 In 1904 he was elected as the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, a position he held until his death in 1915, and was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Divinity in 1905 and Doctor of Divinity in 1910.He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1912-13.Donaldson married Lady Albinia Frederica Hobart-Hampden, granddaughter of Augustus Edward Hobart-Hampden, the 6th Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1900.