Career
Fundraising managers
Lead the effort to raise the money a mission depends on.
$125,470
Median pay
+5.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
3,700
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Develop strategies to encourage new or increased contributions.
- Manage fundraising budgets.
- Develop fundraising activity plans that maximize participation or contributions and minimize costs.
- Plan and direct special events for fundraising, such as silent auctions, dances, golf events, or walks.
- Establish goals for soliciting funds, develop policies for collection and safeguarding of contributions, and coordinate disbursement of funds.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Develop strategies to encourage new or increased contributions.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Speaking, Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $125,470 a year and 3,700 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Business AdministrationSee the degree →
- CommunicationSee the degree →
- MarketingSee the degree →
- Public Relations and AdvertisingSee the degree →
- Communication, GeneralCIP 09.0100
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied CommunicationCIP 09.0900
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Fundraisers$72,550 · +5.5%
- Public Relations Managers$146,910 · +5.7%
- Public Relations Specialists$74,750 · +1.8%
- Advertising and Promotions Managers$133,660 · -3.7%
- Social and Community Service Managers$80,390 · +7.2%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.