Business & Finance
Fundraising Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities to solicit and maintain funds for special projects or nonprofit organizations.
Median salary (BLS)
$125,470
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$75k – $222k
Job outlook
+4% (faster than average)
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $112,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Fundraising Managers
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Fundraising Managers Intern
Internship
$37,565
~4 mos to advance
Junior Fundraising Managers
Entry / Junior
$75,130
~2 yrs to advance
Fundraising Managers
Established
$125,470
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Fundraising Managers
Senior
$173,910
Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.
Key skills
A typical day
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Business & Finance
Explore all- University of Pennsylvania6% admit · $112,000 grad pay
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology4% admit · $124,000 grad pay
- Harvard University4% admit · $119,000 grad pay
- University of California, Berkeley11% admit · $97,000 grad pay
- New York University12% admit · $84,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.