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Hiring a fundraiser in San Francisco, CA

Employers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area pay fundraisers a median of $82,930, with the middle half of the market between $64,680 and $106,020. San Francisco residents working in business and financial operations occupations report a median of $117,933, which is 42% above what the metro pays for this role.

What does a fundraiser earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile$64,680
Median$82,930
75th percentile$106,020

Half of fundraisers in this area earn between $64,680 and $106,020. A band set below $64,680 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What San Francisco residents earn

$117,933

Median earnings of San Francisco residents working in business and financial operations occupations, 50,271 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 42% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

Residents here already earn more than this role pays, so your offer is competing with whatever they currently commute to.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

  • Identify and build relationships with potential donors.
  • Secure commitments of participation or donation from individuals or corporate donors.
  • Write and send letters of thanks to donors.
  • Solicit cash or in-kind donations or sponsorships from individual, business, or government donors.
  • Create or update donor databases.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 13-1131.

Tools and technologies in demand

Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Salesforce software, Facebook.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in San Francisco?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 60.1% of San Francisco adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a deep local pool for a degree-requiring role. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average San Francisco commute runs 31.2 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 27.5% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In San Francisco County, accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services employs 9,622 and turns over 7.4% a quarter, with 926 hires against 775 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $11,457 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5412.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about fundraisers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a normal churn rate, where a well-run search closes on schedule.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $16,586 to $24,879 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a fundraiser somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other business and financial operations roles in San Francisco

Related

San Francisco is the 4th largest of 21 California cities in this dataset.