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What does a planned giving officer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

Planned Giving Officers are responsible for evaluating, planning and implementing, and directing all aspects of their program. They are in charge of identifying prospects through direct mail programs and referrals from different sources. They deal with a wide range of donor cultivation, including working with the development staff to develop a planned giving as a strategic fundraising plan. They can work from their home offices and travel or work at the office, depending on the situation.

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Planned giving officer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real planned giving officer resumes:

  • Manage, coordinate, and synchronize all unit redeployment efforts.
  • Manage SharePoint data system for facility safety inspections and inventory tracking; develop organizational plan and access for over 3K personnel.
  • Develop and coordinate USMC classify requirements and ensure they are included in appropriate planning documents and forums throughout DoD.
  • Coordinate VIP visits to the unit.
  • Perform long-range assessments of an operation's progress and maintain estimates of available combat power.
  • Develop and implement deliberate and crisis action plans in accordance with DOD regulations and policy directives.
  • Disseminate information from top-tier level command, publish orders, and coordinate security protection assets with partner combat battalions.
  • Facilitate oversight and responsibility for classification management.
  • Facilitate oversight and responsibility for classification management.

Planned giving officer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 26% of Planned Giving Officers are proficient in Alumni, PowerPoint, and Appeals. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Planned Giving Officers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Alumni, 26%

    Recruited and trained volunteers on methods to solicit fellow alumni and parents for Annual Fund gifts.

  • PowerPoint, 17%

    Prepared presentations and spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint to display targeted information to leadership and faculty.

  • Appeals, 6%

    Produced all aspects of the direct mail appeals, including the letters, artwork, mailing lists, printingand mailing.

  • Annuities, 6%

    Initiated and implemented follow-up strategy on proposals sent out for charitable gift annuities and quality calls for first time annuitants.

  • Remainder, 5%

    Doubled the number of Charitable Remainder trusts to Foundation during first year.

  • Strategic Plan, 5%

    Developed and recommended implementation of acceptance of policy concepts for both in-year operational plans and 5-yearstrategic plans.

Common skills that a planned giving officer uses to do their job include "alumni," "powerpoint," and "appeals." You can find details on the most important planned giving officer responsibilities below.

Organizational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a planned giving officer to have is organizational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." Planned giving officers often use organizational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "coordinated unit control center (ucc) contingency operations and reviewed organizational supportagreements and coordinated appropriate revisions. "

Speaking skills. Many planned giving officer duties rely on speaking skills. "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization," so a planned giving officer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways planned giving officer responsibilities rely on speaking skills: "represented the commanding officer as needed during search and rescue, law enforcement, aids to navigation, and media relations. "

Writing skills. planned giving officers are also known for writing skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to planned giving officer responsibilities, because "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." A planned giving officer resume example shows how writing skills is used in the workplace: "assisted in developing, writing, and revising operations plans, monthly training schedules and standard operating procedures. "

Communication skills. A big part of what planned giving officers do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to planned giving officer responsibilities 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." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical planned giving officer tasks: "provided improvements to key control and local law enforcement agency communication. "

Leadership skills. Another common skill required for planned giving officer responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of planned giving officers all the time, as "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." An excerpt from a real planned giving officer resume shows how this skill is central to what a planned giving officer does: "provided coalition forces leadership with assessments of iraqi capabilities and limitations. "

Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a planned giving officer does. Planned giving officer responsibilities require this skill because "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." This resume example highlights how planned giving officer duties rely on this skill: "resolved long standing ambiguity of usmc's program and brought usmc into compliance with dod requirements"

All planned giving officer skills

The three companies that hire the most planned giving officers are:

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Compare different planned giving officers

Planned giving officer 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.

The annual salary of directors, customer relations is $77,229 higher than the average salary of planned giving officers.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, planned giving officer responsibilities require skills like "alumni," "powerpoint," "appeals," and "annuities." Meanwhile a typical director, customer relations has skills in areas such as "customer relations," "leveraged," "government relations," and "press releases." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Directors, customer relations tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $124,365. In contrast, planned giving officers make the biggest average salary, $58,256, in the non profits industry.On average, directors, customer relations reach lower levels of education than planned giving officers. Directors, customer relations are 11.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Planned giving officer vs. Communications director

A communications director is responsible for monitoring and supervising the overall media relations from internal to external communications. A communications director's duties include managing campaigns, providing organizational updates to the employees, supporting social media marketing, developing effective communication strategies to build the organization's reputation, and efficiently leading team members in handling events that represent the business. Communications directors must have strong leadership and communication skills to provide support for the company's daily operations and strategies.

Communications director positions earn higher pay than planned giving officer roles. They earn a $50,257 higher salary than planned giving officers per year.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that planned giving officer responsibilities requires skills like "alumni," "appeals," "annuities," and "remainder." But a communications director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "web content," "press releases," "customer service," and "external communications."

Communications directors earn a higher average salary than planned giving officers. But communications directors earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $109,135. Additionally, planned giving officers earn the highest salaries in the non profits with average pay of $58,256 annually.communications directors earn lower levels of education than planned giving officers in general. They're 5.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Planned giving officer vs. Development director

A development director is an individual who is responsible for securing funds and sponsors for non-profit organizations. Development directors must actively seek new business partners and develop relationships with volunteers and donors. They meet with members of the development team to help advertise and promote brand awareness and funding. Development directors must possess skills and experience in managing human resources, marketing, and budgeting functions. They must also obtain a bachelor's degree in business management, public relations, or related field.

On average scale, development directors bring in higher salaries than planned giving officers. In fact, they earn a $49,601 higher salary per year.planned giving officers and development directors both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "annuities," "strategic plan," and "individual giving," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a planned giving officer is likely to be skilled in "alumni," "powerpoint," "appeals," and "remainder," while a typical development director is skilled in "digital marketing," "oversight," "patients," and "lead generation."

Most development directors achieve a similar degree level compared to planned giving officers. For example, they're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Planned giving officer vs. Community relations director

A community relations director is an individual who is responsible for managing positive relationships with community members, nonprofit organizations, and fellow employees surrounding an organization. Community relations directors must plan, organize, and manage activities to help the organization achieve its public relations goal. They need to interface with vital community groups so that they can ensure the organization is producing effective results. Community relations managers must also assist in preparing a variety of publicity materials such as speeches and media content.

Community relations directors typically earn higher pay than planned giving officers. On average, community relations directors earn a $39,345 higher salary per year.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A planned giving officer uses "alumni," "powerpoint," "appeals," and "annuities." Community relations directors are more likely to have duties that require skills in "community relations," "community events," "memory care," and "press releases. "community relations directors enjoy the best pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $87,495. For comparison, planned giving officers earn the highest salary in the non profits industry.community relations directors reach lower levels of education compared to planned giving officers, in general. The difference is that they're 7.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of planned giving officer

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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