General Summary of the Position

Reporting to Director of Development, the Senior Development Officer will serve as a frontline fundraiser managing the process of identifying, cultivating, and soliciting lead and principle level gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Senior Development Officer will maintain a personal portfolio of donors and prospects who have the capacity to make annual gifts of $50,000 and higher. The Senior Development Officer must be a highly energetic professional with a track record of building donor relationships and securing gifts in the six-figure and seven-figure range. The Sr. Development Officer will manage development professionals as assigned.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities of the Position

·         Collaborate with the development team in building a culture of Christian stewardship and philanthropy while advancing the Diocesan priorities.

·         Develop/nurture existing and prospective donor relationships.

·         Evaluate major gift prospects to cultivate new gifts from individuals.

·         Create a donor portfolio with appropriate individualized donor pipelines and donor strategies including identifying strategies to renew and increase giving from current donors.

·         Strengthen the successful implementation of the Diocese of Dallas annual development plan.

·         Facilitate the implementation of donor giving plans, including the direct solicitation of gifts and submission of proposals to individuals, corporations, and foundations.

·         Assist in the Diocesan stewardship efforts that offer parishes the ability to establish a program allowing an engaged, financially stable and spiritual community.

·         Work collaboratively with pastor and other parish staff along with other diocesan offices and ministries when appropriate to support parishes with successful stewardship and capital fund-raising strategies and goals.

·         Support the Director of Development as needed and perform other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

– An understanding of Christian stewardship and supports and upholds the mission of the Gospel and the Catholic Church by modeling the teachings of the Catholic Church.
– A commitment to the cultivation and stewardship of donors and prospective donors
– Candidate must enjoy engaging with people both professionally and socially.
– Ability to understand the needs and interests of leadership and major gifts donors in order to develop relationships between them and the Diocese.
– Demonstrated leadership and the ability to successfully manage multi-functional areas.
– Successful experience in making cold calls as well as developing cultivation and solicitation strategies.
– Must have excellent interpersonal skills, be detailed-oriented, and have a high level of initiative with strong communication, organization and people skills.
– A knowledge of how best to utilize/maximize/analyze prospect research.
– Be well-versed in fundraising analytics and systems management.

Education and Experience:

– Bachelor’s degree, required.
– Successful experience in major gift fundraising, required.
– Capital Campaign experience, highly preferred.
– Excellent computer skills required (Excel, MS Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Adobe Acrobat).

Special Requirements:

– Practicing Roman Catholic in good standing, required.
– Bilingual, English/Spanish, highly preferred but not required.
– Experience with donor databases, including Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge NXT, preferred
– Some travel may be required.
– Occasional work in the evening and weekends relating to events, donor engagement, etc., will be required but typically scheduled well in advance.

Physical Requirements Specific to the Job:

·         N/A

DO NOT REMOVE

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of the duties and responsibilities of the position. The duties and responsibilities of the position may be changed at the sole discretion of the Diocese of Dallas – Pastoral Center.

The Diocese of Dallas – Pastoral Center reserves the right to modify this job description without notice to the employee. This job description is not a contract and does not alter the employee’s at-will employment status.