Fundraising managers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

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, fundraising managers rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 20% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy fundraising managers 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
Lodging manager
2.9
$59k
Office manager
2.9
$61k
Controller
2.9
$71k
Merchandiser
2.9
$32k
Purchasing manager
2.9
$127k
Fundraising manager
2.8
$115k
Risk management specialist
2.8
$73k
Budget analyst
2.8
$80k
Sales manager
2.8
$127k
Executive assistant
2.8
$62k

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

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

Are fundraising managers happy with their salary?

Fundraising managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Fundraising managers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

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

2.9 out of 5 stars

763 fundraising managers

5 Star
9%

9% of fundraising managers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of fundraising managers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
30%

30% of fundraising managers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of fundraising managers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of fundraising managers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do fundraising managers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, fundraising managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.2/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

768 fundraising managers

5 Star
15%

15% of fundraising managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of fundraising managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of fundraising managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of fundraising managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of fundraising managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Fundraising managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of fundraising managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

879 fundraising managers

5 Star
20%

20% of fundraising managers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
38%

38% of fundraising managers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of fundraising managers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of fundraising managers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of fundraising managers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a fundraising manager’s work environment?

As a whole, fundraising managers 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 fundraising managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

876 fundraising managers

5 Star
13%

13% of fundraising managers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of fundraising managers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of fundraising managers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
17%

17% of fundraising managers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of fundraising managers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are fundraising managers making the best use of their abilities?

Former fundraising managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Fundraising managers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

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

3.0 out of 5 stars

876 fundraising managers

5 Star
9%

9% of fundraising managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of fundraising managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
31%

31% of fundraising managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
28%

28% of fundraising managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of fundraising managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars