How to become a fundraising manager

Official title: Fundraising manager

Also called: Community development and fundraising manager, Marketing and fundraising manager, Event and fundraising manager, Future gifts and fundraising manager, Community fundraising specialist, Fundraising and external relationship manager

Fundraising managers work for non-profit organisations and plan and coordinate publicity activities that increase financial contributions.

Main tasks

• Plan and coordinate ways to raise money
• Develop fundraising plans
• Arrange funding and sponsorship for events
• Manage fundraising budgets and costs
• Promote activities to media and target groups
• Create and manage fundraising documents
• Book venues and equipment for events
• Develop marketing material for events

How to become one

You usually need experience to become a fundraising manager and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a relevant tertiary qualification in sales and marketing or similar area; a driver licence.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

• University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

• Most common pay: $80,000 to $126,000 a year (median $95,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
• Lower: $63,000 a year · Upper: $186,000 a year
• TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
• Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Decrease (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
• Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• About 33 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
• In the group Other Specialist Managers, 45% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
• Where people in the group Other Specialist Managers work (2023 Census): Auckland 37.8%, Wellington 12.1%, and Canterbury 12%.

Related jobs

• Sustainability manager
• Quality assurance manager
• Advertising manager
• Marketing manager
• Te reo Māori translator
• Public relations manager

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Questions people ask

How do I become a fundraising manager?

You usually need experience to become a fundraising manager and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a relevant tertiary qualification in sales and marketing or similar area; a driver licence.

How much does a fundraising manager earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $95,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $80,000 to $126,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a fundraising manager grown in New Zealand?

It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a fundraising manager?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026