Donor Engagement Specialist

Pilgrims Hospice Society; Edmonton; On-site; CAD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Pilgrims Hospice Society is seeking a Donor Engagement Specialist to build meaningful, personal connections with donors and cultivate foundational supporters into sustained, mission-driven investments.

Reporting to the Director of Fund Development, you will engage donors through one-on-one conversations, meetings, visits and meaningful mission experiences, ensuring donors feel valued, connected and inspired by the impact of their support.

Qualifications

• Experience in donor relations or fundraising preferred.
• Ability to build personal donor relationships and deliver meaningful stewardship.
• Comfort with one-to-one conversations, meetings and donor experiences.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain personal relationships with donors through calls, meetings, visits and experiences.
• Create stewardship experiences that illuminate the impact of giving.
• Grow donor engagement from foundation support to sustained giving.
• Identify opportunities for mission-driven conversations and increased investment.
• Keep donors engaged with consistent, personalized communication and transparency.

Skills

Donor relations

Relationship building

Communication

Event coordination

CRM / donor databases

Strategic planning

Discretion / confidentiality

Active listening

Phone & in-person outreach

Tools

CRM systems

Job description

Pilgrims Hospice Society (PHS) is a registered charity that provides supportive and compassionate family-centred care to enhance the quality and dignity of life for those diagnosed with a progressive, life-limiting illness as well as support to those who are grieving the death of a loved one, from any cause.

Reporting to the Director of Fund Development, the Donor Engagement Specialist is a relationship-focused position responsible for building meaningful, lasting connections with donors to Pilgrims Hospice Society. This role goes beyond traditional stewardship and mass communication by prioritizing one-to-one engagement, personal conversations, phone calls, meetings, visits and meaningful mission experiences.

The Specialist will ensure existing donors feel genuinely valued, connected to the mission of Pilgrims Hospice Society, and inspired by the impact of their support. At the same time, the role will intentionally cultivate foundational donors and create a pathway for them to grow into significant, sustained supporters.

Key Focus Areas

• Build and maintain strong, personal relationships with Pilgrims Hospice Society donors through phone calls, face-to-face meetings, visits and unique personal interactions.
• Create stewardship experiences that help donors understand the human impact of their giving and their connection to the mission.
• Develop donor relationships from initial or foundational support toward deeper engagement, increased investment and sustained giving.
• Identify opportunities for mission-driven, investment-led conversations that invite donors to see how their support can create meaningful impact.
• Maintain consistent personal contact with key donors rather than relying primarily on mass emails, newsletters or passive communications.
• Work closely with fundraising and leadership team to keep the relational strategy top of mind, using critical thinking to connect donors to their preferred areas of interest.
• Recognize donor milestones, interests and motivations and use that knowledge to create personalized stewardship and growth plans.
• Support donor retention and long-term loyalty by ensuring donors experience genuine appreciation, transparency and connection.
• Help create a culture where donors are viewed not simply as contributors, but as partners in the mission of Pilgrims Hospice Society.
• Track donor interactions, interests and next steps to ensure relationships are intentionally and consistently developed over time.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role is measured not only by donor satisfaction, but by relationship growth and sustained movement. Donors becoming more connected to the mission, more engaged with Pilgrims Hospice Society, and increasingly willing to invest in its future.

The ideal candidate understands that major giving is built through relationships. They are comfortable picking up the phone, sitting across the table from a donor, asking thoughtful questions, listening deeply, sharing the mission and ultimately creating opportunities for donors to make meaningful investments in the future of hospice care.

SKILLS REQUIRED

• Strong listening and discovery skills.
• Confidence initiating conversations.
• Strategic thinking and relationship planning.
• The ability to identify next steps and create sustained movement in donor relationships.
• Event engagement and support, including helping plan and execute donor-focused events, welcoming and engaging donors, facilitating personal connections, and identifying opportunities for follow-up and continued relationship development.
• Collaborative approach, working effectively with fundraising, leadership, health care team and community to create meaningful donor experiences.
• Professional judgment and discretion when working with confidential donor information and sensitive hospice experiences.
• Comfort with technology and donor databases/CRM systems, including recording interactions, tracking relationship activity and supporting donor reporting.
• Proactive and self-directed, with the initiative to create opportunities for donor engagement rather than relying on passive communication.
• Warm, empathetic and authentic presence, with a genuine ability to make people feel valued, heard and connected to a shared purpose.

Posting will remain open until September 18, 2026.

Mandatory Employment Requirement: Successful candidate will be required to provide a current satisfactory Vulnerable Sector Criminal Record Check prior to employment start.