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 |
|---|---|---|
| Business analyst | 3.0 | $93k |
| Public relations specialist | 3.0 | $63k |
| Market research analyst | 2.9 | $64k |
| Publicist | 2.9 | $63k |
| Fundraiser | 2.9 | $61k |
| Property manager | 2.9 | $59k |
| Office manager | 2.9 | $61k |
| Controller | 2.9 | $71k |
| Merchandiser | 2.9 | $32k |
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
8% of fundraisers rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of fundraisers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of fundraisers rated their compensation 3 stars
26% of fundraisers rated their compensation 2 stars
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
17% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
27% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
23% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
19% of fundraisers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
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
24% of fundraisers rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of fundraisers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of fundraisers rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of fundraisers rated their career fit 2 stars
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
16% of fundraisers rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of fundraisers rated their work environment 4 stars
26% of fundraisers rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of fundraisers rated their work environment 2 stars
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
11% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
28% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
25% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
15% of fundraisers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars