At a nonprofit, university, or healthcare foundation, you support the fundraising operation — donor research, prospect briefings, event logistics, gift processing. Often the first rung on a development career, learning the discipline behind major-gift work.
A typical week tends to mix donor research, gift entry, event logistics, and stewardship correspondence — prepping a briefing for a major-gifts officer's next ask, processing checks during a year-end push, drafting acknowledgment letters that need to feel personal at volume. You might find yourself deep in a CRM (Raiser's Edge, Salesforce NPSP) one hour and stuffing event packets the next. Gifts processed and donors stewarded are the measurable outputs.
The harder part is often the seasonality of fundraising — year-end pushes, gala weeks, and campaign deadlines compress months of work into days. Variance across employers is real: large universities have layered teams and clear specializations; small nonprofits expect generalists who can also run social media and the donor database.
People who tend to thrive here are comfortable with administrative volume and curious about the people whose gifts make the work possible. The trade-off is the invisibility of back-office work in a field that celebrates closers. The career arc tends to reward those who learn how money actually moves into mission.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Business Operations roles →At a nonprofit, university, or healthcare foundation, you support the fundraising operation — donor research, prospect briefings, event logistics, gift processing. Often the first rung on a development career, learning the discipline behind major-gift work.
Median pay for a Development Associate is about $86K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $38K to $220K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Instructing, Speaking, Learning Strategies, Learning Strategies, and Speaking.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 6.97% through 2034, with roughly 587,500 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Business Development Director, Application Development Director, and Management Consultant.
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