Alumni Relations

Continuity can be a good thing, but not in the case of compensation for alumni relations professionals, who remain the lowest paid in the field, on average, with a difference of just less than $13,000 between the average salaries of alumni relations and development professionals (fig. 7). That gap has grown by almost $3,000 since the 2005 survey. The average salary for alumni relations increased by roughly 5 percent since the last survey, the smallest increase among the disciplines.

Take a closer look at the numbers, however, and the picture isn't so glum. Less than $8,000 separates the average salaries of alumni relations managers with fewer than 3 years in the profession ($54,434; see fig. 18) and those of new managers in advancement services ($62,209; see fig. 24), who are the highest paid across disciplines.

For alumni relations managers with at least 20 years' experience, the picture is even rosier. By that level, alumni relations managers are the second-highest paid in the field on average ($120,666; fig. 18), ranking only behind development managers ($121,993; fig. 27).

Figure 16 shows the average salary of the top areas of responsibility identified by respondents. These areas changed from the last survey. For example, "reunions" did not appear among this discipline's top areas of responsibility in 2005, but in 2008 it's in the group, and those who chose that category as their top area of responsibility have the second-highest average salary. "Fundraising" and "fundraising-annual drive" have dropped out of this list since 2005.

Unlike in the other disciplines, top-paid managers in alumni relations are those who head a major department and report directly to the CEO or board (fig. 17).