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What is a fundraising consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
The average fundraising consultant salary is $81,853. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a fundraising consultant. Fundraising consultants with a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 6,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
ScoreFundraising ConsultantUS Average
Salary
6.4

Avg. Salary $81,853

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
8.7

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
4.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 5.12%

Black or African American 5.97%

Hispanic or Latino 9.13%

Unknown 4.66%

White 74.70%

Gender

female 57.61%

male 42.39%

Age - 41
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 - 41
Stress level
8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Fundraising consultant career paths

Key steps to become a fundraising consultant

  1. Explore fundraising consultant education requirements

    Most common fundraising consultant degrees

    Bachelor's

    71.8 %

    Master's

    18.2 %

    Associate

    4.9 %
  2. Start to develop specific fundraising consultant skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Capital Campaign17.27%
    Non-Profit Organization12.81%
    Database Management9.32%
    Event Planning6.56%
    Fundraising Campaigns6.36%
  3. Complete relevant fundraising consultant training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fundraising consultants 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 fundraising consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fundraising consultant resumes.
  4. Research fundraising consultant duties and responsibilities

    • Manage and monitor donor tracking system via Salesforce to ensure the integrity of organization's donor base.
    • Develop and implement a new governance infrastructure for an alumni association to include both national and international graduates.
    • Job include daily maintenance of NGP database which include; entering disbursements, contributions and balancing the database in-house.
    • Compose email blasts for various campaigns using MailChimp, NationBuilder, and NGP, including HTML and CSS coding.
  5. Prepare your fundraising consultant resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your fundraising consultant 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 fundraising consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable fundraising consultant resume templates

    Build a professional fundraising consultant 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 fundraising consultant resume.
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    Fundraising Consultant Resume
    Fundraising Consultant Resume
  6. Apply for fundraising consultant jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a fundraising consultant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first fundraising consultant job

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Average fundraising consultant salary

The average fundraising consultant salary in the United States is $81,853 per year or $39 per hour. Fundraising consultant salaries range between $47,000 and $140,000 per year.

Average fundraising consultant salary
$81,853 Yearly
$39.35 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do fundraising consultants rate their job?

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Fundraising consultant reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020
Cons

It needs more patience to apply the true solution and satisfy your client


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019
Pros

Attending and meeting people at events

Cons

- The pressure of securing funds. - comparing the role with sales and/or fundraising - lack of response from donors you are reaching out to. It made me feel as if I wasn't doing my job of connecting with them.


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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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