Director of alumni relations vs public relations director

The differences between directors of alumni relations and public relations 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 public relations director. Additionally, a director of alumni relations has an average salary of $106,332, which is higher than the $94,692 average annual salary of a public relations director.

The top three skills for a director of alumni relations include alumni relations, alumni engagement and alumni association. The most important skills for a public relations director are press releases, web content, and pr campaigns.

Director of alumni relations vs public relations director overview

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Public Relations Director
Yearly salary	$106,332	$94,692
Hourly rate	$51.12	$45.52
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	23,650	31,693
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 81%
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 public relations director do?

A public relations director is an individual who is employed to design and implement marketing strategies that can cultivate the relationship between a company and the media. Public relations directors collaborate with the internal team to boost brand awareness and maximize brand consistency in all advertising efforts. They must arrange interviews and press releases so that they can promote their company and its products or services. They also maintain relationships with the media and should manage sensitive issues to maintain the company's good reputation.

Director of alumni relations vs public relations director salary

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

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Public Relations Director
Average salary	$106,332	$94,692
Salary range	Between $68,000 And $165,000	Between $59,000 And $150,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Napa, CA
Highest paying state	California	Nevada
Best paying company	Marshall University	Exelixis
Best paying industry	Education	Internet

Differences between director of alumni relations and public relations director education

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

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Public Relations Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common major	Business	Communication
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Director of alumni relations vs public relations director demographics

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

	Director Of Alumni Relations	Public Relations Director
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 35.6% Female, 64.4%	Male, 35.9% Female, 64.1%
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, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between director of alumni relations and public relations 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.

Public relations director example responsibilities.

Manage internal agency public relations, blog content and twitter account.
Hire, train and manage play-by-play broadcasters guaranteeing a professional and informative listening experience.
Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
Assist in development-relate alumni campaigns and event planning.
Keep running list and archive information regarding NCAA commitments.
Compile statistics and update game notes, player biographies, player and team statistics.

Director of alumni relations vs public relations 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 public relations director skills

Press Releases, 19%
Web Content, 9%
Pr Campaigns, 5%
Facebook, 4%
Crisis Communications, 4%
Twitter, 3%

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Director Of Alumni Relations
Director Of Alumni Relations vs Public Relations Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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