Bilingual Donor Relations Specialist

Job Title:

Bilingual Donor Relations Specialist

Location:

Mississauga, ON

Reports To:

Head of Fund Development & Donor Relations

Contract Type:

Competitive | Full-Time

Job Description


Purpose of Position

The Bilingual Donor Relations Specialist plays a key role in delivering an exceptional donor experience and strengthening long-term relationships between Action For Humanity Canada and its supporters.

The position is responsible for day-to-day donor relations activities, including responding to donor inquiries, processing donor requests, maintaining accurate donor records, supporting recurring giving, resolving donation-related issues, and proactively engaging donors to strengthen retention and satisfaction.

The Specialist will also be responsible for supporting the administration and donor-facing components of AFH Canada's Orphan Sponsorship Program, serving as a key point of contact for sponsors and helping ensure sponsorships, donor communications, updates, and records are managed accurately and compassionately.

As a bilingual position, the Specialist will provide donor support and stewardship in both English and French, ensuring AFH Canada provides accessible and high-quality service to donors across Canada.

 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Donor Relations & Donor Care

  • Serve as a primary point of contact for donors through phone, email, and other approved communication channels. 

  • Assist donors with donation-related requests, including updating contact information, payment methods, recurring donations, communication preferences, and other account information. 

  • Investigate and resolve donor concerns, complaints, payment issues, and general inquiries while maintaining a positive donor experience. 

  • Provide donors with appropriate information regarding AFH Canada programs, campaigns, appeals, and their giving history. 

  • Process requests relating to donation confirmations, tax receipts, refunds, cancellations, and account changes in coordination with Finance and other relevant departments. 

  • Ensure donor interactions, requests, and outcomes are appropriately documented within the CRM. 

  • Identify opportunities to strengthen donor relationships and increase long-term engagement with AFH Canada.


2. Regular Giving & Donor Retention

  • Support the administration and stewardship of AFH Canada's monthly and recurring donor portfolio. 

  • Monitor recurring giving accounts and identify failed, declined, or interrupted payments requiring follow-up. 

  • Proactively contact donors regarding failed payments and support them in updating their payment information where appropriate. 

  • Conduct donor retention and stewardship outreach, including thank-you calls, welcome communications, renewal conversations, and re-engagement activities. 

  • Process recurring gift amendments, cancellations, upgrades, and other donor requests accurately and promptly. 

  • Identify recurring donors at risk of lapsing and conduct appropriate retention outreach. 

  • Provide regular reporting on recurring giving performance, failed payments, cancellations, retention activity, and donor feedback.


3. Orphan Sponsorship

  • Serve as a primary donor relations contact for supporters participating in AFH Canada's Orphan Sponsorship Program. 

  • Support the onboarding of new orphan sponsors and ensure donors receive appropriate confirmation and program information. 

  • Maintain accurate sponsorship records within AFH Canada's CRM and relevant orphan sponsorship systems. 

  • Respond to sponsor inquiries regarding their sponsorship, payments, updates, and program processes. 

  • Coordinate with relevant internal and international teams to obtain information required to respond to sponsor inquiries. 

  • Ensure sponsors receive available orphan updates, reports, correspondence, and other approved program communications in a timely manner. 

  • Monitor orphan sponsorship payments and identify failed or interrupted sponsorship payments requiring donor follow-up. 

  • Contact sponsors regarding failed payments and work to prevent unnecessary sponsorship cancellations. 

  • Process sponsorship cancellations, changes, and other requests in accordance with AFH Canada policies and procedures. 

  • Support the reassignment or transition of sponsorships when an orphan exits the program, or sponsorship circumstances change. 

  • Work collaboratively with Programs, Finance, Fund Development, and international teams to resolve sponsorship-related issues.


4. Donor Stewardship & Engagement

  • Conduct proactive donor stewardship through thank-you calls, emails, welcome communications, and other relationship-building touchpoints. 

  • Contact donors following significant gifts or milestones to acknowledge their support and strengthen the relationship. 

  • Assist with donor reactivation campaigns targeting lapsed or inactive supporters. 

  • Identify recurring donor and orphan sponsor feedback, concerns, or trends and communicate insights to the Head of Fund Development. 

  • Help ensure donors understand the impact of their contributions through approved impact stories, updates, reports, and program information. 

  • Identify donors who may require additional stewardship or relationship management and escalate opportunities appropriately. 

  • Support seasonal donor care requirements during high-volume campaigns such as Ramadan, emergencies, Qurbani, and year-end giving.


5. CRM, Data & Administration

  • Maintain accurate and complete donor records within AFH Canada's CRM. 

  • Record donor interactions, preferences, requests, complaints, payment issues, and follow-up activities consistently. 

  • Ensure donor and sponsorship records are updated promptly following interactions or changes. 

  • Assist with donor data quality initiatives, including identifying duplicates, incomplete records, incorrect information, and other data issues. 

  • Follow established procedures for donation processing, receipting, donor communications, and data management. 

  • Support reconciliation and investigation of donation discrepancies in collaboration with Finance and relevant teams. 

  • Produce regular reports relating to donor inquiries, recurring giving, failed payments, orphan sponsorship, cancellations, retention, and other donor relations activities. 

  • Ensure donor information is handled in accordance with Canadian privacy requirements and AFH Canada policies. 


6. Bilingual Donor Support

  • Provide professional donor service in both English and French through written and verbal communication. 

  • Respond to French-language donor inquiries and ensure French-speaking donors receive the same level of service and stewardship as English-speaking donors. 

  • Review and support donor-facing French communications where required. 

  • Assist with the adaptation of donor communications to ensure they are appropriate for French-speaking Canadian audiences. 

  • Support AFH Canada's ability to effectively engage donors across Canada's bilingual communities. 

 

Job Requirements

Education

  • Post-secondary education in nonprofit management, communications, business administration, international development, customer relations, or a related field is preferred. 

  • Equivalent professional experience within donor relations, customer service, fundraising, or nonprofit administration will also be considered. 


Experience

  • Minimum 2–3 years of experience in donor relations, donor care, customer service, fundraising administration, or a similar relationship-management role. 

  • Experience within the charity or nonprofit sector is strongly preferred. 

  • Experience managing recurring donors, sponsorship programs, or donor retention activities is considered an asset. 

  • Experience working with CRM/database systems and maintaining detailed constituent records. 

  • Experience handling sensitive donor inquiries and resolving service-related concerns. 

  • Experience working within a humanitarian or international development organization is considered an asset.


Skills

  • Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills with a strong donor-service mindset. 

  • Strong verbal and written communication skills. 

  • Ability to communicate with empathy, professionalism, discretion, and cultural sensitivity. 

  • Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy. 

  • Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, donor requests, and follow-ups simultaneously. 

  • Ability to handle difficult or sensitive donor conversations professionally. 

  • Strong problem-solving skills and ability to independently resolve routine donor issues. 

  • Comfortable working with CRM systems, databases, Google Workspace/Microsoft Office, and other digital platforms. 

  • Ability to analyze donor information and identify trends relating to retention, cancellations, failed payments, and donor satisfaction. 

  • Ability to work collaboratively across Fund Development, Finance, Programs, Marketing, and Operations. 

  • Strong alignment with AFH Canada's humanitarian mission and organizational values. 


Languages️

  • Fluency in written and spoken English Essential 

  • Fluency in written and spoken French Essential 

  • Arabic or another language relevant to AFH Canada's donor communities is considered an asset. 


Other

  • Ability to maintain strict confidentiality when handling donor, financial, and beneficiary information. 

  • Flexible approach to work during high-volume fundraising periods such as Ramadan, emergency appeals, Qurbani, and year-end. 

  • Commitment to AFH Canada's safeguarding, privacy, financial, and donor care policies.