Donor Relations Associate

Position: Donor Relations Associate

Employer: Children Believe

Location: Markham, Ontario, Canada

Deadline: November 1, 2019

Employment Type: Employment

Position Level: Entry Level

Salary Range:

Closing Date: November 1, 2019

Full Description

Brief Description:

Careers that empower young dreamer
When you make a decision to work with Children Believe you’re not just doing something great for your career, you are helping empower children around the world to access education, pursue their dreams and be a voice for change. We know there are lots of career options for talented, top performers like you, but not many offer the opportunity to help children dream and live fearlessly. Children Believe is currently recruiting for the following position: Donor Relations Associate

Focused on providing outstanding customer service, the Donor Relations Associate (DRA) will represent Children Believe as the first point of contact in most interactions including inbound/outbound telephone calls, emails and other correspondence with a view to retain existing donors; acquiring donors and increasing donor giving through fundraising/upselling, where appropriate and possible. The DRA is also responsible for enhancing and enriching the relationships between donors and Children Believe, this may include sending personalized correspondence, phone follow-up and emails. Through active listening and call management skills s/he must be equipped to manage calls that may be difficult or sensitive in nature. The position will also support the Donor Relations Specialists as necessary, which may include web inquiries and additional correspondence. This position will also provide support for reception, as required.

Key Responsibilities:

Respond to Inbound Donor Requests and Inquiries by Phone (60%):
• Process all gifts, donations, information updates, change requests and information requests coming in to Children Believe from donors. This includes setting up new donor records, processing gifts and generating the appropriate correspondence, including acknowledgement letters, sponsor welcome packages, etc.
• Achieve departmental SLA’s as outlined by the Manager.
• Obtain missing information from donors, as required.
• Adhere to quality assurance programs for call management, correspondence and data accuracy.
• Respond to all donor requests, and address all donor interactions with a view to providing best in class customer service and increasing donor retention rates as well as cross-selling where appropriate based on KPIs outlined on the yearly goals.
• Pro-actively problem-solve donor concerns with the willingness to meet both donor needs and Children Believe business requirements while exceeding expectations. This includes the ability to troubleshoot and resolve issues, working with the donor to identify issues including technical/website/donor portal issues. Correct information, reset donor portal passwords, and alert IT and follow through to ensure technical issues are resolved. Impact donor retention by ensuring donors are offered alternatives to cancellation and identify opportunities for donor retention based on KPIs outlined on the yearly goals.
• Ensure interactions are recorded and accurate in all donor accounts for any interaction with a donor (whether phone, email, and other correspondence). This includes recording remittance of payments, income tax receipts, and appeals.
• Ensure knowledge and understanding of all Children Believe Business Rules and follow accordingly. This includes policies and procedures such as, but not limited to: major gifts; response times for various activities; records retention; tax receipts; joint giving; gift acceptance; etc.
• Upon discovery of errors, process appropriate adjusting entries per Children Believe business rules and/or escalate as appropriate.
• As required provide donor income tax receipts per donor preference and within Children Believe business rules and CRA requirements.
• Assist DRSs with correspondence, email, web, social media inquiries and returned mail, when required.
• Follow up on child inquiries
• Provide donor child inquiry responses by phone.
• Record interaction in SMART.
Perform Outbound Calls for donor engagement and acquisition (30%):
• Completed outbound calling as assigned by Manager. This may include Door 2 Door pre-calls, Welcome calls, Del calls, etc.
• Any other outbound calls as assigned within recorded SLAs.
Other: (10%)
• Be fully cross-trained and perform competently all donor relations tasks and provide back-up to other team members including Reception.
• Review processes and recommend improvements/changes to Manager or Trainer as appropriate.
• Comply with all Children Believe policies and procedures.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:
• Post-secondary diploma
• 3 years’ front line customer service experience in a demanding inbound/outbound call centre with an understanding and ability to influence donor giving decisions, including ability to retain and cross-sell as appropriate
• Demonstrated ability to provide superior customer service; knowledge of customer service best practices with a ‘donor first’ and a “one and done” approach to meeting demands
• Excellent verbal and written English communication and interpersonal skills
• Business writing skills; ability to draft/edit correspondence
• Experience in complaint management
• Demonstrated experience researching problems, resolving issues and communicating solutions
• Computer skills – accurate and fast keyboarding skills (min. 55 words per minute); intermediate MS Word, basic Excel and Outlook; aptitude to learn new technology knowledge of databases
• Ability to troubleshoot website and other technology issues
• Exercise good judgement, tact and diplomacy in donor interactions
• Familiarity with a VOIP phone system
• Ability to quickly learn and apply new system procedures as they are introduced;
• Ability to work flexible daytime hours as required (9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.)
• Some knowledge of international development an asset
• Ability to speak and/or write in either French or Spanish will be considered an asset
• Commitment to Children Believe's Vision, Mission and Values

Children Believe offers competitive paid time-off benefits and a comprehensive group benefits plan, including health/dental, life insurance, and employee assistance program (EAP).

Application Process:
If you believe you have that unique combination of a not-for-profit heart combined with the skills and interest for the Donor Relations Associate position, then you will want to apply for this opportunity by going to Children Believe's Careers website: https://childrenbelieve.ca/about-us/who-we-are/careers/

Scroll down to the section: “Find career opportunities”.

Search under Job Title for "Donor Relations Associate". Follow the application process stated on the specific job posting, you will be required to complete a very brief questionnaire and submit your résumé and covering letter.

If you experience any issues with the application process, please contact us at hr@childrenbelieve.ca

Children Believe is not accepting recruitment agency/firm referrals.
Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada.
Consistent with our Child Safeguarding Policy, the successful candidate must receive clearance by a Canadian criminal record check.
Children Believe is committed to diversity in the workplace and is an equal opportunity employer.
Children Believe is committed to providing workplace accommodations. If you require an accommodation, inform us and we will work with you to meet your needs.
We thank all applicants for applying, however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

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