How To Become A Development & Communications Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a development & communications associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Emily Moore

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a development & communications associate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.7 an hour? That's $53,446 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 22,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a development & communications associate?

Emily Moore

Administrative Department Head, Wake Tech

Be intentional about making connections with others. Listen to others carefully and seek to understand their perspectives. Remember that your listening skills are just as crucial to excellent communication as your speaking and writing skills.

ScoreDevelopment & Communications AssociateUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,446

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.35%

Black or African American 10.38%

Hispanic or Latino 12.24%

Unknown 5.12%

White 66.32%

Gender

female 75.35%

male 24.65%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a development & communications associate

Explore development & communications associate education requirements

Most common development & communications associate degrees

Bachelor's

80.3 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

2.8 %

Start to develop specific development & communications associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	11.08%
Community Outreach	8.71%
Community Development	8.09%
Donor Relations	6.94%
Event Planning	6.07%

Complete relevant development & communications associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New development & communications associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a development & communications associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real development & communications associate resumes.

Research development & communications associate duties and responsibilities

Manage all aspects of donor prospecting, cultivation, stewardship, and budget/vendor/consultant management for special events and individual giving.
Maintain database (Salesforce) with accurate up-to-date records on all gifts and responses.
Contribute to writing and editing quarterly alumni newsletter.
Conduct research of university development/alumni websites to benchmark Jefferson s alumni website.

Prepare your development & communications associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your development & communications associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a development & communications associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable development & communications associate resume templates

Build a professional development & communications associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your development & communications associate resume.