Donor Family Specialist

Gift of Hope is proud to serve as the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) that coordinates organ and tissue donation and provides compassionate service to families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Since our inception in 1986, we have coordinated donations that have saved the lives of more than 23,000 organ transplant recipients, and improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of tissue transplant recipients. As one of 58 organ procurement organizations that make up the nation’s organ donation system, we work with 183 hospitals in our donation service area.

Responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with organ, tissue, and donor-in-spirit donor families following donation, including providing resources, updates and connection opportunities, along with identifying and remedying post-donation issues, cultivating readiness to share their stories and fortifying lifelong relationship with Gift of Hope.

Salary Range : $54,951-$61,820

Essential Functions

The following essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation:

• Support Gift of Hope’s mission and vision, and demonstrate core values of passionate people, outstanding teams, and compassionate service
• Develop and maintain relationships with organ, tissue and donor-in-spirit donor families in assigned geographical areas
• Support donor families through regular points of contact for a minimum of one-year post donation, including wellness calls, emails, texts and regular mail, as well as providing resources and connections as needed
• Manage difficult, potentially emotionally charged, conversations with empathy and compassion
• Conduct ongoing bereavement assessment of donor families; provide resources as needed or requested; assess readiness to participate as an Ambassadors for Hope volunteer
• Investigate and respond to donor family inquiries, compliments and complaints
• Collaborate and cultivate relationships with internal and external partners to facilitate opportunities for sharing donor family and recipient stories to engage the community and external partners
  • Transplant center coordinators: gather recipient information and encourage and facilitate communication
  • Hospital Development and Partner Relations: serve as a resource to our hospital and other external partners; connect them with our mission and the donor families they help support; coordinate donor family events within the hospitals
  • Community Outreach: support community-based initiatives that provide opportunities for engagement and connection for donor families in our communities
  • Communications: help spread the message of our mission 
• Create, plan and execute in-person and virtual events, including donor family/recipient meetings; bereavement workshops, seminars and activities; tribute events; Family Day; memory making opportunities; and hospital events
• Enter clear and complete documentation for every interaction with donor families, hospital staff, and others in donor record in iTransplant
• Build and run donor family reports as needed
• Access, interpret and execute next steps derived from Donor Family Survey comments
• Generate original letters and letters from templates
• Adhere to organizational and departmental policies and procedures, and guidelines set forth by AATB
• Other duties as assigned

Education and Training Required

The following identifies the minimum education and training required to perform the essential functions of the job:

• Bachelor’s degree in social services, allied healthcare, or a related field, or equivalent work experience

Experience and Skills Required

The following indicates the minimum skills and experience required to perform the essential functions of the job:

• 3-5 years’ experience in patient relations, social services, hospice, grief/bereavement, or a related field

• Comfort and confidence in the presence of emotional distress and death
• Intermediate skills in Excel and Word

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Effective oral and written communication skills

• Ability to display empathetic listening skills and problem-solving techniques to effectively respond to each family’s concerns or situations
• Problem-solving skills

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Ability to function in a normal office environment
• Ability to drive personal car to perform job functions
• Ability to work outside normal business hours on occasion
• Ability to lift and move 30 pounds
• Ability to use personal cell phone for business purposes
• Ability to work remotely

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that will be encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of the job.

• Normal office environment
• Work at other locations, including in the community and hospitals
• Occasional overnight travel required
• Carry a personal cell phone to be accessible outside regular business hours

Gift of Hope is committed to maintaining a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment.  Gift of Hope prohibits any conduct that is discriminatory or harassing in nature or that adversely affects an employee’s terms or conditions of employment because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status (with regard to employment), ancestry, age (40 or over), order of protection status, marital status, familial status (with regard to housing), physical or mental disability, arrest record, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and unfavorable discharge from military service. These equal employment opportunity practices apply to hiring, training, promotions, salary administration, job assignment, benefits, discipline, termination and all other aspects of the job.