Director of Advancement Services

Boston College High School•Boston, MA

About The Position

Boston College High School is a Catholic, Jesuit, independent school serving young men in grades 7–12 from communities across Massachusetts. The Director of Advancement Services reports directly to the Vice President of Advancement and is a member of the advancement leadership team. The role provides strategic oversight and operational leadership across gift processing and fund management, database management and systems, stewardship and donor relations, and prospect development and analytics. The Director leads the Database Administrator and Development and Stewardship Officer and is responsible for operational excellence, data integrity, financial compliance, and donor insights that support philanthropic goals and campaign growth. The Director oversees gift administration, gift acceptance policies, financial reconciliations, fund documentation, pledge agreements, advancement revenue audits, and official financial reporting. The role governs the advancement CRM and integrated platforms, sets data-entry and privacy standards, collaborates with IT on security and PCI compliance, and oversees reporting and analytics. It also establishes acknowledgment and stewardship frameworks, oversees impact and financial reporting for endowed and restricted funds, and supports donor recognition and intent compliance. The Director oversees prospect identification, portfolio and pipeline management, analytics, and briefing materials for school leaders and volunteers. The position supervises and develops advancement services staff, trains and supports the broader advancement team, and collaborates across the Office of Institutional Advancement and the school. It may involve non-standard hours, including evenings and weekends during high-volume periods, and local or off-campus travel as needed.

Requirements

Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in advancement operations, gift administration, or database management; experience in independent high schools or higher education is preferred.
Expertise in Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge / NXT or an equivalent relational CRM and reporting tools such as Crystal Reports.
Deep knowledge of gift acceptance, charitable tax laws, fund accounting principles, and financial reconciliation processes.
Proven ability to translate raw data into actionable insights, donor pipelines, and strategy recommendations.
Exceptional written, verbal, and proofreading skills and a strong collaborative spirit.
Ability to work effectively across administrative and student-facing areas of the school.
High integrity and absolute discretion when handling sensitive financial and biographical donor data.
Appreciation for Jesuit Catholic education and the mission and values of Boston College High School.
Ability and willingness to work non-standard hours, including required evenings and weekends during high-volume periods.
Ability to travel locally or off-campus as needed.

Nice To Haves

Experience in independent high schools or higher education.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary gift processor for charitable contributions, including recording, batching, processing, and tax receipting.
Establish and enhance gift acceptance policies and ensure gifts are booked in accordance with institutional guidelines.
Provide executive support for financial reconciliations and personally review final reconciliations between the advancement database and General Ledger.
Enforce departmental compliance with IRS regulations, FASB standards, PCI-DSS guidelines, CASE standards, and school accounting practices.
Lead documentation and tracking for new capital, current-use, and endowed funds in partnership with the Finance Office.
Manage formal gift agreements and pledge payment schedules, oversee biannual pledge reminders, and coordinate changes to pledge terms with advancement leadership.
Direct advancement revenue audits and produce official financial reports for leadership, the Board of Trustees, and external reporting agencies.
Oversee governance and architecture of the advancement CRM and integrated third-party platforms; supervise the Database Administrator’s daily system administration.
Establish and maintain data-entry standards, protocols, and privacy policies; direct routine data hygiene processes.
Partner with IT on database security protocols and user access permissions and guide technical updates, system tests, and integrations.
Oversee reporting logic, query strategy, and data extraction; direct production of constituent lists, marketing segments, board reports, and fundraising dashboards.
Establish acknowledgment policies and high-touch donor thank-you protocols; supervise daily receipt, correspondence, and executive-signature workflows.
Set frameworks and timelines for annual impact and financial reporting for endowed scholarships, capital projects, and restricted funds.
Oversee preparation and delivery of donor stewardship reports and packets, including gathering impact stories and financial information.
Collaborate on donor recognition strategies, naming opportunities, and donor touchpoint plans; oversee tracking of recognition milestones and compliance with donor intent, gift agreements, and naming policies.
Oversee prospect identification, wealth screening, and initial assessment of prospective leadership and major gift donors.
Partner with the Director of Major Giving on prospect assignments, portfolio hygiene, and prospect movement management.
Deliver data-driven insights, pipeline metrics, and portfolio performance analysis to inform fundraising strategy, solicitation timing, and donor trend analysis.
Develop a system for briefing profiles and intelligence summaries for the President, Vice President of Advancement, and key volunteers.
Supervise, mentor, and evaluate the Database Administrator and Development and Stewardship Officer.
Provide ongoing training and operational support to the broader advancement team to build data literacy and process compliance.
Collaborate with advancement colleagues across major giving, annual giving and alumni engagement, events, and communications.
Work collaboratively with advancement, administrative, and student-facing colleagues to support school-wide initiatives, workflows, and the school’s Jesuit Catholic mission.
Participate in calendar- and fiscal-year-end outreach and direct marketing efforts as directed and needed.
Work required evenings and weekends during high-volume periods, travel locally or off-campus as needed, and perform other duties as assigned.