Operations Administrative Assistant Jobs in Reston, VA

Who We Are
Kakenya's Dream invests in girls and young women from rural communities as agents of change through education, health, and skills development. Guided by the belief that every girl deserves the opportunity to realize her full potential, we work alongside local communities to expand access to quality education, youth-friendly health services, economic opportunity, and leadership development.
Our vision is a world where every girl and young woman is educated, valued, respected, and realizes her full potential. Through collaborative partnerships and locally driven solutions, Kakenya's Dream is creating lasting change for girls, their families, and their communities across rural Kenya while building a more equitable future for generations to come.
As our organization continues to grow, we are seeking a Development Operations & Administrative Coordinator who will help strengthen the systems, processes, and donor stewardship activities that fuel our mission.
What We're Looking For
The Development Operations & Administrative Coordinator serves as the operational backbone to the Development team and a trusted support resource across the organization.
This role is responsible for coordinating donor stewardship activities, maintaining fundraising systems, supporting grant administration, managing recurring development processes, and ensuring that the behind-the-scenes work of fundraising runs smoothly and consistently.
The ideal candidate is someone who:
• Loves creating order and structure
• Enjoys managing details and systems
• Takes pride in high-quality work
• Is proactive and dependable
• Thrives in a collaborative environment
• Finds satisfaction in helping others succeed
This role is well suited for someone who enjoys being the person who keeps everything moving forward, ensures nothing falls through the cracks, and creates capacity for others to focus on strategic work.
What You'll Do
Development Operations & Gift Administration

• Manage all gift administration processes from receipt through stewardship, ensuring timely, accurate, and complete documentation of all contributed revenue.
• Own tracking and administration of all fundraising revenue, including bank deposits, donor restrictions, pledges, in-kind contributions, and supporting documentation.
• Coordinate donor acknowledgment, renewal, pledge reminder, and stewardship workflows.
• Prepare and distribute donor communications, tax acknowledgments, stewardship materials, and donor recognition pieces.
• Manage thank-you note processes and donor recognition activities across the organization.
• Support donor inquiry management and maintain positive donor relationships through timely, professional communication.
• Monitor donor stewardship activities, including acknowledgments, pledge follow-up, and donor touchpoints.
• Partner with the Finance Assistant to ensure contributed revenue is accurately documented, reconciled, and transferred to accounting while maintaining appropriate separation of development and finance responsibilities.

CRM & Data Management

• Serve as the primary administrator of the organization's CRM systems, including Bloomerang.
• Evaluate existing development processes and recommend workflow improvements that increase efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.
• Maintain donor records and ensure the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of constituent data.
• Record and maintain gifts, pledges, donor activity, and fundraising transactions within Bloomerang.
• Monitor and improve CRM data hygiene and system integrity.
• Manage platform integrations and support data flow between Bloomerang, Mailchimp, Givebutter, and other fundraising systems.
• Import, update, and maintain donor and constituent information.
• Generate recurring fundraising, donor, campaign, and revenue reports to support organizational decision-making.
• Support ongoing process improvements, automation initiatives, and system optimization efforts.

Grant & Fundraising Administration

• Track grant deadlines, reporting schedules, renewal timelines, and other fundraising deliverables.
• Coordinate collection of information, documentation, and supporting materials for grant proposals and reports.
• Conduct donor, prospect, corporate, and foundation research to identify new fundraising opportunities.
• Maintain fundraising calendars, campaign timelines, development work plans, and project tracking tools.
• Lead donor, research, proposal, and grant writing efforts.
• Support implementation and administrative coordination of fundraising campaigns, appeals, and special initiatives.

Reporting & Analytics

• Generate recurring fundraising, donor, campaign, and revenue reports.
• Maintain fundraising dashboards and development performance metrics.
• Support preparation of board reports, leadership reports, grant reporting, and development updates.
• Monitor fundraising data and assist with performance tracking and trend analysis.
• Ensure reporting accuracy and consistency across development systems.

Coordination & Collaboration

• Coordinate development meeting logistics, agendas, note-taking, and action-item tracking.
• Support collaboration among Development, Communications, Finance, and Executive teams.
• Coordinate production, printing, mailing, and distribution of donor communications, stewardship materials, and fundraising collateral.
• Serve as liaison with print vendors, mail houses, and external partners supporting development activities.
• Assist with special projects and organizational initiatives that strengthen development operations.

Additional Responsibilities

• Support continuous improvement of development processes, workflows, and operational efficiencies.
• Develop and document procedures that improve consistency, scalability, and effectiveness of development operations.
• Maintain inventory of development print materials and supplies.
• Participate in team meetings and organizational planning activities.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Immediate Priorities (First 6-12 Months)
In the first year, the Development Operations & Administrative Coordinator will focus on:
• Taking ownership of donation track, donor stewardship, and acknowledgment processes
• Becoming proficient in Bloomerang and related fundraising systems
• Improving donor data quality and system consistency
• Streamlining recurring administrative workflows across the Development team
• Supporting stronger coordination between Development, Communications, and Finance
• Creating additional capacity for senior staff to focus on fundraising strategy and donor relationships
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role will look like:
• Donation tracking and acknowledgments, stewardship activities, and renewals are timely and consistent
• CRM records are accurate, organized, and reliable
• Development reports and fundraising data are readily available and trusted
• Grant and fundraising deadlines are proactively managed
• Administrative processes run smoothly with minimal oversight
• Development staff spend more time on relationship-building, fundraising, and strategic priorities
• The organization operates with greater efficiency and less administrative bottleneck
Who You Are
Must-Have Experience & Skills
• 2-4 years of experience in nonprofit operations, fundraising operations, administration, project coordination, or a related field
• Strong organizational and project management skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working with databases, CRM systems, or data management tools
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across teams
• Commitment to Kakenya's Dream's mission and values
Preferred Experience & Skills
• Experience with nonprofit fundraising operations
• Experience using Bloomerang, Mailchimp, Givebutter, or similar platforms
Location
This is a hybrid position based in Arlington, VA. Candidates will be expected to be on site approximately 3 days a week, varying with the needs of the business.
Salary
$50,000-$65,000
Benefits
Kakenya's Dream provides a comprehensive benefits package, including employer-paid medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance for employees, with the option to enroll eligible dependents. Employees also enjoy a generous paid time off program and a competitive employer-sponsored retirement matching contribution.
Kakenya's Dream is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition. Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. If you seek an accommodation, please advise in writing at the time you apply.