the client is seeking a Director of Development for the South Central Region, with a primary focus on Texas and opportunities to engage donors in the adjoining states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The Director will join an approximately 20-person development team that includes gift officers responsible for major giving across geographic regions, as well as a gift officer focused on planned giving. In collaboration with senior administration and development colleagues, the role will advance the organization’s major gifts presence across the region, leveraging existing support and pursuing new donor engagement.
The Director of Development will partner with members of the client’s board of governors and with local, regional, and national Catholic institutions and other partners to leverage networks and devise new fundraising strategies and programs. The position emphasizes collaboration, as well as a high degree of entrepreneurism and self-direction to help grow major gift activity. The role is mission-driven and expected to engage effectively with prospective donors whose connection to the organization’s work and Catholic faith is strong, while supporting outcomes tied to regional philanthropic efforts.
Candidates must be motivated by faith, community, service, and justice, with strong ability to communicate and generate excitement about the organization’s mission, history, vision, programs, and core strengths. The role requires a commitment to and understanding of the mission and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Experience is expected to include a minimum of eight years of post-college work and at least six years of frontline major gifts fundraising, including cultivation through closing and stewardship, with proficiency working with gifts at the five-figure level or equivalent combinations from defined and undefined constituencies; experience managing a fundraising territory for a mid- to large-size nonprofit is preferred. The successful candidate should demonstrate strategic prospect development that culminates in significant solicitations aligned to donor and organizational priorities, along with knowledge of major philanthropic communities and demonstrated fundraising success in the region.