Assistant Director of Advancement Services in New York, New York at Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Who we are?

Ethical Culture Fieldston School is a progressive PreK-12 independent school that has been serving students from throughout New York City and the surrounding suburbs since 1878. ECFS offers a rich curriculum in the arts, sciences, and humanities. A co-ed, nonsectarian school, it serves an inclusive community of about 1,700 students on two campuses -- one in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and the other in Manhattan.

What is essential about working at our school?

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School has a long history of inclusion and belonging deeply rooted in our mission and the educational philosophy of our founder, Felix Adler. We embrace all aspects of an individual, including their ancestry, family, identity, culture, and beliefs. We affirm both our differences and commonalities and strive to balance individuality and community. In keeping with our progressive tradition, we are dedicated to increasing our students’ cultural literacy to help them understand multiple perspectives and see the world beyond the self.

We expect members of our community to engage in open dialogue about living and learning in an inclusive environment inside and outside the classroom. We see this work, with its creative tensions, as a catalyst for individual and collective growth. On a daily basis, we are committed to making this vision of a democratic, pluralistic, and progressive school a reality.

Position Summary

Ethical Culture Fieldston School seeks a strategic, collaborative, and detail-oriented Assistant Director of Advancement Services to play a critical role in supporting the School's fundraising, stewardship, and constituent engagement efforts. Reporting to the Director of Development, this position serves as the operational backbone of the Advancement Office by overseeing advancement systems, gift administration, prospect management, reporting, and data strategy.

The Assistant Director of Advancement Services will ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the School's advancement operations while providing actionable analytics that support fundraising initiatives, campaign management, stewardship, and institutional decision-making. This individual will serve as the primary administrator for the Raiser's Edge database and related advancement technologies, partnering closely with Advancement, Finance, Technology, and other administrative departments to optimize systems, improve business processes, and strengthen data-driven fundraising.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable managing complex databases, developing reports and dashboards, improving operational workflows, and collaborating with frontline fundraisers to support cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies.

The hiring range for this position is $95,000-$110,000. When determining the salary for an offer, ECFS considers factors including, but not limited to: the scope and responsibilities of the position; internal peer equity; key skills required for the role; the candidate’s work experience, education, and training; and market and organizational considerations.

Please note that this is an on-site role and not performed remotely. Ethical Culture Fieldston School retains its right to modify job duties in accordance with changing operational needs.

Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Serving as the primary administrator for Raiser's Edge and related advancement systems, overseeing design, implementation, data integrity, security, and adherence to best practices while providing support, training, and communicating system updates and enhancements;

• Overseeing constituent records, all gift processes including acknowledgments, pledge reminders, matching gifts, stock gifts, tribute gifts, donor recognition, biographical updates, and data imports/exports while maintaining exceptional data quality;

• Partnering with the Finance Office to ensure accurate recording and reporting of all philanthropic transactions, including development revenue, campaign activity, pledge balances, and deposits, while supporting audit preparation and financial reporting in accordance with institutional policies and accounting standards;

• Managing and maintaining prospect pipelines for major gifts and campaign fundraising, ensuring timely movement through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship stages;

• Partnering with frontline fundraisers to track donor engagement activities, meeting outcomes, and next steps;

• Producing prospect research reports, fundraising analytics, portfolio management reports, and fundraising and campaign performance metrics to support strategic fundraising initiatives and organizational decision-making;

• Managing annual stewardship communications and recognition programs which include publications, acknowledgments, annual reports, and institutional events for endowed, restricted, Annual Fund, and campaign donors;

• Creating constituent lists, mailing lists, segmentation strategies, and data extracts for Advancement initiatives;

• Analyzing fundraising trends and constituent behavior to identify opportunities for increased engagement and philanthropic support;

• Translating complex data into meaningful insights for Advancement leadership and other institutional stakeholders;

• Fostering cross-departmental partnerships to improve data quality and operational efficiency;

• Demonstrating a commitment to continuous process improvement and innovation in advancement operations;

• Performing additional duties and special projects as assigned.
  
  

Position Requirements

The successful incumbent will possess:

• A Bachelor's Degree;

• A minimum of five or more years of progressively responsible experience in advancement services, development operations, database administration, or nonprofit fundraising operations;

• Demonstrated experience administering Raiser's Edge NXT or Raiser's Edge; experience with Blackbaud products is strongly preferred;

• Experience managing advancement databases, gift processing, constituent records, reporting, and prospect management;

• Strong analytical skills with advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Google Workspace, along with knowledge of Blackbaud, Salesforce, or an equivalent CRM, is a must; Raiser's Edge experience preferred;

• Experience with reporting and data visualization tools is highly desirable;

• Experience working with data integrations, imports, exports, and relational databases;

• Knowledge of fundraising operations, donor stewardship, campaign management, and advancement best practices;

• Understanding of data governance, data integrity, and confidentiality standards;

• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining a high level of accuracy;

• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to present information clearly to technical and non-technical audiences;

• Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities for process improvement and implement efficient, scalable solutions;

• Strong customer service orientation and the ability to build productive relationships across departments;

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment;

• The ability to handle confidential materials with discretion while maintaining a high level of integrity;

• Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends as needed;

• A positive attitude and the ability to listen and be receptive to feedback;

• Reliability, punctuality, and consistent attendance; and

• The ability to cultivate a welcoming culture in which all members of our community feel valued and appreciated.

To apply
All candidates should visit our employment page at www.ecfs.org to apply. Please send a letter of interest, a resume, and contact information for three references.

EEO
ECFS is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to be a welcoming community of professionals that broadly reflects the people of the metropolitan New York City area, our students, and families. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion or religious practices, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, age, ability status, military status, unemployment status or any other category protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. We are committed to hiring practices that ensure all candidates are given fair consideration in alignment with our institutional mission and goals.