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Fundraising manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Timothy Edwards,

Jaunelle Celaire

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical fundraising manager skills. We ranked the top skills for fundraising managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 13.3% of fundraising manager resumes contained fundraiser as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a fundraising manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 fundraising manager skills for your resume and career

1. Fundraiser

Here's how fundraising managers use fundraiser:

Developed a marketing plan to increase corporate participation in the Change Bandits fundraiser supporting Albuquerque Public Schools.
Managed fundraiser with third party; currently raised over $2500 in one month on literacy fundraiser.

2. Event Planning

Here's how fundraising managers use event planning:

Direct relationship-building efforts for the College of Business both internally and externally through communications, strategic partnerships and event planning.
Developed strategies to increase overall event transaction volume through strategic event planning and brand positioning.

3. CRM

CRM stands for Customer relationship management and it is a complete process through which a business or organization monitors and administers its interactions with the customers. A process in which large amounts of data are collected through marketing via a company's website, polls, surveys, and other social media applications. The basic goal of CRM is to target the right audience for their product, and then fulfill their needs, to increase the sales and revenue of the company.

Here's how fundraising managers use crm:

Maintained CRM database and oversee additional support functions, including financial and performance reporting.
Defined online course components; (CMS), Course Management System and (CRM), Customer Relationship Management System.

4. Donor Database

Donor database refers to the system or central hub that nonprofits use to store the information they have about their contacts.

Here's how fundraising managers use donor database:

Maintained complete donor database to include individuals, corporations, organizations and foundations on Raiser's Edge.
Analyzed and broadened the donor database and strategies to execute the growth of the organization.

5. Strategic Plan

Here's how fundraising managers use strategic plan:

Created and successfully implemented a strategic plan for Major Gift acquisitions.
Provided logistical leadership to ensure fundraising events met goals outlined in strategic plans.

6. Fundraising Strategy

Here's how fundraising managers use fundraising strategy:

Lead staff in fundrasing development and implementation of fundraising strategy to secure revenue; coordinated meetings via Skype.
Participated in development of organization's annual fundraising strategy.

7. Fundraising Campaigns

Here's how fundraising managers use fundraising campaigns:

Analyzed data centralization project for cross-vehicle fundraising campaigns.
Produced and applied successful fundraising campaigns for diverse audiences.

8. Appeals

Here's how fundraising managers use appeals:

Collaborated in fundraising with alumni appeals, grant research and proposals, and mass mailing campaigns.
Develop lists and materials for three direct mail appeals in support of Educational Foundation fund raising goals.

9. Financial Reports

Here's how fundraising managers use financial reports:

Submitted bi-monthly financial reports to the executive office.
Conducted monthly board meetings: creation of agenda, financial reports and committee oversight for finance, development and nominating.

10. Public Speaking

Public Speaking or oration, as it is sometimes known, is the act of any one person speaking live in front of an audience. Although in the past the audience was only a physical one, nowadays oration might be done on an online video call, at a digital conference, at an online class, or elsewhere. The art of public speaking is very old, drawing its first established roots from Ancient Greece and likely from before, too. It is an important skill and asset in many industries.

Here's how fundraising managers use public speaking:

Raised over $3.6 Million for local charities Conducted over 30 public speaking engagements
Assisted with public speaking and community engagement opportunities.

11. Alumni

Alumni is a term used for graduate students of a school, college, university, or any other educational institution. The term is also used for employees of a company or a previous member of a group or an organization that has been retired. Alumni represent the institutions or organizations that they were previously associated with.

Here's how fundraising managers use alumni:

Updated and improved calling scripts to match the experiences of various groups of alumni.
Started the first monthly alumni newsletter with up-to-date content to keep donors engaged.

12. Non-Profit Organization

A non-profit organization (NPO) is a business that has been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because it serves a social cause and provides a benefit to the public. The organization must serve a social cause whether it is through services, goods, or both.

Here's how fundraising managers use non-profit organization:

Raise money for non-profit organizations.
Conducted various fund raising campaigns for non-profit organizations in New York and New Jersey.

13. Strategic Direction

Here's how fundraising managers use strategic direction:

Set strategic direction in coordinating and supervising the Executive Board/Advisory Board including meetings, development, and community outreach events.
Led, trained and provided strategic direction to the Planning/Materials teams domestically and internationally, including travel to Asia.

14. ROI

Here's how fundraising managers use roi:

Instituted new methodology to track event fundraising revenue and ROI.
Attained return on investment (ROI) of .91 on the dollar through organizing the last year's end appeal.

15. Press Releases

Here's how fundraising managers use press releases:

Reviewed and provided support for press releases for financial information including analysis of financial results
Coordinated press releases and promotional materials and other external communications.

What skills help Fundraising Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on fundraising manager resumes?

Dr. Timothy Edwards

Professor, Interim Director, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Writing and research skills. Analytical and critical thinking skills. Technical skills such as web design, graphic design, audio and video production skills. Employers are interested in potential employees knowledge, intelligence and skills.

What fundraising manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Jaunelle Celaire

Chair, Professor of Voice, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Never stop learning! This may consist of going back to school, earning new certifications in your field of study, attending conferences and seminars, and making sure that your time management is always at its finest level of excellence.

Do you want to know more?

List of fundraising manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a fundraising manager resume and required skills for a fundraising manager to have include:

Fundraiser
Event Planning
CRM
Donor Database
Strategic Plan
Fundraising Strategy
Fundraising Campaigns
Appeals
Financial Reports

Public Speaking
Alumni
Non-Profit Organization
Strategic Direction
ROI
Press Releases
Volunteer Recruitment
Event Budgets
Corporate Sponsors

Web Content
RAN
In-Kind Donations
Facebook
Community Outreach
Event Logistics
Educational Programs

Updated January 8, 2025

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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