Fundraisers are below average when it comes to happiness.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, fundraisers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 25% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy fundraisers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Public relations specialist
3.0
$52k
Market research analyst
2.9
$48k
Publicist
2.9
$49k
Customer success manager
2.9
$70k
Fundraiser
2.9
$61k
Property manager
2.9
$46k
Office manager
2.9
$36k
Controller
2.9
$71k
Merchandiser
2.9
$26k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are fundraisers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do fundraisers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as fundraisers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are fundraiser’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are fundraisers making the best use of their abilities?

Are fundraisers happy with their salary?

Fundraisers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Fundraisers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked fundraisers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

400 fundraisers

5 Star
8%

8% of fundraisers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of fundraisers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of fundraisers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of fundraisers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of fundraisers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do fundraisers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, fundraisers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.1/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

We asked fundraisers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

408 fundraisers

5 Star
17%

17% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as fundraisers?

Fundraisers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of fundraisers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked fundraisers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.5 out of 5 stars

442 fundraisers

5 Star
24%

24% of fundraisers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of fundraisers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of fundraisers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of fundraisers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of fundraisers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a fundraiser’s work environment?

As a whole, fundraisers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked fundraisers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

444 fundraisers

5 Star
16%

16% of fundraisers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of fundraisers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of fundraisers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of fundraisers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of fundraisers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are fundraisers making the best use of their abilities?

Former fundraisers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Fundraisers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked fundraisers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

446 fundraisers

5 Star
11%

11% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
15%

15% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars