Fund Raisers' Salaries Rise at Universities

By Sharnell Bryan

The median salaries of chief fund raisers at colleges and universities grew by 4 percent this academic year, according to a new survey by the College and University

ALSO SEE: TABLE: Median salaries of college fund-raising officials, 2004-5

Professional Association for Human Resources, in Knoxville, Tenn. The increase outpaced the year's inflation rate of 2.7 percent.

The median salary of $114,400 for all top fund raisers in the 2004-5 academic year is an increase over the previous year's median of $110,000. The median figure means that half of the fund raisers earned more, and half less.

During the 2004-5 academic year, the median salaries for top fund raisers at doctoral, master's, baccalaureate, and two-year institutions all rose.

The biggest raises went to fund raisers at two-year institutions, where chief fund raisers made a median of $71,771 in the current academic year, an increase of 7.9 percent from the 2003-4 academic year. Head fund raisers at doctoral institutions saw their pay rise by 6.2 percent, with a median salary of $177,029, up from the previous year's $166,650.

Much smaller raises were seen by top fund raisers at baccalaureate and master's institutions. At baccalaureate colleges and universities, top officers earned a median of $108,700, a raise of 1.7 percent compared with the previous year's $106,935. At master's institutions, head fund raisers made a median of $116,433, an increase of 1.4 percent from the $114,865 they made in 2003-4.

Study's Main Findings

The salary survey, which the organization has conducted for 37 years, consists of information on 175 positions at 1,387 colleges and universities across the country.

Among the other key findings of the survey:

• Of all types of fund raisers, directors of community service at two-year institutions received the largest increase from the previous academic year, with a median salary of $58,983, 16 percent higher from 2003-4.
  
  
• Directors of major gifts at two-year institutions received the second-highest increase among fund-raising jobs surveyed, a 15.2-percent increase in their median salary, which was $62,000 in the current academic year.
  
  
• Directors of development and alumni affairs at two-year institutions saw the largest salary decrease among fund-raising positions surveyed, with a median of $62,140, 19 percent lower than last year.
  
  

The "2004-05 Administrative Compensation Survey" is available for purchase online via the association's Web site at http://www.cupahr.org.

The price is $315 for the organization's members who participated in the survey, $472 for members who did not participate, and $630 for all others.