How To Become A Professional Fundraiser: What It Is and Career Path

What is a professional fundraiser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a professional fundraiser. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.01 an hour? That's $43,692 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 11,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreProfessional FundraiserUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,692

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.1

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 5.16%

Black or African American 5.33%

Hispanic or Latino 8.03%

Unknown 4.16%

White 77.03%

Gender

female 53.96%

male 46.04%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

6.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a professional fundraiser

Explore professional fundraiser education requirements

Most common professional fundraiser degrees

Bachelor's

44.6 %

High School Diploma

26.6 %

Associate

14.9 %

Start to develop specific professional fundraiser skills

Skills	Percentages
Alumni	21.77%
Non-Profit Organization	13.84%
Telephone Calls	11.26%
Customer Service	10.63%
Outbound Calls	9.44%

Complete relevant professional fundraiser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New professional fundraisers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a professional fundraiser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real professional fundraiser resumes.

Research professional fundraiser duties and responsibilities

Mentore new and struggling CSP's to help them reach and achieve their goals.
Contact alumni to update/verify their personal information and raise money for the university through gifts from alumni and friends of the university
Monitor complaint database assign customers grievances to designate department or CSR for further investigation and resolution.

Prepare your professional fundraiser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your professional fundraiser resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a professional fundraiser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable professional fundraiser resume templates

Build a professional professional fundraiser resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your professional fundraiser resume.