What does a donor relations officer do?
A donor relations officer is responsible for all the fundraising activities of an organization. As a donor relations officer, you will perform a variety of duties that may include determining strategies and goals to improve donations, maintaining strong relationships with prospects and existing donors, and developing new ways to recognize and thank donors. In addition, you will be responsible for managing post-event stewardship and on-site logistics. You will also be responsible for managing and overseeing employee relations, complaints, and grievances.
Donor relations officer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real donor relations officer resumes:
- Manage on-site logistics and post-event stewardship.
- Manage the grievance process including face-to-face negotiations with union representatives at the highest arbitration procedural level.
- Utilize pivot tables and HRIS to produce weekly staffing reports.
- Welcome and escort VIP guests and special guests to assign rooms.
- Provide exclusive VIP check in & out service, taking care of guests needs.
- Monitor and advice management of trends and potential EEO concerns/trends and how to mitigate them.
- Develop and maintain complex CRM data spreadsheets and reports, pivot tables, advance powerpoint presentations, merges
- Gather and analyze relevant facts relate and documentation for grievance and arbitration proceedings.
- Perform investigations for EEO charges and provide relevant information to attorneys to support response.
- Develop a new constituent engagement strategy which provides career resources to alumni, students and community.
- Craft news releases and various university publications, including law school alumni magazine and campus newspaper.
- Represent company as spokesperson on government and community issues impacting business strategy with political, community, industry and civic organizations.
- Present policy and procedures through PowerPoint presentations.
- Design PowerPoint activities program for continuous broadcast on private community channel.
Donor relations officer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Donor Relations Officers are proficient in Donor Relations, Alumni, and Labor Relations. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Donor Relations Officers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Donor Relations, 23%
Defined the Donor Relations Department regarding stewardship within the framework of Development by communicating and providing best practices.
- Alumni, 17%
Developed a new constituent engagement strategy which provides career resources to alumni, students and community.
- Labor Relations, 6%
Assisted in developing strategic plan and preparation for Labor Relations contract negotiations between the Company and various labor unions.
- Event Planning, 6%
Assisted with media event planning, publicizing campus events and visitors, and tracking of media coverage.
- Press Releases, 6%
Answered frequent media queries and issued press releases to national/international media.
- Arbitration, 4%
Managed the grievance process including face-to-face negotiations with union representatives at the highest arbitration procedural level.
Common skills that a donor relations officer uses to do their job include "donor relations," "alumni," and "labor relations." You can find details on the most important donor relations officer responsibilities below.
Organizational skills. The most essential soft skill for a donor relations officer to carry out their responsibilities is organizational skills. This skill is important for the role because "fundraisers manage large campaigns and events." Additionally, a donor relations officer resume shows how their duties depend on organizational skills: "served as the primary organizational contact for donor relations. "
Communication skills. Many donor relations officer duties rely on communication skills. "fundraisers need strong communication skills to clearly explain the message and goals of their organization so that people will make donations.," so a donor relations officer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways donor relations officer responsibilities rely on communication skills: "developed a new dimension to the donor relations and communications division of stewardship. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of donor relations officers is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday donor relations officer duties, as "fundraisers must be detail oriented because they deal with large volumes of data, including lists of people’s names and phone numbers, and must comply with state and federal regulations." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "developed and implemented customer service procedures by using detailed consumer feedback and reports. "
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what donor relations officers do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to donor relations officer responsibilities because "fundraisers need strong interpersonal skills to develop and maintain relationships with donors. ." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical donor relations officer tasks: "develop interpersonal relationships with labor unions, employment agencies, and local businesses. "
The three companies that hire the most donor relations officers are:
- Atlantic General Hospital12 donor relations officers jobs
- Americorps4 donor relations officers jobs
- Stand Together3 donor relations officers jobs
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Compare different donor relations officers
Donor relations officer vs. Philanthropy chairperson
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, donor relations officer responsibilities require skills like "donor relations," "labor relations," "press releases," and "arbitration." Meanwhile a typical philanthropy chairperson has skills in areas such as "semester," "charitable events," "executive board," and "local community." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that philanthropy chairpeople earn slightly differ from donor relations officers. In particular, philanthropy chairpeople are 7.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a donor relations officer. Additionally, they're 2.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Donor relations officer vs. Fundraising chairperson
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, donor relations officer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "donor relations," "labor relations," "event planning," and "press releases." Meanwhile, a fundraising chairperson has duties that require skills in areas such as "fraternity," "financial statements," "local businesses," and "philanthropic events." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Fundraising chairpeople tend to reach lower levels of education than donor relations officers. In fact, they're 6.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Donor relations officer vs. Fundraising specialist
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a donor relations officer is likely to be skilled in "donor relations," "alumni," "labor relations," and "arbitration," while a typical fundraising specialist is skilled in "fundraising strategy," "crm," "community outreach," and "alumni events."
Most fundraising specialists achieve a lower degree level compared to donor relations officers. For example, they're 6.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Donor relations officer vs. Student caller
Types of donor relations officer
Updated January 8, 2025
