 Donaghy was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to industrial relations, and CBE in 2005 for services to employment relations.She has Honorary Doctorates from the Open University (2003),
Keele University (2004) and the University of Greenwich (2005).In 2003 she was awarded a Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, followed in 2004 by Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).