Major Gifts & Donor Partnerships Manager

Newman Connection

Reports To: Chief Operating Officer
Preferred Location: Dallas, TX

The Mission
Most students don’t leave the Catholic Church because they reject their faith. They drift because they lose connection.

They leave home, arrive on campus unknown, and no one invites them into Catholic community at the moment it matters most.

That’s the gap Newman Connection exists to close.

We work with Catholic high schools, families, parishes, and campus ministries nationwide to ensure students are personally invited into Catholic community before they arrive on campus so they are known, expected, and welcomed. We are building a culture rooted in God, family, and country where faith is lived through real relationships and people are truly needed and known.

The Role
This is a builder role with real ownership and national impact.

You are responsible for creating and scaling a major donor pipeline that fuels the mission. You will not inherit a fully built book of business. You will build it through consistent outreach, meaningful conversations, and disciplined follow-through.

This work is relational at its core. It requires identifying people who care about the future of the Church, initiating conversations, building trust over time, and confidently inviting them into financial partnership. It also requires helping strengthen how we do development through better systems, messaging, and process.

Core Focus Areas

• Build and grow a qualified major donor pipeline through proactive outreach and referrals
• Initiate and lead donor conversations across phone, email, LinkedIn, Zoom, and in-person meetings
• Cultivate relationships and convert engagement into meaningful financial support
• Maintain disciplined follow-up and pipeline management
• Partner with leadership on key donor relationships and collaborate with marketing on messaging
  
  

First 90 Days

The first 90 days are focused on listening, learning, and building foundational strategy, not closing large gifts.

You will immerse yourself in the mission, engage leadership and key stakeholders, evaluate the current donor base and systems, identify gaps in pipeline and process, and begin consistent outreach.

Primary objective: Establish a clear, scalable foundation for growth.

What the Work Feels Like

This role runs on rhythm and discipline.

Strong days begin with outreach and follow-up. Conversations turn into relationships. Relationships turn into partnership.

You will spend your time initiating contact, following-up consistently, meeting donors, listening well, and moving relationships forward with clarity. You will maintain strong organization and ensure every opportunity progresses.

What You Will Have

You are not starting from zero. There are approximately 200 existing donors with significant opportunity to deepen engagement.

You will have:

• Direct access to leadership for strategy and key conversations
• Marketing support for messaging and materials
• Systems in place, including HubSpot and Classy

Success Profile

This role is best suited for someone who takes initiative and builds momentum through relationships.

You are comfortable starting conversations, disciplined in follow-through, organized in execution, and motivated by mission and long-term impact. You take ownership of outcomes and build trust quickly.

Performance Expectations

Top performers in this role demonstrate consistent activity, strong relationship progression, and measurable growth in support.

Over time, success will be reflected in:

• A steadily growing and qualified donor pipeline
• Consistent outreach cadence and donor engagement
• Meaningful conversion of relationships into financial partnership
• Clear pipeline visibility, organization, and follow-through
• Increasing ownership of key donor relationships and strategy
• Developing a professional presence on LinkedIn to build credibility and establish thought leadership 

Who This Is Not For

This role will not be a fit for someone who prefers leads to be handed to them, avoids outreach or direct conversations, requires fully-structured systems before taking action, or prefers behind-the-scenes work over relational engagement.

Growth

This is a foundational role with no fixed ceiling. As you build, this role can expand into leading development, building a team, or owning major donor strategy at a national level.

What We're Looking For

We are open to candidates from fundraising, sales, ministry, or other relationship-driven roles.

What matters most:

• Ability to initiate and build relationships
• Strong follow-through and pipeline discipline
• Clear and confident communication
• Implement and use AI and technology in a forward-thinking development process. 
• Being a practicing Catholic able to authentically represent the mission

Compensation & Structure

Competitive compensation based on experience and potential, with room to grow as the role and organization expand. Full benefits included.

Mission Alignment

If you are a builder who takes ownership, drives relationships, and wants your work to matter at a national level, this is your seat.

Newman Connection is a Catholic organization. This role requires strong alignment with the mission and the ability to represent it authentically with donors, families, and Church leaders.