Post job
zippia ai icon

Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Professional fundraiser skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical professional fundraiser skills. We ranked the top skills for professional fundraisers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.8% of professional fundraiser resumes contained alumni as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a professional fundraiser needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 professional fundraiser skills for your resume and career

1. Alumni

Alumni is a term used for graduate students of a school, college, university, or any other educational institution. The term is also used for employees of a company or a previous member of a group or an organization that has been retired. Alumni represent the institutions or organizations that they were previously associated with.

Here's how professional fundraisers use alumni:
  • Contacted prominent alumni of the University of Idaho and facilitated the growth of many academic and athletic programs by collecting donations.
  • Contacted alumni to update/verify their personal information and raised money for the university through gifts from alumni and friends of the university

2. Non-Profit Organization

A non-profit organization (NPO) is a business that has been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because it serves a social cause and provides a benefit to the public. The organization must serve a social cause whether it is through services, goods, or both.

Here's how professional fundraisers use non-profit organization:
  • Top performer, exceeding contribution metrics needed to increase sustainable revenue for contracted non-profit organizations.
  • Contacted potential donors via telephone to raise funds for non-profit organizations.

3. Telephone Calls

Telephone calls are a communication means through which a caller is connected to the called party. The call is done through a telecommunications device called a telephone. The caller can use a landline, mobile phone, or satellite phone to make the call.

Here's how professional fundraisers use telephone calls:
  • Provided basic customer service for a high volume of primarily routine inbound telephone calls while providing customer satisfaction and retention.
  • Answered member/provider questions via incoming telephone calls in a professional, quality driven manner.

4. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how professional fundraisers use customer service:
  • Provide customer service and inspire new supporters to donate in addition to developing and maintaining existing relationships.
  • Call center, customer service and collection accounts for outstanding business accounts for the Company.

5. Outbound Calls

An outbound call is made by the call center representative to the customers on behalf of the company. Such calls help increase sales and generate revenue for the organization.

Here's how professional fundraisers use outbound calls:
  • Executed outbound calls to existing customer base resulting in 25% sales increase.
  • Job duties: Professional fundraiser making outbound calls for charitable organizations.

6. Charitable Donations

Here's how professional fundraisers use charitable donations:
  • Use telephone to solicit charitable donations for Oregon Chiefs of Police and Defeat Diabetes Foundation.
  • Call center / Police Associations -Charitable Donations.

Choose from 10+ customizable professional fundraiser resume templates

Build a professional professional fundraiser resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your professional fundraiser resume.

7. Cold Calls

Cold calling is a kind of business solicitation from customers who didn't express interest in their product and services before. In this technique, a salesman conducts a call with potential customers with whom they haven't had a prior interaction. Cold calling can include phone calls or telemarketing. However, in-person visits like door-to-door marketing are also a type of cold calling

Here's how professional fundraisers use cold calls:
  • Managed 40 cold callers in office, informing them on how to successfully achieve quota daily.
  • Completed 250 daily cold calls, with an average customer commitment rate of 110%.

8. Veterans

Here's how professional fundraisers use veterans:
  • Collect donations for American Veterans Relief Fund * Explain how the donations would benefit those affected
  • Collected donations for firefighters, police officers, and homeless War Veterans.

9. Political Organizations

Here's how professional fundraisers use political organizations:
  • Raised over $750,000 for various non-profits and political organizations.
  • Performed telephone-based fundraising, cold-calling, for non-profit and political organization.

10. Political Campaigns

Here's how professional fundraisers use political campaigns:
  • Make phone calls to Republicans, Democrats etc to donate money for political campaigns.
  • Contacted customers via telephone; secured funding for political campaigns.

11. Breast Cancer

Here's how professional fundraisers use breast cancer:
  • Contacted individuals asking for donation on behalf of the Breast Cancer Society.
  • Breast Cancer Assn., Fire Department Benevolent Assn., etc.

12. Law Enforcement

Law enforcement is the task of certain members of the community who work together to uphold the law by identifying, preventing, rehabilitating, or prosecuting others who break society's laws and norms. The phrase refers to the police, the judiciary, and the correctional system.

Here's how professional fundraisers use law enforcement:
  • Raised funds for nonprofit law enforcement, firefighters, and memorial funds.
  • Job Description: Fundraiser for varied Law Enforcement groups including State Police, Sheriff's Office and Park Police Depts.

13. Charitable Organizations

Here's how professional fundraisers use charitable organizations:
  • Solicited contributions for and on behalf of a charitable organization.
  • Acted as a consultant in connection with the solicitation of contributions for or on behalf of charitable organizations.

14. Computer System

Here's how professional fundraisers use computer system:
  • Act as a Team Leader to new callers; assisting in conversation performance, flow or computer systems coding.
  • Take calls on a automatic computer system.

15. Sales

Here's how professional fundraisers use sales:
  • Received company Employee Performance Award after maintaining record sales achievements.
  • Generated new business and develop client relationships within new and existing accounts through cold call and relationship-based sales.
top-skills

What skills help Professional Fundraisers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

List of professional fundraiser skills to add to your resume

Professional fundraiser skills

The most important skills for a professional fundraiser resume and required skills for a professional fundraiser to have include:

  • Alumni
  • Non-Profit Organization
  • Telephone Calls
  • Customer Service
  • Outbound Calls
  • Charitable Donations
  • Cold Calls
  • Veterans
  • Political Organizations
  • Political Campaigns
  • Breast Cancer
  • Law Enforcement
  • Charitable Organizations
  • Computer System
  • Sales
  • Olympics
  • Sales Techniques
  • PBS
  • Financial Support
  • Negotiation
  • Payment Method

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.

Browse business and financial jobs