Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of Nonprofits: Database Administrators

Ever think about the light switches in your home and what makes them work? 

Probably not. When you flip the switch, you simply expect the lights to turn on without a second thought about the power plants, electrical grids, and maintenance behind it. It’s only when the lights don’t come on that you start to notice and wonder about all the things that might be going wrong.

In the nonprofit sector, Database Administrators (DBAs) take on a demanding role that is frequently overlooked. DBAs keep the lights on at your organization, and there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that operations are running smoothly. However, to the frustration of many DBAs, leadership often overlooks 99% of the work that goes right and only notices 1% of the work that goes wrong.

DBAs juggle multiple roles, often going above and beyond the required responsibilities. DBAs also take great pride in the databases they build and maintain, and they’re often the first to sacrifice their work-life balance on nights, weekends, and holidays to ensure that teams get the data they need to do their jobs effectively.

With DBA Appreciation Day coming up on July 5, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and thank database administrators for the work they do to help nonprofits drive mission impact—you’re the true heroes!

Key Takeaways:

• Compared to other roles at nonprofits, DBAs carry the most diverse set of responsibilities. With nonprofit tech stacks becoming more complex, their roles have become even more critical for the success of an organization.
• DBAs have a high standard for excellence, and by consistently doing their work well, they enable Development, Marketing, Finance, Impact, and Leadership teams to do their best work.
• Since they are often the first to get blamed when things go wrong, DBAs will do everything in their power to keep things running smoothly – even if it’s inefficient and comes at their own expense.
• Leadership should not only acknowledge their contributions, but actively explore ways to make DBAs feel supported.

What Do Database Administrators Do? A Lot More Than Many People Realize.

While there is no standardized job description for the DBA role, one thing is consistent – they often wear a lot of hats. With just a quick job search, we saw a few different postings that together represented a list of over 60 different responsibilities! Here is just one example:

On top of that, the job titles themselves aren’t always the same across organizations. The DBA role is frequently combined with other roles, such as: Development and Database Manager, Director of Advancement Services, Annual Fund and Database Manager, Development Operations and Data Manager, and more. So in some cases, DBAs might actually be doing the work of two or three!

Now, compare that to the job responsibilities for a Major Gifts Officer, which tends to have a much shorter and more clearly defined list of requirements:

While the full breadth of responsibilities varies greatly, there are core responsibilities common for DBAs at nonprofits:

Data Management and Maintenance: Ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the organization’s database systems.

Data Integration: Connecting data from various sources, such as online donations platforms, email marketing tools, event management systems, and fundraising CRMs.

Support and Training: Providing technical support and training to staff on database-related issues.

Data Security: Enforcing security protocols to protect sensitive information and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.

Reporting and Analytics: Maintaining reports and dashboards to support decision-making within the organization.

Software Updates and Upgrades: Keeping the database software up-to-date by applying patches, updates, and upgrades as needed.

Collaboration with Other Teams: Working closely with development, finance, and fundraising teams to support their data needs and ensure smooth operations across the organization.

With 62% of nonprofits now using 5 or more systems to communicate with supporters, as well as capture and manage their data, these DBA responsibilities have become more important than ever for ensuring that everything works together seamlessly.

Why Database Administrators Are Essential to Your Organization

Database Administrators understand the long-term value of clean, accurate data and how it can help organizations fundraise more effectively. As a result, they operate with a high standard of care to ensure consistency in how data is managed and transferred between systems. While other teams might focus only on their own goals and initiatives, the DBA is able to see the bigger picture and manage different priorities, expectations, and motivations across teams and individuals in a way that provides the most value to the entire organization.

The impact of this cannot be overstated – by providing reliable data, they enable:

Development teams to acquire and retain donors and track overall engagement and donation history

Marketing teams to segment their donor base and send personalized communications

Finance teams to prepare monthly and year-end reporting to auditors

Impact teams to develop impact reporting and communicate outcomes to supporters

Leadership to make better decisions and report out to stakeholders

Behind every successful team member, fundraising campaign, program, or event is the DBA who consistently excels at their job – every single day.

Your Database Administrators May Be Struggling…And You May Not Know It!

Despite being overwhelmed with all the responsibilities they have to handle, DBAs will often go the extra mile even when things get tough. They’re usually the first to get blamed when data problems occur or systems fail, so they do whatever it takes to get things right and avoid causing issues—even if it means spending long hours doing tedious, less efficient tasks.

If you manage or work with a DBA, what can you do to make their lives easier and set them up for success? Here are a few ways you can help the heroes of your organization:

1. Take the time to truly understand their workload and how it impacts all areas of the organization.

Meet with your DBAs and learn about where they’re spending their time, where they’re getting stuck, and how you can help them overcome roadblocks in their day-to-day. Meet with other team leads to understand the different ways they depend on the DBA.

2. Celebrate when things go right, not just when things go wrong.

Acknowledge your DBAs whenever there’s a successful fundraising campaign, program, or event. Remember – these initiatives are only as good as the data that helps power them.

3. Invest in training and other resources for professional development (e.g. product certifications, industry events).

Your DBAs always want to make sure that they’re keeping databases in the best shape they can be, so encourage them to pursue product certifications or send them to the most important conferences and events. Help them stay on top of trends and best practices as the industry continues to evolve.

4. Invest in technology solutions that help them do their jobs more efficiently.

The DBA does a lot, but they could be spending their time on strategic initiatives that might drive a bigger impact for the organization. Work with your DBA to understand gaps in processes and invest in solutions that can automate some of the manual, time-consuming tasks that take up most of their day.

For DBA Appreciation Day, consider some ways to acknowledge and thank your DBAs for all the hard work they do. Give them a day off, take them out to lunch, or simply take the time to appreciate their contributions to your organization.

After all, just think…what would you do if your DBA didn’t show up to work tomorrow? Now that’s a scary thought!

About Omatic

At Omatic, we work with Database Administrators every day to help them overcome data challenges and make their lives easier. Learn more about our work here.