Gift Operations Specialist

As Bethel's Gift Operations Specialist, you’ll play an important role in helping Bethel’s mission come to life. Every gift to Bethel represents a donor’s investment in students and the University’s Christ-centered mission. You’ll make sure those gifts are processed accurately, recorded appropriately, acknowledged promptly, and managed with the care and integrity they deserve.

Bethel’s mission is to educate and equip students to lead lives of impact through transformative academics in a Christ-centered community. Bethel’s employee community plays a central role in developing our students as whole and holy persons. To carry out this mission, Bethel uses the foundation of our guiding documents, the Affirmation of Faith, Community Covenant, and Key Policies. Bethel expects all employees to actively participate in creating our Christ-centered community by agreeing with and abiding by our core beliefs in the Affirmation of Faith and supporting all other beliefs as Biblical, responsible, and thoughtful approaches while avoiding dissension and divisiveness. Employees teach and mentor students and help one another uphold our Community Covenant commitments.  As a result of these expectations, all University employees act as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ by actively partnering with the University to carry out its mission and foster Bethel’s Christ-centered covenant community.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time. 

• Serve as the lead for processing and recording all charitable contributions (check, cash, credit card, stock, DAF, crypto, matching gifts, grants, sponsorship, pledges, estate/planned gifts, etc.) on a daily basis.
• Generate timely acknowledgments and tax-compliant receipts, engaging with external donors and constituents to provide support in their giving. 
• Create, maintain, and update donor records, constituent profiles, and fund designations with care and precision.
• Manage all gift designation records in the CRM, including coordination of new fund/GL setup with the Business Office and relevant stakeholders. 
• Respond to internal questions about gift crediting, coding, and processing policy.
• Act as the central point of quality control for gift data, resolving exceptions and ensuring consistent crediting and coding

• Monitor and validate giving data for accuracy, consistency, and compliance with IRS and university standards.
• Assist with regular and ad hoc reporting for fundraising performance, donor activity, and giving trends.
• Generate pledge reminders, year-end statements, and routine update reports for campus partners and academic leaders.

• Serve as the primary liaison between Advancement and the Business Office on all gift-related financial matters, including fund setup, financial coding, reporting, and reconciliation communication.
• Partner with the Business Office to ensure proper fund setup, financial coding, and routine reconciliation of gifts and the general ledger.
• Support documentation and audit prep for charitable contributions and donor records.

• Serve as the subject-matter expert for gift workflows within Salesforce.
• Partner with the Salesforce Solutions Analyst to improve automation, reduce manual entry, and enhance the donor experience through form and process design.
• Develop internal documentation, workflows, and training materials for Advancement gift entry procedures.

• Support emerging departmental needs and initiatives by taking on additional responsibilities as priorities evolve.
• Contribute to additional initiatives and projects as needed to advance university priorities.

• Required Education
• • Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business, data analytics, or a related field—or equivalent experience.
• Preferred Training
• • Training or certification in Salesforce, fundraising operations, financial analysis, or process improvement.
• Required Experience
• • 1–2 years of professional experience in a CRM-driven environment such as fundraising, advancement services, donor relations, operations, or financial management.
  • Demonstrated comfort working with financial data, including an understanding of basic accounting concepts such as fund accounting, general ledger structure, and reconciliation. 
  • Exposure to process documentation, systems troubleshooting, or collaborative problem solving.
• Preferred Experience
• • Experience with Salesforce (especially NPSP or Nonprofit Cloud) or comparable CRM.
  • Prior involvement in gift processing, fundraising analytics, or financial reconciliation.
  • Experience supporting internal users with reporting, data interpretation, or process improvement.

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as desktop and/or laptop computers, photocopiers and smartphones.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus. The job requires extended periods of sitting and traversing the Bethel Campus on a regular basis. Reasonable accommodations may be made to ensure people are able to perform the essential functions.

The mental and physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of this position.

Typically, days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, with the expectation to work specific schedules and hours as identified and communicated by management. On a limited occasion, evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand. This is a 40 hour per week, 12 months per year position.