Director of alumni relations vs communications director

The differences between directors of alumni relations and communications directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a director of alumni relations and a communications director. Additionally, a communications director has an average salary of $107,700, which is higher than the $106,332 average annual salary of a director of alumni relations.

The top three skills for a director of alumni relations include alumni relations, alumni engagement and alumni association. The most important skills for a communications director are web content, press releases, and customer service.

Director of alumni relations vs communications director overview

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Communications Director
Yearly salary	$106,332	$107,700
Hourly rate	$51.12	$51.78
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	23,650	27,939
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

What does a director of alumni relations do?

The director of alumni relations is liable for relationship management between a university and its alumni. They serve as a connection between the graduates and the university community. One of the major duties of directors of alumni relations is to create engaging activities and events for alumni to participate in, such as homecoming weekends, class reunions, and dinner parties. This job requires excellent communication skills to coordinate their engagement activities with the other departments of the university, from the office of president to campus security.

What does a communications director do?

A communications director is responsible for monitoring and supervising the overall media relations from internal to external communications. A communications director's duties include managing campaigns, providing organizational updates to the employees, supporting social media marketing, developing effective communication strategies to build the organization's reputation, and efficiently leading team members in handling events that represent the business. Communications directors must have strong leadership and communication skills to provide support for the company's daily operations and strategies.

Director of alumni relations vs communications director salary

Directors of alumni relations and communications directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Communications Director
Average salary	$106,332	$107,700
Salary range	Between $68,000 And $165,000	Between $61,000 And $188,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Nevada
Best paying company	Marshall University	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Education	Health Care

Differences between director of alumni relations and communications director education

There are a few differences between a director of alumni relations and a communications director in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Communications Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Business	Communication
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Director of alumni relations vs communications director demographics

Here are the differences between directors of alumni relations' and communications directors' demographics:

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Communications Director
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 35.6% Female, 64.4%	Male, 40.2% Female, 59.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 75.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between director of alumni relations and communications director duties and responsibilities

Director of alumni relations example responsibilities.

Work cross functionally to write and manage multi-million dollar budgets, alliances and ROI analytics.
Supervise the creation of mailing of annual fund announcements, appeals and thank you's to achieve annual fund goals.
Program development includes managing and building strong relationships with corporate and affinity partners to secure sponsorship and career enhancement for alumni
Design performance review process and share oversight with route sales leadership.
Design, management, and oversight of administrative budget ($ 2,000,000) & employee benefits, including 401k.
Assist in identifying appropriate market segments to develop effective annual fund solicitations and/or appeals for print, electronic and social media.

Communications director example responsibilities.

Assist in managing the Facebook and Instagram pages.
Develop and manage c-level strategic client relationships to grow revenue base.
Create and manage corporate website, online demand gen through SEO and SEM.
Manage editorial content of the organization website, build and upload web pages via HTML.
Manage the marketing strategy and budget, including B2C acquisition campaigns focuse on out of home and DRTV.
Manage media relations, announcements, editorial placement, and speaking opportunities the organizations.

Director of alumni relations vs communications director skills

Common director of alumni relations skills

Alumni Relations, 18%
Alumni Engagement, 9%
Alumni Association, 8%
Alumni Events, 6%
Event Planning, 4%
Alumni Programs, 4%

Common communications director skills

Web Content, 8%
Press Releases, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
External Communications, 5%
Project Management, 4%
Employee Engagement, 4%

Director Of Alumni Relations vs. similar jobs

Director Of Alumni Relations related careers

Director Of Alumni Relations related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Director Of Alumni Relations
Director Of Alumni Relations vs Communications Director

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs