About Justin Lewis

I came into a career in fundraising out of the teaching profession. Teaching high school history and economics was my first career out of college.  Although the classroom was not where I was meant to be, my ability to teach concepts with patience and detail is something I still hang my hat on. My studies and experience teaching history have given me a unique perspective on donor databases. I view them as crucial historical documents that require intense organization, detail and continued editing. The well-maintained database is truly the backbone of successful fundraising.

I have been working with Blackbaud’s ‘The Raiser’s Edge’ full-time for the past 20 years and have worked with a number of clients in both long-term and project-based situations. I also have recently become a DonorPerfect user and am continuing to work on my proficiency within their system. I prefer the long-term management role as it allows me to truly develop and maintain a high-powered database for an organization’s long-term needs and success. Although I have the skillset to solely focus on high-end project work, I gain true satisfaction in the day to day operations that are crucial to an office. Whether it is data entry, complex queries, segmentation or importing of data; I am able to confidently handle each aspect of the job due to my background working with a variety of clients.

I was born and raised in the Bay Area and moved to Boise, ID in 2012. I seamlessly transitioned my two long-term onsite clients into remote clients and haven't looked back since.

Who are my ideal clients?

I am open to working with any size office in a variety of non-profit fields, with schools being my specialty. I do see myself fitting in best with certain situations. I fill the gap for the small to medium sized shop who has data entry covered but just doesn't have the staff dedicated to doing ongoing higher level database work. By using me as a remote contractor you get a highly experienced staff member who can hit the ground running. Plus you can customize the hours to exactly what your office needs. My preference is to have a minimum of 8 hours a week for a single client but I am willing to negotiate situations where less hours are involved. No longer do you have the headaches involved with training a new hire, negotiating benefits and wages, letting go of a bad hire, or the even bigger headache of replacing said hire when they leave. Because loyalty is something I highly value, in the past two decades I have never left a client relationship prematurely. So know that when you bring me on board, I am committed to making it work and making my clients happy. 

Why remote?

Working remotely has actually improved my overall output and speed. I have not missed a single day of work (outside of vacation) since going remote and my flexibility allows clients to utilize me for time sensitive projects that a normal onsite employee would have difficulty delivering. I realize that certain accommodations must be made in terms of hard filing and printing but I’m willing to wager those adjustments are worth the value-add I bring to an office.

Still not sure about remote employees? Check out this article on a Stanford University study on remote employees. 

Get in touch

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Education

VANGUARD UNIVERSITY
California Single-Subject Teaching Credential, 2000

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE
B.A. History and Political Science, 1997