What does a principal gifts officer do?
Principal gifts officer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real principal gifts officer resumes:
- Manage all aspects of donor prospecting, cultivation, stewardship, and budget/vendor/consultant management for special events and individual giving.
- Coordinate among cross-functional business departments including investor relations, risk, trading desk, compliance, tax/accounting, and portfolio administration.
- Execute PAC fundraising plan for congressional and political action committee clients.
Principal gifts officer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Principal Gifts Officers are proficient in Donor Database, Leadership Gifts, and Professional Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Organizational skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Principal Gifts Officers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Donor Database, 15%
Initiated gift planning program in Oregon by building donor database with older individuals for purposes of soliciting planned gifts.
- Leadership Gifts, 13%
Cultivated and solicited leadership gifts from alumni at a threshold level of $2,000.
- Professional Development, 13%
Participate in the regional CASE conference and other Professional Development programs.
- Capital Campaign, 10%
Assisted in Brilliant Futures Capital Campaign--$20M in principal gift donor pool of ($650M goal).
- Donor Relations, 8%
Developed a consistent regional recognition and cultivation plan to strengthen donor relations and engage new supporters.
- Strategic Plan, 6%
Headed three teams in strategic planning of recruitment, training and inspection for the whole nation.
Most principal gifts officers use their skills in "donor database," "leadership gifts," and "professional development" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential principal gifts officer responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a principal gifts officer to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what principal gifts officers do because "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." Additionally, a principal gifts officer resume shows how principal gifts officers use detail oriented: "evaluated alumni's college experience by asking questions and requesting details about their experience with the university. "
Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling principal gifts officer duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "fundraisers manage large campaigns and events." According to a principal gifts officer resume, here's how principal gifts officers can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "supervised operation and organizational maintenance of weapons systems and specialized equipment. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for principal gifts officers to perform their duties. For an example of how principal gifts officer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "fundraisers need strong communication skills to clearly explain the message and goals of their organization so that people will make donations." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a principal gifts officer: "maintained complete accountability during redeployment of all sensitive items and communication equipment. ".
The three companies that hire the most principal gifts officers are:
- RWJBarnabas Health3 principal gifts officers jobs
- U.S. Bank2 principal gifts officers jobs
- Children's Hospital Colorado2 principal gifts officers jobs
Compare different principal gifts officers
Principal gifts officer vs. Direct response consultant
A fundraising intern has the opportunity to learn how to create fundraising events from beginning to execution. They also learn how to execute the best practices in fundraising events such as creating a cause, case statement, budget, functional database, and other important parameters. They are required to provide general support to the fundraising team, both in and outside the office. They may also be expected to work towards setting and achieving fundraising targets under the supervision of the Fundraising Development Manager.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a principal gifts officer are more likely to require skills like "donor database," "leadership gifts," "professional development," and "capital campaign." On the other hand, a job as a direct response consultant requires skills like "incident response," "encase," "hipaa," and "patients." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, direct response consultants reach lower levels of education than principal gifts officers. Direct response consultants are 13.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Principal gifts officer vs. Fundraising internship
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that principal gifts officer responsibilities requires skills like "leadership gifts," "professional development," "strategic plan," and "family foundations." But a fundraising internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "database management," "event planning," "press releases," and "non-profit organization."
Fundraising interns earn lower levels of education than principal gifts officers in general. They're 18.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Principal gifts officer vs. Community fundraiser
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from principal gifts officer resumes include skills like "donor database," "leadership gifts," "professional development," and "capital campaign," whereas a community fundraiser is more likely to list skills in "community outreach," "fundraiser," "community services," and "organizational culture. "
When it comes to education, community fundraisers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to principal gifts officers. In fact, they're 15.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 4.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Principal gifts officer vs. Fund raiser
Types of principal gifts officer
Updated January 8, 2025
