Sorry to bump but felt I had to clear this up
In the episode "He is Risen", Tony is forced to pick the successor to the Aprile Crew after Gigi's passing. First off the Aprile Crew is referenced hundreds of times throughout the show as the traditional top earning crew. The Aprile Crew is always associated with union extortion, which requires plenty of associates. And the rest of the money comes from envelopes. More envelopes = more money, so it's safe to assume the crew was quite large.
So we know Donny K was one of the top 3 choices for eligibility for the Aprile Crew, which says a lot considering it's a top earning crew, filled to the brim with wiseguys. So it's pretty much indisputable that Donny was a made guy, and a high ranking one at that. Also I'm pretty sure an associate wouldn't be eligible in the first place.
Also I made some notes on the Aprile Crew's association with construction.
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1. "Another Toothpick" opens with a "Spatafore Bros. Construction" truck
2. In "Full Leather Jacket", Vito sends construction workers to build Beansie a handicap accessible rank
3. According to John or Carmine, Ralphie was the "point man" on the Esplanade construction project
4. Quote from Ralphie: "3 million a year from construction..."
5. Quote from New York (this is really interesting as its the first character development for Gene before "Members Only). Ralphie messed up the esplanade or went missing or something, and John or Carmine suggests "Put Pontecorvo in!"
