Best Fundraising Manager programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities to solicit and maintain funds for special projects or nonprofit.
64 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 4,070 people a year. The job pays a median of $135,870 in California across about 5,430 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
7 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 09.0100In California → | 1,752 | 43.0% | 23 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0213In California → | 1,020 | 25.1% | 31 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 52.1401In California → | 729 | 17.9% | 18 | $44,670 | $24,250 |
| 4 | CIP 09.0900In California → | 249 | 6.1% | 12 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 5 | CIP 09.0902In California → | 210 | 5.2% | 5 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 6 | CIP 52.0206In California → | 75 | 1.8% | 6 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 7 | CIP 09.0909In California → | 35 | 0.9% | 3 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 32 of the 64 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 618 | Communication, General | $46,598 | 83% | — | 33% |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 296 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $50,041 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 265 | Communication, General | $42,569 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 4 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 239 | Communication, General | $33,046 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 5 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 225 | Communication, General | — | 93% | — | 9% |
| 6 | University of Massachusetts Global Aliso Viejo, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 180 | Organizational Leadership | $61,268 | 43% | — | — |
| 7 | California Baptist University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 168 | Organizational Leadership | $64,987 | 62% | $26,940 | 85% |
| 8 | University of San Diego San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 166 | Marketing/Marketing Management, General | $56,313 | 84% | $26,035 | 52% |
| 9 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 160 | Marketing/Marketing Management, General | $48,281 | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 10 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 153 | Organizational Leadership | $61,299 | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 11 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 134 | Marketing/Marketing Management, General | $58,493 | 88% | $44,094 | 48% |
| 12 | Concordia University - Irvine Irvine, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 85 | Organizational Leadership | $37,660 | 58% | $26,609 | 66% |
| 13 | Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 79 | Organizational Leadership | $48,397 | 77% | $48,795 | 84% |
| 14 | University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 75 | Marketing/Marketing Management, General | $44,891 | 70% | $37,121 | 62% |
| 15 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 74 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $45,988 | 83% | $41,986 | 63% |
| 16 | California State University - Dominguez Hills Carson, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 66 | Public Relations/Image Management | $38,798 | 43% | — | 93% |
| 17 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 64 | Public Relations/Image Management | $28,226 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 18 | Los Angeles Valley College Valley Glen, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 64 | Communication, General | — | 32% | — | — |
| 19 | John Paul the Great Catholic University Escondido, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Communication, General | — | 64% | $28,763 | 80% |
| 20 | University of Redlands Redlands, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Organizational Leadership | $60,755 | 67% | $22,706 | 83% |
| 21 | University of La Verne La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Organizational Leadership | $57,154 | 63% | $45,461 | 71% |
| 22 | Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Organizational Leadership | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Claremont Lincoln University Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 47 | Organizational Leadership | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 46 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $40,141 | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 25 | Menlo College Atherton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Marketing/Marketing Management, General | $49,788 | 54% | $26,655 | 68% |
All 64 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 618 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 296 | 5 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 265 | 1 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 239 | 1 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 225 | 1 |
| University of Massachusetts Global | Aliso Viejo | Public | 180 | 2 |
| California Baptist University | Riverside | Private not-for-profit | 168 | 4 |
| University of San Diego | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 166 | 2 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 160 | 1 |
| National University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 153 | 3 |
| Santa Clara University | Santa Clara | Private not-for-profit | 134 | 1 |
| Concordia University - Irvine | Irvine | Private not-for-profit | 85 | 2 |
| Point Loma Nazarene University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 79 | 3 |
| University of San Francisco | San Francisco | Private not-for-profit | 75 | 2 |
| Pepperdine University | Malibu | Private not-for-profit | 74 | 3 |
What fundraising managers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $125,470. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Fundraising Managers page.
How to become a Fundraising Manager
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to Fundraising Managers8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0100Communication, General
- 09.0900Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
- 09.0902Public Relations/Image Management
- 09.0909Communication Management and Strategic Communications
- 52.0206Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management
- 52.0213Organizational Leadership
- 52.0502Grantsmanship
- 52.1401Marketing/Marketing Management, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing fundraising managers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Fundraising Manager?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Communication, General, which awarded 1,752 degrees in California in 2024-25, 43.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Fundraising Manager?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Business Administration, Marketing, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 4,070 people a year in California.
How much do fundraising managers earn in California?+
The median is $135,870 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.3% above the U.S. median of $125,470. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for fundraising managers growing?+
BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 3,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
64 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 7 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do fundraising managers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Fundraising Manager, Advancement Director, Development Director, Annual Giving Director among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-2033.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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