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Home  /  Development & Fundraising  /  Development Director
Development & Fundraising

Development Director salary

Department-level fundraising/advancement leadership (Director scope). Based on 33 job-posting observations from Southern California nonprofits, reconciled with IRS filings.

Based on 33 postings✓ Full range shown (10+ postings)✓ Verified against IRS Form 990
nis the number of individual job postings a figure is calculated from. The more postings behind a number, the more you can trust it. We never publish anything based on fewer than 5.
25th percentile
$90,338
Median
$111,000
75th percentile
$127,500

Fundraising ladderCareer path

The generalist fundraising path: support the development office, then run annual giving and events, then lead the department, then own revenue at the executive table. Major gifts and grants are specialist tracks that branch off at the officer level and rejoin at Director.

  1. Step 1Development Coordinator$54,600median of 40 postings
  2. Step 2Development Manager$72,076median of 8 postings
  3. Step 3 · this pageDevelopment Director$111,000median of 33 postings
  4. Step 4VP / Chief Development Officer$187,500median of 5 postings

Each rung shows the posted-salary median from its own page.

By county

(click a header to sort)
CountyPostings25thMedian75th
ⓘNot shown (fewer than 5 postings): Orange (4), Kern (2), San Bernardino (1).   25th/75th percentiles appear only where a county has 10+ postings (shown as “N/A” otherwise, since a low count makes those edges unreliable).

By organization budget

$2M-$10M$101,0008 postings
$10M-$20M$116,2506 postings
ⓘNot shown (fewer than 5 postings): <$2M (3), $20M-$50M (4), $50M-$100M (4), $100M+ (4).

By subsector

Human Services$105,00011 postings
ⓘNot shown (fewer than 5 postings): Health Care (2), Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations (1), Mental Health & Crisis Intervention (1), Youth Development (1), Social Science (1), Crime & Legal-Related (1), Community Improvement & Capacity Building (3), Education (2), Food, Agriculture & Nutrition (2).

By career level

Director$106,75030 postings
ⓘNot shown (fewer than 5 postings): VP / Executive (3).

Organizations hiring now

YMCA of San Diego CountySan Diego County · Budget $100M+$94,719–$163,676View org →Dolores Huerta FoundationKern County · Budget $2M-$10M$95,000–$107,000View org →AbilityFirstLos Angeles County · Budget $10M-$20M$120,000–$135,000View org →Los Angeles Education PartnershipLos Angeles County · Budget $2M-$10M$145,000–$175,000View org →Mama's KitchenSan Diego County · Budget $2M-$10M$80,000–$90,000View org →PATHLos Angeles County · Budget $100M+$81,203–$99,474View org →Safe Place for YouthLos Angeles County · Budget $10M-$20M$110,000–$115,000View org →

Related occupations

Development CoordinatorGrants Manager / Grant WriterCorporate & Community Partnerships OfficerMajor Gifts & Individual Giving OfficerSpecial Events ManagerDevelopment Manager

Actual compensation (IRS Form 990)

$2M-$10M$139,21636 employees
$10M-$20M$161,79523 employees
$20M-$50M$177,13952 employees
$50M-$100M$242,58230 employees
$100M+$294,98425 employees
ⓘReported compensation of incumbents from the most recent Form 990 filings — actual pay, not posted ranges.
Want the reported figures behind these numbers?
See the actual executive compensation reported on IRS Form 990 filings, and each organization’s full pay profile.
View 990 compensation →
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How this page is built
Figures reflect 33 salary observations from public job postings across 10 Southern California counties, 2024–2026, annualized (hourly × 2,080) with titles standardized to a nonprofit occupation taxonomy. Percentiles are published only when an occupation reaches 10 observations. No cell is shown for any group with fewer than 5. Executive figures are cross-checked against IRS Form 990. Data through November 07, 2026. Slugs, canonical URLs, and structured data are stable across rebuilds.