What does a major donor coordinator do?
The major function of a donor coordinator is to oversee the full implementation of activities such as fundraising or gift-giving. They manage all the transactions of the clients, donors, and volunteers, depending on the organization. They also maintain a good relationship between the benefactors and the beneficiaries. Donor coordinators are also involved in the facilitation and demonstration of progress and production. It is why they are the main point of contract wherein all transactions must go to them.
Major donor coordinator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real major donor coordinator resumes:
- Create and manage fundraising board consisting of business-leader volunteers, alumni, and community activists.
- Manage the grievance process including face-to-face negotiations with union representatives at the highest arbitration procedural level.
- Act as coordinator for alumni events and provide stewardship for scholarship donors and their recipients.
- Help Medicaid eligible members to secure both physical and behavioral services in the community by reviewing and preparing prior authorization requests.
- Monitor twitter and create twitter analytics/reports for publicists on influencers and press.
Major donor coordinator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Major Donor Coordinators are proficient in Donor Relations, Database Management, and Data Entry. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Interpersonal skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Major Donor Coordinators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Donor Relations, 17%
Prepare and distribute regular appeal letters and newsletters to promote positive donor relations.
- Database Management, 9%
Complete Event Coordination Raiser's Edge Database Management: donor information maintenance, donation processing, report creation, campaign assistance
- Data Entry, 7%
Research and data entry of donor prospecting.
- Tissue Donation, 6%
Approach the NOK of potential donor to request tissue donation and acquire medical and social background of decedent.
- Alumni, 5%
Coordinate responses to Alumni Relations & Development and the Office of the Controller concerning annual reports and available endowment monies.
- Phone Calls, 4%
Maintained client relationships with contacts through visits, phone calls, and personal cards to ensure customer retention.
Most major donor coordinators use their skills in "donor relations," "database management," and "data entry" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential major donor coordinator responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a major donor coordinator to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "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." Major donor coordinators often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "created budgets for fund development/marketing activities and provided detailed reports of expenses and revenues to executive director and board of directors. "
Interpersonal skills. Many major donor coordinator duties rely on interpersonal skills. "fundraisers need strong interpersonal skills to develop and maintain relationships with donors. ," so a major donor coordinator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways major donor coordinator responsibilities rely on interpersonal skills: "demonstrated excellent organizational, interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills with clients, supervisor, and command leadership. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of major donor coordinators is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday major donor coordinator duties, as "fundraisers need strong communication skills to clearly explain the message and goals of their organization so that people will make donations." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "maintain organized system for donor tracking, communication, solicitations, gifts acknowledgment and donation processing. "
Organizational skills. For certain major donor coordinator responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of a major donor coordinator rely on this skill, as "fundraisers manage large campaigns and events." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what major donor coordinators do: "support the accomplishment of corporate strategic plans that achieve high impact and significant improvements in organizational performance. "
The three companies that hire the most major donor coordinators are:
- Planned Parenthood4 major donor coordinators jobs
- The Salvation Army3 major donor coordinators jobs
- MSG Entertainment2 major donor coordinators jobs
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Compare different major donor coordinators
Major donor coordinator vs. Fund raiser
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between major donor coordinators and fund raiser. For instance, major donor coordinator responsibilities require skills such as "donor relations," "database management," "data entry," and "tissue donation." Whereas a fund raiser is skilled in "customer service," "professional fund," "political campaigns," and "fund raising campaign." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, fund raisers reach similar levels of education than major donor coordinators. Fund raisers are 1.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Major donor coordinator vs. Special events fundraiser
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, major donor coordinator responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "donor relations," "database management," "data entry," and "tissue donation." Meanwhile, a special events fundraiser has duties that require skills in areas such as "access database," "olympics," "press conferences," and "online software." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Special events fundraisers earn lower levels of education than major donor coordinators in general. They're 7.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Major donor coordinator vs. Raiser
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, major donor coordinators are more likely to have skills like "donor relations," "database management," "data entry," and "tissue donation." But a raiser is more likely to have skills like "alumni relations," "training sessions," "general upkeep," and "pigs."
When it comes to education, raisers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to major donor coordinators. In fact, they're 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Major donor coordinator vs. Campaign fundraiser
Types of major donor coordinator
Updated January 8, 2025
