Ops Insights #046 Interview Questions You Can Use
July 8, 2024 | Read Time: 5 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
Today, I’ve got you, the leaders who have open job postings for data/ops or soon will and would like interview questions that you can use. Let’s give you some context and then some questions you can use.
My definition of a philanthropy operations professional is “Someone who takes ownership of data, database, and processes and effectively partners cross-functionally to propel an organization’s fundraising forward.”
→ You need someone who can help non-technical users use the database.
→ You need someone who understands saying yes, we can do that over “no” is needed to thrive.
Today, data, databases, and operational processes are at the heart of everything we do in fundraising. You are looking for someone who understands not just the database but who understands people, data, and processes. You want someone who can sit as a trusted partner side-by-side with frontline fundraisers and talk about strategy and how the data and database can support the frontline strategies, but can also dive into the weeds and get things done.
When you are interviewing for a new role, there are specific questions you can ask to determine whether a potential candidate will be a good fit. Let’s walk through what to ask, listen for, and what red flags to pay attention to.
Questions for interviewing:
12 questions you can ask when interviewing a potential philanthropy operations team member:
1) How do you handle getting requests from staff members? Ex. Mailing list, report, etc.
Positive: It is collaborative; let’s work on it together, response. There may be a short form for tracking purposes, but there is also some sort of conversation or follow-up to discuss the request. This tells us they engage the staff and work with them.
Red flag: It is a form filled out, and there is no follow-up to discuss. This is not personal and runs the risk of not fully understanding the need.
2) How do you react when I come to you and need metrics or a report for an afternoon meeting?
Positive: They react positively as that’s a natural part of the job and may provide an example of when this has happened.
Red flag: They cringe or talk negatively about how this should not happen.
3) What kind of training do you set up for staff using the fundraising system?
Positive: They talk about having a structured plan and believe in letting fundraisers be engaged in using the fundraising.
Red flag: They believe the fundraising system should be locked down and allow limited data entry to staff outside of philanthropy operations.
4) What experience do you have with creating reports and dashboards? What tools do you use?
Positive: They talk about using the fundraising system and how quickly they turn it around for you. Bonus: They talk about the experience with setting reports and dashboards up to allow fundraisers and staff to run them themselves (empowering staff is a good thing).
Red flag: They are very generic in saying they can but are not able to provide examples.
5) What do you know about artificial intelligence (AI)?
Positive: They know what it is and have been curious to look into it further. This has become a must, at the least to be connected to user groups or communities to learn together.
Red fag: They don’t know what it is.
6) What experience do you have with wealth screening, analytics, and data mining?
Positive: They talk about being involved in routine wealth screenings and how they helped import and utilize that data.
Red flag: They cannot discuss having any experience with this.
7) How would you handle a gift from a Donor Advised Fund? A third-party company sending you a check on behalf of an outside company’s employee giving program?
Gauging their comfort level with unique gifts
8) What is your experience with closing the month?
Do they close on time?
What fundraising reports do they provide (outside of what they give to finance)?
There should be some basic fundraising reports to measure progress each month.
9) Do you participate in any professional organizations to stay up-to-date on best practices?
Positive: They reference ones such as AASP, APRA, the vendor-specific community, or other industry communities – ones related to operations folks, and participating in multiple usually means they believe in staying on top of industry best practices.
10) Have you presented at any conferences or attended conferences?
Presented means they have experience and believe in sharing it.
Attended means they keep up on things (AASP is common for operations folks to attend; APRA conference is popular for research and prospect management)
11) What do you do when you don’t know the answer to something?
Do they make one up?
Or do they use resources like the above to get best practice input?
12) What is your management style?
Are they a delegator only or do they jump in and help out? They will have to be able to do both.
Bonus question: Have you been involved in developing a strategic plan before? See if you get responses geared toward collaborating cross-functionally, as in areas across the philanthropy office to develop the plan.
How have you gone about it?
What were some of the goals you came up with?
Take Action
Ready to find your Philanthropy Operations professional?
Take these steps:
➡ Review the definition of database admin vs. a philanthropy operations professional in the last Insights edition.
➡ Review the interview questions above and take note of the ones you want to ask in interviews. For reference, access a PDF version of the questions.
➡ Look for someone who knows the data and tech so you can trust they got it covered but is also a good people-person who can interact with all team members/various roles and is donor-centric minded.
➡ Find yourself a philanthropy operations professional.
You’ve got this and I’ve got you!
👋 See you next time.
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