Fundraiser Salary in 2026: Pay by State, Industry and City

How Much Does a Fundraiser Make?

A fundraiser makes a median of $72,550 a year, or $34.88 an hour, in the May 2025 federal wage survey, which counted 111,040 fundraisers. The median is a midpoint. Half of fundraisers earn above it and half below, and it tells you where the middle of the job sits rather than what any organization will put in an offer letter.

The range around that midpoint is where the planning happens. The 10th percentile is $46,630 and the 25th is $57,480. The 75th is $92,180 and the 90th is $115,820. So the distance from the bottom tenth to the top tenth is $69,190, and the middle half of fundraisers earn between $57,480 and $92,180. In hourly terms the same range runs from $22.42 to $55.68.

For someone starting out, the $46,630 and $57,480 figures are the ones to plan around. The handbook says previous fundraising experience is often important, even in a position other than full-time employment, which is why the volunteer campaigns you ran before graduating belong on the resume from the first application. For someone established, running a campaign or a development office, the $92,180 at the 75th percentile is within reach, and $115,820 at the 90th marks the point only one fundraiser in ten earns above.

Fundraiser Salary by State

Fundraiser salary by state runs from a median of $80,840 in District of Columbia to $50,190 in Arkansas, across the 50 states and the District of Columbia where the survey publishes a median. A state median is a location figure: it reflects which employers are there and what living costs, not what any one employer pays.

Highest-Paying Cities for Fundraisers

The highest-paying cities for fundraisers are the metro areas below, the ten with the highest median among the 273 metro areas where the survey publishes one and at least 100 people hold the job. The second chart lists the ten metro areas that employ the most fundraisers, which is where most of the openings are.

Fundraiser Salary by Industry

Fundraiser pay by industry is set out below for every industry sector where the survey publishes a median, highest first, with the number employed in each. A high median in a sector with few jobs is a real figure but a narrow door.

What Drives Fundraiser Pay?

What drives fundraiser pay is the kind of institution you raise money for, and the ownership figures run the opposite way from what you'd guess for a nonprofit job. Government employers as a whole pay fundraisers a median of $78,590, and private employers pay $71,850. State government, a category the survey defines as including schools and hospitals, pays $79,440 across 7,690 fundraisers, and local government pays $77,070 across 3,780. The private figure covers 99,570 jobs, so most fundraisers work for private employers, and the ones at public institutions earn more at the median.

The sector chart points the same direction. Educational services pays a median of $76,690 across 28,960 fundraisers, above the national median. Other services, the sector that holds the religious, grantmaking, civic and professional organizations the handbook names as the largest employer, at 41 percent of fundraiser jobs, pays $74,660 across 35,980. Health care and social assistance, with 22,300 fundraisers, pays $66,380, and arts, entertainment and recreation pays $62,250 across 7,850. Two sectors clear $93,000, real estate at $93,360 and finance and insurance at $93,320, but they hold 530 and 760 fundraisers respectively. Professional, scientific and technical services, at $80,840 across 3,770 jobs, is the one high-paying sector with a working number of positions.

Metro area is the third driver. San Jose pays fundraisers a median of $106,760 across 1,060 jobs. New York pays $82,180 across 9,520, the largest count of any metro, and San Francisco pays $82,930 across 3,020. Seattle at $80,920, Washington at $80,610 and Boston at $80,340 land close together. Among the states, the District of Columbia leads at $80,840, New York pays $80,540 across 11,600 fundraisers, and Arkansas sits at $50,190, a $30,650 gap from top to bottom.

For a job search, that means the employer type matters more than the title. A development office at a public university or another large educational institution, in a Northeast or West Coast metro, sits near the top of the chart. The handbook adds that some fundraisers attend events in the evenings or on weekends, so ask how the extra hours are handled when you compare offers.

How Can a Fundraiser Earn More?

A fundraiser earns more by moving toward educational institutions and public employers, which runs against the usual assumption that private pays better. Educational services at the $76,690 median is $10,310 above health care and social assistance at $66,380, and state government at $79,440 is $7,590 above private employers at $71,850. A fundraiser who moves from a health care employer to a public university's development office is making both moves at once.

Location is the second lever. New York's $82,180 metro median is $9,630 above Chicago's $72,550. The District of Columbia at $80,840, New York at $80,540, Maryland at $79,780 and California at $79,710 lead the state chart, against Texas at $60,320 and Arkansas at $50,190. San Jose's $106,760 is the highest metro median, across 1,060 fundraisers, so it's a target for a small number of people.

The handbook's one note on getting ahead is about experience. Previous fundraising experience is often important, even in a position other than full-time employment, so every campaign you've run counts on the record from the start. It also says laws vary by state and some types of fundraisers may need to register with a state authority, which is a requirement to check before you move states for a higher median. The fundraiser career guide covers how to build that experience from a general studies degree.

The steps into the job, and whether a general studies degree is enough to get there, are in the fundraiser career guide.