Page 1 of 3

The State of the Canadian Fundraiser Survey

What it takes to be a fundraiser in Canada - the pay, the hours, and what keeps people in this work or drives them out of it - rarely gets measured. This survey sets out to capture this important data.

It takes about 10 - 15 minutes to complete. Your answers are anonymous, and we’ll publish what we find openly in January of 2027. We’d ask you to answer everything if you can - the findings depend on being able to compare across the whole sample. If a question feels too personal, choose ‘prefer not to say’. That’s an acceptable answer and we’ll report it accordingly.

We ask about race, gender and ability at the end of the survey, because a core purpose of this research is to measure whether this work is experienced differently across those lines.

Three people will be drawn at random for a $50 gift card. Your answers aren’t linked to your entry - you’ll add your email on a separate form linked at the end. The survey runs on Tally, hosted in the European Union, with no tracking cookies.

1. Which best describes your current relationship to fundraising in Canada?

I work in a fundraising or development role at a charity or nonprofit

I lead an organization and fundraising is part of my job

I am a fundraising consultant or freelancer

I recently left a fundraising role (within 2 years)

None of these

2. How did you come to work in fundraising?

It was a deliberate career choice

I moved into it from another role at the same organization

I came from another sector and was recruited into it

I started as a volunteer or board member

I took it as a temporary job and stayed

I came to it through lived experience of the cause

Other

3. How many years have you worked in fundraising?

4. Where do you work?

5. What best describes your role level?

6. What is your organization's annual revenue?

7. What is your organization's primary cause area?

8. What is your current annual salary, or full-time equivalent?

9. In a typical month, how many unpaid hours do you work beyond your contracted hours?

10. How many distinct roles do you effectively do? For example fundraising, communications, events, volunteer, and/or program management.

Fundraising only

2 roles

3 roles

4 or more roles

11. How much do you agree with each of the following?

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree	Does not apply
I am fairly paid for the revenue I raise
I help set the revenue targets I am held to
My targets are realistic, based on the actual pipeline
I can push back on what is expected of me, without fear

12. How often do you feel burned out by your work?

13. How often does your work require you to do something that conflicts with your values?

14. What are the biggest sources of strain in your role? Choose up to three.

15. In the past two years, have you experienced discrimination, bias or micro-aggressions in your workplace? Select all that apply.

16. Would you encourage someone you care about to enter this profession?

17. In the past year, which of the following have you experienced from funders? Select all that apply.

Restricted funding that did not cover the real cost of delivery

Reporting requirements out of proportion to the grant size

Being asked to deliver work the grant did not fund

Changes to terms or priorities after funding was agreed

Being encouraged to collaborate without resources to do it

No response after being invited to apply

Being asked to demonstrate need in ways that felt undignified

None of these

Prefer not to say

18. How would you rate your organization's access to the funders and decision-makers who control the money you need?

19. How much do you agree? The services my organization fundraises for should be funded by government as a public responsibility.

20. Thinking about your organization's long-term direction, which is closest to the truth?

We work toward a future where the need for our services no longer exists

We work toward continuing to meet a need we expect to persist

Both, in roughly equal measure

We have never discussed this

Unsure

21. Is there anything in this survey you would not say publicly under your own name?

Yes

Prefer not to say

22. If you are willing to say more, what is it?

23. If your organization's core funding were secure and you had real freedom to decide, what would you wish for - for yourself, your organization, or the people you serve?

24. Anything else you want the sector - or the funders reading this report - to know?

25. Which racial or ethnic identity best describes you? Select all that apply.

26. What is your gender identity? Select all that apply.

27. Do you identify as a person with a disability (physical, chronic illness, mental health, or neurotype)?

Yes

Prefer not to say

The State of the Canadian Fundraiser Survey

1. Which best describes your current relationship to fundraising in Canada?

2. How did you come to work in fundraising?

3. How many years have you worked in fundraising?

4. Where do you work?

5. What best describes your role level?

6. What is your organization's annual revenue?

7. What is your organization's primary cause area?

8. What is your current annual salary, or full-time equivalent?

9. In a typical month, how many unpaid hours do you work beyond your contracted hours?

10. How many distinct roles do you effectively do? For example fundraising, communications, events, volunteer, and/or program management.

11. How much do you agree with each of the following?

12. How often do you feel burned out by your work?

13. How often does your work require you to do something that conflicts with your values?

14. What are the biggest sources of strain in your role? Choose up to three.

15. In the past two years, have you experienced discrimination, bias or micro-aggressions in your workplace? Select all that apply.

16. Would you encourage someone you care about to enter this profession?

17. In the past year, which of the following have you experienced from funders? Select all that apply.

18. How would you rate your organization's access to the funders and decision-makers who control the money you need?

19. How much do you agree? The services my organization fundraises for should be funded by government as a public responsibility.

20. Thinking about your organization's long-term direction, which is closest to the truth?

21. Is there anything in this survey you would not say publicly under your own name?

22. If you are willing to say more, what is it?

23. If your organization's core funding were secure and you had real freedom to decide, what would you wish for - for yourself, your organization, or the people you serve?

24. Anything else you want the sector - or the funders reading this report - to know?

25. Which racial or ethnic identity best describes you? Select all that apply.

26. What is your gender identity? Select all that apply.

27. Do you identify as a person with a disability (physical, chronic illness, mental health, or neurotype)?

28. What is your age range?