• Establish department-wide standards, priorities, and best practices for fundraising reporting, analytics, and data usage.
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of development dashboards, performance reports, and other analytical tools that provide actionable insights.
• Ensure development leadership has timely access to accurate, meaningful fundraising data to support decision-making and strategic planning.
• Partner closely with the Fundraising Systems and Analytics Coordinator to ensure the…