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What does a community development director do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
What does a community development director do

The job of a community development director is to manage and direct the management and planning initiatives for a community or city organization. Your duties will include collaborating with community partners in developing strategies to improve the community, architectural and economic initiatives, monitoring budgets for department initiatives, and participating in business development efforts. As a community development director, it is your responsibility to develop and maintain the community development department's short- and long-term developmental goals. It is also your duty to develop and coordinate marketing strategies for economic development.

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Community development director responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real community development director resumes:

  • Manage organization s membership program by implementing annual membership drives and appeals.
  • Support documentation activities for FDA audits & manage integration activities for acquisitions.
  • Provide oversight and leadership to HUD fund rehab lending and grant programs, housing counseling and financial fitness training.
  • Write grants, speeches, e-blasts, and appeals on social media and websites for non-profits and political campaigns.
  • Ensure target ROI with feasibility studies on potential acquisitions, identifying optimum projects requiring rezoning and entitlement approvals for development.
  • Craft innovative plan for rebranding agency image; plan and implement new outreach focusing on culturally aware approaches.

Community development director skills and personality traits

We calculated that 6% of Community Development Directors are proficient in Economic Development, Oversight, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Problem-solving skills, and Speaking skills.

We break down the percentage of Community Development Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Economic Development, 6%

    Coordinated community and economic development activities

  • Oversight, 6%

    Provided oversight and leadership to HUD funded rehab lending and grant programs, housing counseling and financial fitness training.

  • Project Management, 5%

    Direct project development, implementation, and assessment of Erie-GAINS projects and initiatives, and provide higher-level administration and project management.

  • Press Releases, 5%

    Developed public relations background materials and attention-grabbing press releases.

  • Community Outreach, 5%

    Coordinated the organization's annual community outreach and education efforts.

  • Program Development, 4%

    Facilitated regional projects and program development that addresses common challenges in our undeserved communities.

"economic development," "oversight," and "project management" are among the most common skills that community development directors use at work. You can find even more community development director responsibilities below, including:

Leadership skills. The most essential soft skill for a community development director to carry out their responsibilities is leadership skills. This skill is important for the role because "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." Additionally, a community development director resume shows how their duties depend on leadership skills: "provide additional expertise as senior care advisor and care coordinator as well as strong community relations leadership. "

Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform community development director duties is problem-solving skills. Community development directors responsibilities require that "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." Community development directors also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "direct oversight and management of a comprehensive development, marketing and communications team promoting effective us homelessness policy solutions. "

Speaking skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of community development directors is speaking skills. This skill is critical to many everyday community development director duties, as "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "increased shelter visibility through print ads, press releases, quarterly newsletters, special events and public speaking engagements. "

Writing skills. A big part of what community development directors do relies on "writing skills." You can see how essential it is to community development director responsibilities because "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical community development director tasks: "act as the liaison between media outlets and cefs, including the writing and distributing of press releases and media advisories. "

Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a community development director to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what community development directors relies on this skill, since "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." How this skill relates to community development director duties can be seen in an example from a community development director resume snippet: "develop written and verbal communications for community outreach. "

Organizational skills. While "organizational skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to community development director responsibilities. Much of what a community development director does relies on this skill, seeing as "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of community development directors: "carried out an organizational annual appeal campaign and regularly outreached to individual donors. "

See the full list of community development director skills

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Compare different community development directors

Community development director vs. Publications manager

A publications manager specializes in devising strategies to optimize publication procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities include liaising with media and other external agencies, overseeing staff performances, setting objectives and guidelines, spearheading campaigns, handling licensing procedures, and participating in marketing operations. They may also address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as a publication manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

If we compare the average community development director annual salary with that of a publications manager, we find that publications managers typically earn a $15,241 lower salary than community development directors make annually.Even though community development directors and publications managers are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require project management, press releases, and web site in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between community development directors and publications manager. For instance, community development director responsibilities require skills such as "economic development," "oversight," "community outreach," and "program development." Whereas a publications manager is skilled in "powerpoint," "publicity campaigns," "public health," and "subject matter experts." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Publications managers tend to reach lower levels of education than community development directors. In fact, publications managers are 6.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Community development director vs. Director, customer relations

Director of Customer Relations is responsible for leading the design and improvement of an organization's overall customer service experience. Their duties include developing customer service budget, driving customer service process improvements, implementing customer service agents, managing email and telephony customer service routing, and creating training programs for customer service staff. They are responsible for improving customer service performance metrics, overseeing key change management projects, and establishing a customer service roadmap. The Director of customer relations also helps in developing recruitment initiatives to attract top talents.

A career as a director, customer relations brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a community development director. In fact, directors, customer relations salary is $25,276 higher than the salary of community development directors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Community development directors and directors, customer relations both require similar skills like "oversight," "press releases," and "community outreach" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, community development director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "economic development," "project management," "program development," and "web site." Meanwhile, a director, customer relations has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer relations," "leveraged," "government relations," and "payroll." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Directors, customer relations may earn a higher salary than community development directors, but directors, customer relations earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $124,365. On the other hand, community development directors receive higher pay in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $92,043.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Directors, customer relations tend to reach lower levels of education than community development directors. In fact, they're 11.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Community development director vs. Director of public affairs

Directors of Public Affairs are executives who manage the public relations and communications initiatives of the company. They oversee all external communications that are intended for broadcast. They create guidelines on the proper crafting of communication materials that will be published or broadcasted. They also lead the public affairs department in networking activities and industry events. Directors of Public Affairs must be level-headed, calm, and creative. They should know how to communicate with the public, handle crises, and create successful brands.

On average scale, directors of public affairs bring in higher salaries than community development directors. In fact, they earn a $5,243 higher salary per year.community development directors and directors of public affairs both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "economic development," "press releases," and "community outreach," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, community development directors are more likely to have skills like "oversight," "project management," "program development," and "web site." But a director of public affairs is more likely to have skills like "government affairs," "public policy," "external stakeholders," and "policy issues."

Directors of public affairs earn the highest salary when working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they receive an average salary of $137,872. Comparatively, community development directors have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $92,043.When it comes to education, directors of public affairs tend to earn similar degree levels compared to community development directors. In fact, they're 3.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Community development director vs. Public relations manager

A public relations manager is responsible for monitoring the public relations department to boost its brand image and attract potential clients through press releases and media coverage. They work closely with the marketing team, developing marketing campaigns and promotional strategies for creating brand awareness. Public relations managers maintain the company's presence on various social media platforms, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the company's goods and services. A public relations manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability.

Public relations managers typically earn lower pay than community development directors. On average, public relations managers earn a $17,970 lower salary per year.According to resumes from community development directors and public relations managers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "press releases," "community outreach," and "community relations. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between community development directors and public relations managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a community development director might have more use for skills like "economic development," "oversight," "project management," and "program development." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of public relations managers require skills like "pr campaigns," "marketing campaigns," "digital marketing," and "fact sheets. "

In general, public relations managers earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $114,540. The highest-paying industry for a community development director is the manufacturing industry.In general, public relations managers hold lower degree levels compared to community development directors. Public relations managers are 9.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of community development director

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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