New Jersey·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-1131

Best Fundraiser programs in New Jersey, ranked by enrollment

Organize activities to raise funds or otherwise solicit and gather monetary donations or other gifts for an organization. May design and produce promotional materials.

29 schools in New Jersey run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,056 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,170 in New Jersey across about 1,950 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDevelopment OfficerPhilanthropy OfficerContract Grant WriterFundraising ConsultantFundraiserGrant WriterDonor OfficerDonor Specialist
Graduates / yr
1,056
in New Jersey
Median pay · New Jersey
$77,170
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,950
people employed
Schools
29
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,094
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New Jersey that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

4 programs in New Jersey that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New Jersey (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 New Jersey page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1821
77.7%
24$44,670$24,250
2125
11.8%
7$34,858$25,000
383
7.9%
5$39,658$24,500
427
2.6%
2$39,658$24,500

Top 25 schools in New Jersey

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 29 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Rutgers University - New Brunswick
New Brunswick, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
173Marketing/Marketing Management, General$48,64584%58%
2Seton Hall University
South Orange, NJ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
125Marketing/Marketing Management, General$50,20069%$27,37673%
3Rutgers University - Newark
Newark, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
101Marketing/Marketing Management, General$48,64564%71%
4Kean University
Union, NJ Public · 2 feeder programs
83Marketing/Marketing Management, General$37,78147%76%
5Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
76Marketing/Marketing Management, General70%71%
6The College of New Jersey
Ewing, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
74Communication, General$37,15186%62%
7Rowan University
Glassboro, NJ Public · 2 feeder programs
68Public Relations/Image Management$35,11667%78%
8William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, NJ Public · 2 feeder programs
52Marketing/Marketing Management, General$37,74044%90%
9Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham Campus
Madison, NJ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
50Communication, General$34,77267%$23,57395%
10Montclair State University
Montclair, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
28Marketing/Marketing Management, General65%88%
11Rider University
Lawrenceville, NJ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
28Marketing/Marketing Management, General$44,35261%$23,84479%
12New Jersey City University
Jersey City, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
27Marketing/Marketing Management, General$38,72834%98%
13Rutgers University - Camden
Camden, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
23Marketing/Marketing Management, General$48,64567%66%
14Saint Peter's University
Jersey City, NJ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
21Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication58%$14,44090%
15Thomas Edison State University
Trenton, NJ Public · 2 feeder programs
16Marketing/Marketing Management, General
16Berkeley College - Woodland Park
Woodland Park, NJ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Marketing/Marketing Management, General$33,51044%$23,170
17Drew University
Madison, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Marketing/Marketing Management, General70%$23,09468%
18Felician University
Lodi, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Marketing/Marketing Management, General47%$41,497
19UCNJ Union College of Union County, New Jersey
Cranford, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
13Marketing/Marketing Management, General35%
20Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus
Teaneck, NJ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
10Marketing/Marketing Management, General$33,95453%$18,05991%
21Atlantic Cape Community College
Mays Landing, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
9Communication, General30%
22Rowan College of South Jersey - Gloucester Campus
Sewell, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
8Marketing/Marketing Management, General39%
23Georgian Court University
Lakewood, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Marketing/Marketing Management, General54%$19,50479%
24Middlesex College
Edison, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
7Marketing/Marketing Management, General33%
25Caldwell University
Caldwell, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Marketing/Marketing Management, General57%$21,90271%

All 29 schools in New Jersey

Every school in New Jersey 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.

All schools in New Jersey that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Rutgers University - New BrunswickNew BrunswickPublic1731
Seton Hall UniversitySouth OrangePrivate not-for-profit1252
Rutgers University - NewarkNewarkPublic1011
Kean UniversityUnionPublic832
Ramapo College of New JerseyMahwahPublic761
The College of New JerseyEwingPublic741
Rowan UniversityGlassboroPublic682
William Paterson University of New JerseyWaynePublic522
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham CampusMadisonPrivate not-for-profit502
Montclair State UniversityMontclairPublic281
Rider UniversityLawrencevillePrivate not-for-profit282
New Jersey City UniversityJersey CityPublic271
Rutgers University - CamdenCamdenPublic231
Saint Peter's UniversityJersey CityPrivate not-for-profit212
Thomas Edison State UniversityTrentonPublic162

What fundraisers earn in New Jersey

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in New Jersey
$77,170
Mean annual
$83,810
Jobs in state
1,950
What the range looks like
10th pct$51,490Median$77,17090th pct$129,990
Versus the national median
+6.4%

U.S. median $72,550. New Jersey pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.64×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in New Jersey

Trenton-Princeton, NJ
$83,830median
170 jobs
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
$68,920median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.3%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,200
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
5,800
134,400 → 140,200
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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 Fundraisers page.

How to become a Fundraiser

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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

SpeakingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningWritingCritical ThinkingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in New Jersey

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Fundraisers6 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
  • 09.0904Political Communication
  • 52.0214Research Administration(no graduates reported)
  • 52.0502Grantsmanship
  • 52.1401Marketing/Marketing Management, General

Common questions

Answers for people weighing fundraisers programs in New Jersey.

What degree do you need to become a Fundraiser?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Marketing/Marketing Management, General, which awarded 821 degrees in New Jersey in 2024-25, 77.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Fundraiser?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Marketing, Communication and Media Studies, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 1,056 people a year in New Jersey.

How much do fundraisers earn in New Jersey?+

The median is $77,170 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.4% above the U.S. median of $72,550. 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 fundraisers growing?+

BLS projects a +4.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New Jersey?+

29 institutions in New Jersey reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 fundraisers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Development Officer, Philanthropy Officer, Contract Grant Writer, Fundraising Consultant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1131.

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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