Tara Sterba
Director, Gift Accounting at The University of Iowa Center for Advancement- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Credentials
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Certified Public Accountant
State of Iowa -
Project Management Professional
Project Management Institute
Experience
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University of Iowa Center for Advancement
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United States
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Fundraising
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200 - 300 Employee
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Director, Gift Accounting
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Feb 2017 - Present
Lead Gift Accounting team in processing all contributions to the University of Iowa. Maintain knowledge of IRS charitable giving rules and partner with fundraising teams to intake and steward donor gifts. Coordinate across departments to ensure accuracy in recording gifts through the complete lifecycle, from solicitation materials through donor receipting & acknowledgement. • Implementing CRM, co-leading Gift Sprint and serving as “success ambassador” for the project • Partnering with Athletics to move seating gifts to PAC Fund for single transaction donor experience• Effectively led team through move to hybrid work environment during COVID• Facilitated continuous improvement project that resulted in ~30% of receipts being sent electronically• Created UFFO “Salesforce sub-group” to benchmark and share best practices as we collectively implement Salesforce CRM • Reduce year-end gift closing process by 2 days, with a focus on continuous accounting • Transitioned online gift posting to entirely automated, paperless process• Successfully transitioned gift posting and receipting for non-deductible athletic seating contributions due to IRS tax law change • Create GADICC gift intake recommendations for gifts of property, closely held, and other non-cash assets, and facilitate asset transfer and disposition of those assets for donor intent • Gathered historical data and forecasted volume of work to create 3-year strategy for Finance staffing and technology resources• Planning Committee for CASE College and University Foundation 2024 Conference• Co-Chair “Organizational Alignment” strategic planning committee • ERP Implementation - Implemented new financial software, forging path for “business led” technology initiatives; created business case for project, conducted vendor evaluation & selection process, managed requirements & schedule during development, and created training program for organization and campus-wide users Show less
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Business Systems Analyst
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2015 - 2017
Collaborated with business partners across the organization to effectively learn and use technology systems and drove projects that improved automation and efficiency. • Implemented scanning software that resulted in 40% reduced processing time for high volume giving solicitations by automating bank deposit, revenue batch, and imaging files• Automated gift agreements through document creation tool and cross-functional team workflow routing; improved collaboration, accuracy, and efficiency of 500 major donor gift agreements annually• Led enterprise-wide financial reporting projects, including data warehouse conversion of key financial metric reports from CCD to SSRS, and close-out reporting of our comprehensive fundraising campaign Show less
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Pearson
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United Kingdom
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Education
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700 & Above Employee
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Associate Program Manager
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2011 - 2015
Leadership team for national multi-state assessment program. Created new testing delivery solution, product strategy, and financial modeling. Managed bid, scope, and financial oversight of contracts with departments of education across twelve states.
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Senior Financial Analyst
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2007 - 2011
Partnered with program and service delivery teams to budget, forecast, and report on operating margins rolling up to division level financials. Provided financial presentations, revenue and cost tracking, variance analysis, and strategy to meet division and organization-wide financial targets.
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Girls Inc. of Metro Denver
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United States
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Non-profit Organizations
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director of Finance & Operations
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2003 - 2006
Transitioned operations to newly constructed building & grounds, including design of new technology infrastructure. Selected and managed contractors for facilities, IT, HR, insurance, and financial audit. Ensured effective use of organizational resources, serving as trusted advisor to Board and Finance Committee to report on and monitor key financial metrics and operating margin targets. Transitioned operations to newly constructed building & grounds, including design of new technology infrastructure. Selected and managed contractors for facilities, IT, HR, insurance, and financial audit. Ensured effective use of organizational resources, serving as trusted advisor to Board and Finance Committee to report on and monitor key financial metrics and operating margin targets.
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A Friends Place
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United States
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Education Administration Programs
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Director of Finance and Administration
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2000 - 2002
Managed entire operations function, finance, technology, and human resources. Provided finance support to the Board, Finance Committee, grants manager and community funders. Managed entire operations function, finance, technology, and human resources. Provided finance support to the Board, Finance Committee, grants manager and community funders.
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Education
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1995 - 1999
University of Iowa
BA, Finance -
2000 - 2002
University of Illinois at Chicago
Certificate, Nonprofit Management -
2018 - 2020
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Master's degree, Accounting
Community
