What does a fundraising manager do?
Fundraising manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real fundraising manager resumes:
- Manage fundraiser with third party; currently raise over $2500 in one month on literacy fundraiser.
- Start the first monthly alumni newsletter with up-to-date content to keep donors engage.
- Update and improve calling scripts to match the experiences of various groups of alumni.
- Refocuse the analytic competency from pivot table producers to producing analytics that are driving the business.
- Maintain targeted print and electronic media database.
Fundraising manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Fundraising Managers are proficient in Fundraiser, Event Planning, and CRM. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Fundraising Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Fundraiser, 13%
Developed a marketing plan to increase corporate participation in the Change Bandits fundraiser supporting Albuquerque Public Schools.
- Event Planning, 10%
Direct relationship-building efforts for the College of Business both internally and externally through communications, strategic partnerships and event planning.
- CRM, 10%
Maintained CRM database and oversee additional support functions, including financial and performance reporting.
- Donor Database, 8%
Maintained complete donor database to include individuals, corporations, organizations and foundations on Raiser's Edge.
- Strategic Plan, 8%
Created and successfully implemented a strategic plan for Major Gift acquisitions.
- Fundraising Strategy, 8%
Lead staff in fundrasing development and implementation of fundraising strategy to secure revenue; coordinated meetings via Skype.
"fundraiser," "event planning," and "crm" are among the most common skills that fundraising managers use at work. You can find even more fundraising manager responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a fundraising manager to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what fundraising managers do because "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." Additionally, a fundraising manager resume shows how fundraising managers use communication skills: "direct relationship-building efforts for the college of business both internally and externally through communications, strategic partnerships and event planning. "
Leadership skills. Another essential skill to perform fundraising manager duties is leadership skills. Fundraising managers responsibilities require that "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." Fundraising managers also use leadership skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "identify, engage and recruit younger members with strong leadership potential. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of fundraising managers is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday fundraising manager duties, as "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "create alumni and donor databases for organizational use. "
Problem-solving skills. fundraising manager responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." This resume example shows what fundraising managers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "consolidated five different database reporting platforms into a single solution using sql server reporting services. "
Speaking skills. Another crucial skill for a fundraising manager to carry out their responsibilities is "speaking skills." A big part of what fundraising managers relies on this skill, since "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization." How this skill relates to fundraising manager duties can be seen in an example from a fundraising manager resume snippet: "trained volunteers on public speaking for employee presentations. "
Writing skills. Another skill commonly found on fundraising manager job descriptions is "writing skills." It can come up quite often in fundraising manager duties, since "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day fundraising manager responsibilities: "grant writing, appeals, donor solicitation and event planning. "
The three companies that hire the most fundraising managers are:
- The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society74 fundraising managers jobs
- Americorps2 fundraising managers jobs
- EAH Housing2 fundraising managers jobs
Compare different fundraising managers
Fundraising manager vs. Director of special events
A director of special events spearheads and oversees the planning and execution of various events, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically set goals and guidelines, manage schedules and timelines, outline plans and strategies, coordinate managers and different departments, and liaise with vendors and suppliers, building positive business relationships in the process. Moreover, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals while implementing and promoting the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, fundraising manager responsibilities require skills like "fundraiser," "crm," "donor database," and "fundraising strategy." Meanwhile a typical director of special events has skills in areas such as "event management," "audio visual," "promotional materials," and "trade shows." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Directors of special events really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $67,284. Comparatively, fundraising managers tend to make the most money in the retail industry with an average salary of $93,802.On average, directors of special events reach similar levels of education than fundraising managers. Directors of special events are 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Fundraising manager vs. Director, customer relations
Director of Customer Relations is responsible for leading the design and improvement of an organization's overall customer service experience. Their duties include developing customer service budget, driving customer service process improvements, implementing customer service agents, managing email and telephony customer service routing, and creating training programs for customer service staff. They are responsible for improving customer service performance metrics, overseeing key change management projects, and establishing a customer service roadmap. The Director of customer relations also helps in developing recruitment initiatives to attract top talents.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real fundraising manager resumes. While fundraising manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "fundraiser," "event planning," "crm," and "donor database," directors, customer relations use skills like "customer relations," "leveraged," "government relations," and "payroll."
Directors, customer relations earn a higher average salary than fundraising managers. But directors, customer relations earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $124,365. Additionally, fundraising managers earn the highest salaries in the retail with average pay of $93,802 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Directors, customer relations tend to reach similar levels of education than fundraising managers. In fact, they're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Fundraising manager vs. Director of public affairs
Directors of Public Affairs are executives who manage the public relations and communications initiatives of the company. They oversee all external communications that are intended for broadcast. They create guidelines on the proper crafting of communication materials that will be published or broadcasted. They also lead the public affairs department in networking activities and industry events. Directors of Public Affairs must be level-headed, calm, and creative. They should know how to communicate with the public, handle crises, and create successful brands.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from fundraising manager resumes include skills like "fundraiser," "event planning," "crm," and "donor database," whereas a director of public affairs is more likely to list skills in "government affairs," "public policy," "external stakeholders," and "policy issues. "
Directors of public affairs make a very good living in the pharmaceutical industry with an average annual salary of $137,872. On the other hand, fundraising managers are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $93,802.directors of public affairs typically earn higher educational levels compared to fundraising managers. Specifically, they're 8.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 5.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Fundraising manager vs. Vice president of communication
A vice president of communication is in charge of overseeing and implementing internal and external communication programs. Their responsibilities revolve around setting goals and objectives, allocating budgets, delegating tasks, liaising with key clients, and managing the workforce to ensure an efficient workflow. They may also produce progress reports for the president and other executives, prepare presentations, develop business plans, and devise strategies to optimize services and operations. Furthermore, as vice president, it is essential to implement the company's policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between fundraising managers and vice president of communications, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a fundraising manager might have more use for skills like "fundraiser," "crm," "donor database," and "fundraising strategy." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of vice president of communications require skills like "strategic communications," "external communications," "oversight," and "project management. "
In general, vice president of communications earn the most working in the media industry, with an average salary of $152,749. The highest-paying industry for a fundraising manager is the retail industry.The average resume of vice president of communications showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to fundraising managers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 3.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.1%.Types of fundraising manager
Updated January 8, 2025
