Fundraising Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities to solicit and maintain funds for special projects or nonprofit organizations.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Persuasion
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administrative
- English Language
- Sales and Marketing
- Economics and Accounting
- Communications and Media
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- Assign, supervise, and review the activities of fundraising staff.
- Compile or develop materials to submit to granting or other funding organizations.
- Conduct research to identify the goals, net worth, charitable donation history, or other data related to potential donors, potential investors, or general donor markets.
- Contact corporate representatives, government officials, or community leaders to increase awareness of organizational causes, activities, or needs.
- Design and edit promotional publications, such as brochures.
- Develop fundraising activity plans that maximize participation or contributions and minimize costs.
- Develop strategies to encourage new or increased contributions.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, government officials, and media representatives and use these relationships to develop new fundraising opportunities.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (65.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (55.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (42.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Fundraising Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 96% of occupations compared | 96% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 90% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 93% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 72% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 59% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 58% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 58% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 60% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 4.02%
- Constant contact with others: 95.98%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 9.78%
- Extremely important: 69.99%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.6%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 65.38%
- Every day: 16.02%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 10.7%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.88%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 68.95%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 6.47%
- Every day: 0%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 11.11%
- Every day: 0%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 11.76%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 15.62%
- Very serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely serious: 4.18%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Fundraisers
Closeness 94/100
- Analyze
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents
Closeness 94/100
- Analyze
Financial Managers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Compensation and Benefits Managers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Credit Counselors
Closeness 93/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 11-2033.00 · SOC 11-2033 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8