What does a Community Relations Manager do?

Community Relations Managers take care of the company's relationship with a specific community. Often, they are employed by a nonprofit organization, and they take care of the community that the organization serves. They are in charge of coordinating with community leaders to identify the people's needs, creating programs that would address these needs, and raising funds for their projects. Community Relations Managers oversee the implementation of the company's community projects. They manage the project's budget and workforce allocation. Community Relations Managers ensure that the good relationship between the company and the community is maintained at all times.
Community relations manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real community relations manager resumes:
- Manage social networking, such as Facebook.
- Plan and execute project grand openings and manage all social media platforms (Facebook/Twitter )
- Manage the creation and display of both user-generate and resort-developed videos for YouTube.
- Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
- Provide a strong database of community, affordable housing and economic development opportunities for bank to meet CRA goals.
- Provide continuing education to patients and families regarding palliative/hospice care services and placement options.
- Increase profitable Medicare hospice business through new business development and improve customer relationships in a highly competitive environment.
- Launch a company Facebook page.
- Launch company Instagram and SnapChat accounts.
- Process and track donations in database, Salesforce.
- Advise families on Medicaid policies, processes and procedures.
- Assist with Medicaid applications and need coordination prior to admission.
- Recognize by staff as the best CRM they have ever work with.
- Conduct SEO analysis and develop plan for website changes to improve search results.
- Move site to top-5 search engine ranking for key phrases using best SEO practices.
Community relations manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Community Relations Managers are proficient in Patients, Medicare, and Business Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Community Relations Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 19%
Schedule appointments with patients' and immediate family members' relating to home health care services.
- Medicare, 10%
Document volunteer/patient contact in Electronic Medical Record, and enter all data regarding volunteer hours for Medicare hospice match requirement.
- Business Development, 8%
Input strategic business development plan and created the Community Relations Department.
- Community Events, 6%
Develop and organize internal events, fairs and other community events to incorporate the organization into the community.
- Health Fairs, 5%
Increased publicity and promoted organization by designing collateral materials and coordinating health fairs, special events, and additional ancillary events.
- Local Community, 5%
Initiate and maintain relationships with established community organizations, grassroots organizations, neighborhood associations, local community colleges and universities.
Common skills that a community relations manager uses to do their job include "patients," "medicare," and "business development." You can find details on the most important community relations manager responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a community relations manager to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." Community relations managers often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "publicized programs through various communications channels that included public speaking, press releases, website content management newsletters and media relationships. "
Leadership skills. Many community relations manager duties rely on leadership skills. "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities.," so a community relations manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways community relations manager responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "advised company executive leadership team on public and community relations, internal/external image matters, public policy and political issues. "
Organizational skills. community relations managers are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to community relations manager responsibilities, because "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." A community relations manager resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "prepare organizational publications for internal and external audiences, including volunteer newsletters and press releases. "
Problem-solving skills. community relations manager responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." This resume example shows what community relations managers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "facilitated business development opportunities with healthcare providers coordinated/facilitated presentations managed all business accounts planed community events resolved issues/complaints"
Speaking skills. Another common skill required for community relations manager responsibilities is "speaking skills." This skill comes up in the duties of community relations managers all the time, as "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization." An excerpt from a real community relations manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a community relations manager does: "develop press releases and serve as the designated spokesperson. "
Writing skills. Lastly, "writing skills" is an important element of what a community relations manager does. Community relations manager responsibilities require this skill because "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." This resume example highlights how community relations manager duties rely on this skill: "devised press releases television-script writing for public service announcements, and heavy research. "
The three companies that hire the most community relations managers are:
- Greystar Real Estate Partners53 community relations managers jobs
- DDeloitte42 community relations managers jobs
- Autodesk26 community relations managers jobs
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Community relations manager vs. Media director
A media director spearheads and oversees a company's entire media-related activities, including marketing and advertising campaigns. They are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, liaising and building positive relationships with external parties, conceptualizing plans for projects and campaigns, and developing strategies to optimize operations. It is also their duty to address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as a media director, it is essential to monitor the progress of different teams, leading and encouraging them to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between community relations managers and media director. For instance, community relations manager responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "medicare," "community events," and "health fairs." Whereas a media director is skilled in "digital marketing," "video production," "media planning," and "client relationships." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that media directors earn slightly differ from community relations managers. In particular, media directors are 3.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a community relations manager. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community relations manager vs. Director of public affairs
Directors of Public Affairs are executives who manage the public relations and communications initiatives of the company. They oversee all external communications that are intended for broadcast. They create guidelines on the proper crafting of communication materials that will be published or broadcasted. They also lead the public affairs department in networking activities and industry events. Directors of Public Affairs must be level-headed, calm, and creative. They should know how to communicate with the public, handle crises, and create successful brands.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, community relations manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patients," "health fairs," "local community," and "hospice services." Meanwhile, a director of public affairs has duties that require skills in areas such as "government affairs," "public policy," "policy issues," and "government relations." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, directors of public affairs achieve similar levels of education than community relations managers. They're 4.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Community Relations Managers in the next 3-5 years?
Associate Professor, Washington State University
Community relations manager vs. Public information officer
The primary job of a public information officer involves the promotion of a positive public image on social media. Public information officers offer significant information during a crisis. They collect facts and distribute them to the media and organize special events like awards ceremonies. Typically, they work for large organizations and government agencies. They maintain their online presence that can be part of the duties of public information. Also, they can work for long hours on an irregular schedule, especially when the incidents or situations affect the organization.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, community relations managers are more likely to have skills like "patients," "medicare," "business development," and "health fairs." But a public information officer is more likely to have skills like "web content," "community outreach," "graphic design," and "emergency operations."
When it comes to education, public information officers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to community relations managers. In fact, they're 1.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Community relations manager vs. Manager
Managers are responsible for a specific department, function, or employee group. They oversee their assigned departments and all the employees under the department. Managers are responsible that the department they are handling is functioning well. They set the department goals and the steps they must take to achieve the goals. They are also in charge of assessing the performance of their departments and their employees. Additionally, managers are responsible for interviewing prospective candidates for department vacancies and assessing their fit to the needs of the department. Managers also set the general working environment in the department, and they are expected to ensure that their employees remain motivated.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between community relations managers and managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a community relations manager might have more use for skills like "patients," "medicare," "community events," and "health fairs." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of managers require skills like "customer service," "payroll," "food safety," and "financial statements. "
Managers reach lower levels of education compared to community relations managers, in general. The difference is that they're 5.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of community relations manager
Updated January 8, 2025