[Remote] Director of Donor Support Operations
Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Heifer International is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger and poverty through sustainable agriculture. The Director of Donor Support Operations will manage teams responsible for donor support functions, ensuring a high-quality donor experience and alignment with strategic fundraising priorities.
Responsibilities
- Provide strategic leadership and oversight across donor support functions, including gift processing, acknowledgment and fulfillment, and service center operations
- Define and implement an integrated operating model that aligns processes, technology, and performance metrics across all functions
- Align donor support operations with strategic fundraising priorities, campaigns, and the end-to-end donor journey
- Ensure donor support functions collectively deliver a consistent, high-quality end-to-end donor experience
- Lead cross-functional collaboration to improve coordination, reduce silos, and ensure a seamless donor experience
- Contribute to and operationalize fundraising strategy by aligning operational capabilities with organizational growth goals
- Lead change management efforts to evolve operations, systems, and team structures in response to organizational needs
- Establish and monitor SLAs and KPIs across all donor support functions to ensure performance, quality, and donor experience standards are consistently met
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and scalability of operations
- Identify and implement technology solutions—including automation, workflow tools, and self-service capabilities—to streamline processes, reduce manual effort, and improve speed, accuracy, and donor responsiveness
- Ensure operational readiness and capacity planning to support campaign growth and seasonal volume fluctuations
- Leverage data, reporting, and analytics to inform decision-making and identify performance improvement opportunities
- Ensure consistent implementation of quality assurance practices across all functional areas
- Lead and develop managers across donor support functions, fostering accountability, collaboration, and high performance
- Establish clear goals, expectations, and performance management practices across teams
- Promote a service-oriented culture that prioritizes donor experience and operational excellence
- Ensure a consistent, high-quality end-to-end donor experience across all service channels
- Monitor donor feedback and service trends to inform improvements in retention and engagement
- Develop and manage budgets across donor support operations, including processing, fulfillment, and service functions
- Forecast operational costs and resource needs aligned with fundraising projections
- Partner with CRM/data teams (e.g., BBCRM) and internal stakeholders to ensure operational alignment with systems, campaigns, and reporting needs
- Guide evaluation and implementation of tools and technologies that improve efficiency and scalability
- Ensure cost-effective operations through oversight of vendor strategy, resource allocation, and operational efficiency
Skills
- Bachelor's degree + 10 or more years of job-related experience
- Minimum 5 years of managerial experience in areas such as donor operations, customer service operations, call center management, fulfillment, inventory management, or related functions
- Demonstrated experience leading high-volume, multi-channel operations, including transaction processing, fulfillment, and/or contact center environments
- Proven ability to integrate operational functions and drive process improvement
- Experience working with CRM or operational systems (e.g., Blackbaud/BBCRM or similar)
Benefits
- Health and wellness benefits including Flexible Spending Account and/or Health Saving Account
- Employee assistance program
- 403(b) retirement plan (match 1% employee to 2% employer up to a maximum of 4% match +3% employer discretionary contribution regardless of employee contribution)
- 22 vacation days in addition to 12 statutory and discretionary holidays, and 10 sick days per year
- Employer-paid life insurance and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D)
- Professional development and annual merit increase opportunities
- Optional critical illness insurance, legal assistance plan and pet protection
Company Overview