The Petrus Development Show

In this episode, Andrew visits with Kerry Robinson the Global Ambassador of Leadership Roundtable and author of the book, "Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy and a Spiritual Call to Service" Kerry details her experience working in development for the Catholic Student Center at Yale University and later goes on to describe the origins and legacy of Leadership Roundtable, packed with useful lessons along the way.

John Flynn is the Vice President of Philanthropy for FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. In this episode, John and Andrew discuss the impact that development can have on a ministry as well as the importance of having a plan and a vision for your ministry. Two tools for success explored are the Case for Support and the Blue Ribbon Committee. Other successful development strategies are also highlighted. Most importantly, a development officer in the Catholic Church needs to be committed to a life of prayer and participation in the Sacraments.

John Flynn's Work History:
2010-Present: Vice President of Philanthropy, FOCUS (Denver, CO)
2005-2010: Co-Founder, Petrus Development (Austin, TX)
1994-2004: Director of Advancement, St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center (Lawrence, KS)
John got involved with the St. Lawrence Catholic Center while he was a student at Kansas University. Fr. Vince Krische was the chaplain for the football team and he and John built a friendship while John was a player on the team.
John graduated and started a successful insurance business in Kansas City. In 1994, John attended a conference where he learned about the impact that development can have on ministry.
John started on June 20, 1994 with the St. Lawrence Catholic Center. He attended the Omaha Development Institute hosted by Fr. John Flynn. Fr. John recommended focusing on two things to be successful: creating a great Case for Support and recruiting a Blue Ribbon Committee. John also hired a development consultant to help create a plan. John and Fr. Vince worked for two months listing all the things that Fr. Vince wanted to accomplish at the Center. This created a blueprint for the Case for Support.
John and Fr. Vince’s first person to invite to the Advisory Council was John J. Sullivan, a successful businessman in Kansas. John was honored to serve and to make a gift. Fr. John also encouraged Fr. Vince to invite Archbishop James Keleher to join the Advisory Council. John and Fr. Vince invited the Archbishop after having most of the other members confirmed. Showing Archbishop Keleher the Case for Support and the list of members convinced him to serve, and he made every meeting except for two during his time on the Council.
The key to success is to have a plan. Without a plan and a vision for your ministry, you are wasting people’s time.
One of the great success story for the Catholic Church is the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center at University of Nebraska. So many of the leaders of the Church in Nebraska are coming through UNL. They started with a vision to build a fraternity and sorority but have gone on to raise $30M plus to build a vibrant campus ministry and beautiful new church.
Question for any leader in ministry is, “What is the vision for our apostolate? How are we going to change the world? How are we going to better the Church? What kind of impact are we going to have? How are we going to accomplish it?”
Many people ask what the bishop can do for you, but the real question should be what can I do for the bishop. The most impactful contribution that a bishop can give to a church or ministry is to assign a great leader. A priest needs to then build good leadership around them - development director, programming director, etc. In addition, the external leadership of Advisory Board is important. If you have good leadership and follow the proper steps, the money will follow.
The best thing that FOCUS does and brings to ministries is their successful emphasis on evangelization and outreach. Now, FOCUS serves on 155 campuses around the country. They can help take a good campus ministry to great with the infusion of FOCUS missionaries on campus.
Petrus started working with FOCUS in 2009. They had three dedicated development officers working on fundraising at that time. Most of their efforts were spent doing direct mail. Today, there are 21 development officers plus 20 other development support individuals working in the development office for FOCUS. The question of their development team now is “how can we evangelize our benefactors?” If John’s team can help donors grow in their spirituality, then they will want to support more frequently or at a higher level.
To go from good to great as a development officer, you have to apply the discipline of tracking visits, number of attempts, number of hours spent on activities, etc. It is easy to get busy, but you have to be busy doing the right things. There are a number of things that can distract a development officer, but you have to be active with what will produce results.
“It’s not all about the money.” Tracking your visits and calls can give perspective on what it takes to raise money. Being committed to visits and calls will ultimately produce revenue even though it can take time to see those results. A minimum number of visits per month should be 20. A goal for development officers should be to shoot for 30-40 visits per month.
When John started in 1994, the budget of the St. Lawrence Center was $400,000. They only raised an additional $50,000 in his first year. From 2000-2003, they were able to complete a $13M capital campaign. The activity from those early years set them up for success even though the dollars were not coming in immediately.
“I’ve worked with a lot of development professionals over the last 25 years. The ones that don’t perform at a high level are always the ones complaining about keeping track of their numbers. The ones that are most successful never complain about tracking their numbers.”
It’s good to strike a balance between cultivation and solicitation visits but always be prepared to make an ask. Don’t overstay your welcome. Know how much time you have at your appointment and stick to that.
When hiring new development officers, FOCUS looks for two things: great development experience or a great FOCUS experience. Strong communication skills, flexibility, great prayer life, patience, perseverance, and passion are incredibly important attributes.
It is important for development officers in the Catholic Church to commit to having a strong spiritual life, a strong prayer life and participating in the sacraments. This will lead to personal and organizational success.
Always leave a voicemail and leave your phone number twice, once at the beginning and again at the end.

For more information about FOCUS, or to connect with John Flynn, visit www.FOCUS.org or email him at [email protected] or 785.423.1303

In this episode, Andrew visits with President of the Scanlan Foundation, Larry Massey. The Scanlan Foundation funds Catholic non profit organizations primarily in the Houston area. Their mission is to promote the Roman Catholic Church of Texas. Larry discusses his role with the Scanlan Foundation, as well as Scanlan's history and impact on the Houston community and the state of Texas. He also gives practical advice for how to interact with foundations like Scanlan and others.

Show Notes:

The Scanlan Foundation was formed on January 25, 1947.
Timothy Scanlan came to Houston, Texas from Ireland in 1837 at 21 years of age. An industrious, civic-minded gentleman, he became one of the richest men in Houston as a merchant and savvy businessman. He was elected Mayor of Houston in 1870 and also served as Postmaster General under Ulysses S. Grant. He was the driving force behind construction of the main, major infrastructure in Houston, including the gas company, water company, trolley, railroad, and more.
Timothy Scanlan and his wife, Edith, had eight daughters, who began other civic organizations throughout the city, such as The Museum of Fine Arts, the San Jose Clinic, and numerous other Catholic Projects. When the last two Scanlan daughters passed away, they gave their fortunes to begin the Scanlan Foundation.
The Scanlan Foundation gave money to the University of St. Thomas as it was founded.
In 72 years since its creation the Scanlan Foundation has given away over $125,000,000 to Catholic ministries in Texas.
The foundation is 1oo% Catholic and gives money to all 15 dioceses in Texas.
Half of the foundation's funds go to Catholic education
About one third of the foundation's funds is given to Catholic ministries.
Larry offers advice to fundees:
Be grateful (send thank you letters)
Keep your databases updated! (Use the correct name in thank you notes)
Know the foundations you work with/their dynamics
Maintain/cultivate these relationships
Don't give up. (May not get funding the first time you apply)
Larry also discusses what characteristics make the best development officers:
Great writing skills
Manners and diplomacy
Culture
Computer savvy/Computer literate
Organized
Sociable/Outgoing/Conversational
For more information about Larry Massey and the Scanlan Foundation, visit scanlanfoundation.org or email Larry at [email protected].

Sarah graduated from Ole Miss and Patrick, from Texas A&M, and both were sent to Wichita, Kansas in their first years as FOCUS missionaries. Both discovered FOCUS in college, at their respective campuses.
Fundraising is a big part of participating in FOCUS and Sarah shares her initial feelings of fear towards fundraising, but had confidence in God's call and her ability to reach her goals. Patrick had no hesitation because his FOCUS team director gave him clear expectations for FOCUS missionaries before he applied. He was also involved in fundraising in college, both within a student organization and through St. Mary's Catholic Center's Class Gift.
First year missionaries train for five weeks in Ave Maria, Florida. After which they continue to fundraise, making calls six days a week for four to six weeks to establish a donor base.
Second year missionaries cultivate their relationships with their mission partners (donors/members of the missionary's support team) through cultivation calls.
They discuss the importance of face to face time with potential donors in achieving support for your mission/ministry. They also explore how interaction with these donors is actually part of the mission itself, how those on a missionary's support team spiritually benefit from financially supporting the missionary.
They discuss their strategies for fundraising and how their approaches changed as time went on. In addition, they discuss their expectations and emphasize the importance of humility in making asks.
Each include that their conversion stories and encounters with God are important stories they've shared with their potential donors/mission partners when meeting to discuss their fundraising goals.
Raising support for their mission work has encouraged these young people to be passionate about their future plans and has helped with practical experience in "asking difficult questions" according to Sarah, and explaining their reasons behind their decisions, so well that it leads to (sometimes unexpected) positive results (ie: Patrick acquiring a job offer from a benefactor).
Participating in FOCUS has helped these missionaries learn the importance of tithing and also the importance of generosity; to welcome others and minister to them simply by purchasing a meal or a coffee for them, etc.
Andrew, lastly asks five lightning round questions: 
If you could fundraise for any organization or cause at any point in history what would it be?
If you could get a donor meeting with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be with?
Is there enough money out there for every organization that's doing good work?
If you could go back in time and offer yourself one piece of advice what would it be?
Who are three people who have most influenced your growth as a missionary?
From Sarah and Patrick we can learn that in fundraising it is important to be passionate, to be patient, and to trust in God.
On over 150 college campuses in over 40 states and six countries, FOCUS ministers through activities like Bible studies, FOCUS Greek, and Varsity Catholic.

Jason Gerdes is Executive Director of Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministry and president of the Board of Trustees of ALDE. ALDE is a membership organization founded 40 years ago to bring together Lutheran fundraisers working in ministry. Originally called the Association for Lutheran Development Executives, ALDE is now growing and seeks to serve development professionals of all Christian denominations. I had a really great time talking with Jason about his work raising money for and now leading Outdoor Ministries as well as the role that ALDE serves bringing together fundraisers to build community and learn from one another.

Jason attended the Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries as a camper and counselor and was inspired when he was invited to give back to help others attend camp. The development director then asked Jason to come work in the development office and he has worked there now for 17 years.

Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (https://www.nlom.org/) has two camps in Nebraska that serve youth and adults through camping and retreat experiences. The Carol Joy Holling Camp is 40 years old and serves approximately 1,600 kids over the summer. Additionally, approximately 20,000 attend annually for retreat and leadership opportunities.

Blessings by the Bushel (https://www.nlom.org/blessings-by-the-bushel) is a giving program which allows individuals to donate commodities directly to charity which can be a more cost effective manner of donating.

Jason worked with Cacey Fuerst to develop the marketing of NLOM and felt like that helped set them up for more success as a ministry. Casey now runs Tic Tac Toe Marketing (https://www.tictactoemarketing.com/) to be able to serve more clients and ministries.

ALDE (https://www.alde.org/), formerly known as the Association of Lutheran Development Executives, is a membership organization with a mission to “inspire, educate and mentor the Christian fundraising community to spark generosity for mission.” With approximately 600 members, ALDE is growing to serve members from a variety of organizations: congregations, schools, outdoor ministries, retreat centers, youth ministries, higher education, seminaries, campus ministries, districts/synods, church bodies, financial services, charitable foundations, consulting firms, museums, arts/culture, social ministries/services, health care, and more. ALDE has local chapters which serve development officers in regions around the country.

To connect with Jason or learn more about his work, visit https://www.nlom.org/ or email Jason at [email protected].

In this episode, Andrew visits with Kate Sell, founder and Managing Partner of Mission Advancement Partners. MAP is a collaborative team of individuals who work with Catholic parishes, dioceses and ministries to help them look at their own organizational strengths and weaknesses and develop short- and long-term strategies to better fulfill their mission. In this conversation they discuss how the vision, the team and fundraising go hand in hand to help an organization grow. 

Show Notes:

Kate began her career by helping to establish Catholic radio stations across the United States.
The Bible scripture that gives Kate inspiration was the story of Jesus turning water into wine. The servants of the wedding played a critical role in the miracle. They trusted Jesus and were willing to follow instructions to allow the miracle to take place. Kate sees her role in the Church as similar to the servants.
Marketing, management and fundraising are the three strands of a "braid" that allows an organization to grow successfully.
The norm now for strategic planning is 18-24 months. Organizations need short, focused plans to bring clarity to the moment and achieve goals.
"Re-envisioning" is assessing and evaluating how you can live out your mission over the next 18-24 months.
Kate suggests that nonprofit leaders need to always keep in mind the one overarching goal: "If you do nothing else in the next two years, what is the MOST important thing that you can do."
The first question that Kate asks a potential client is "how is your organization responding to the most pressing needs of the Church today?"
Sometimes organizations need to make difficult decisions to abandon old ideas that are no longer important to the mission. One pitfall of planning is that people feel like suggesting that a change means that what was done in the past was wrong but that is often not the case. There is a season for some organizations and ideas but the seasons can sometime end.
For more information about Kate Sell and her work or to connect with her, visit http://revolutionizingmissions.com/ or email her at [email protected].

In this episode, Andrew visits with Jacob Laskowski, founder and CEO of 86 Creative, a full service marketing and design firm that’s worked with some of the most well known organizations currently serving the Catholic Church. In this conversation, they dive into the principles of design and marketing that most directly affect a charity's ability to fundraise and discuss how organizations can best position themselves to clearly explain their mission and vision.

Jacob began his career with FOCUS as a missionary and then working in their marketing department. Two of his major accomplishments during that time was creating a new logo for FOCUS and rebranding their annual conference as SEEK.

https://www.focus.org/

Later, Jacob decided to start his own business where he could be creative and work with a variety of clients. 86 Creative is a full service design and marketing firm that helps businesses and nonprofits tell their story and look good.

http://86creative.com/

Many of the rules and principles that Jacob uses in his design, he has learned from companies like Apple and Starbucks.

When creating a proposal or case for support for fundraising, Jacob recommends a five-step process.

1. State the situation
2. State your idea
3. Tell how it works
4. State your impact
5. Ask for support

One piece of advice that Jacob has for organizations is to not try to say too much in their initial message. It’s important to invite people in to ask more questions.

Jacob encourages nonprofits to reach out to volunteers who might be able to help with design projects. For campus ministries, there are likely some students who can offer ideas and suggestions. Board members can also be a resource. Another recommendation is to read. Jacob recommends “All Marketers are Liars” by Seth Godin.

For more information about Jacob Laskowski and his work or to connect with her, visit http://86creative.com/ or email him at [email protected].

In this episode, Andrew visits with Linda Domeyer, Director of Leadership Giving at St. Louis University High as well as Consultant for Petrus Development. Linda’s first job in development was for the Washington University Catholic Student Center, where she spent 17 years building a fantastic development program. In this episode, Linda and Andrew talk about how she initially learned about development, her first capital campaign experience, transitioning to a robust annual fund strategy and what she loves most about consulting. Linda also shares about the most expensive failure of her career.

Show Notes:

Linda first exposure to development was when she was working as a group travel host and met a development officer from UNC-Chapel Hill. He explained to Linda that development is different than sales. It’s about connecting with donors and introducing them to ways that they can make a difference for institutions and causes that are important to them.

When Linda began at the Washington University Catholic Student Center, it was to help Fr. Gary raise the money to expand the student center. They were raising about $275K per year and set a goal of $5M for the building campaign. It took a lot of work, but they were successful and actually exceeded the goal and raised $6.5M.

As part of their campaign, they received a $1.25M gift to endow a Chair of Catholic Thought for Wash U. This is a great addition to the university and serves the Catholic Center in a unique and beneficial way as well.

Linda said that the most critical thing activity in the beginning was going out and meeting people.

Following the capital campaign, the Catholic Center’s transition to the Annual Fund was really a chance to start many programs that had not been attended to during the campaign. This included the Class Gift Program, building an EFT base, asking for multi-year annual fund pledges and more. Creativity in the role is what kept Linda in the job after the campaign. Her caution is to avoid chasing down every new idea that comes around.

When their campaign ended, they dissolved their campaign committee and established a new Advancement Council. Out of that, they created other committees: facilities, programming, staffing, finance and development. They hand selected the members who were most committed to fundraising and could open doors. Engagement leads to investment. The Advancement Council was charged with always keeping a long-term focus and outlook. Staff can get mired in the day-to-day but volunteers can help set long-term vision.

Fundraising for programming proved to be more challenging than capital because it is tougher to quantify. Development professionals can help this process by guiding ministry staff to keep better metrics for their programs.

Linda has three lessons for new development officers:

1. Get good systems in place but don’t spend so much time on systems that you forget to get out and meet your donors. Make activity your priority and track your metrics.
2. Build a good network of colleagues. Connect through groups like AFP and the Petrus Conference. Ask questions and don't be embarrassed because you don't know the answer.
3. Don’t forget about committed Catholics who were not active at your Catholic center. The largest annual fund donor to the CSC was not Catholic when he attended Wash U but believes in the mission.

For more information about Linda Domeyer and her work or to connect with her, visit https://www.sluh.org or https://www.petrusdevelopment.com/team/linda-domeyer.

In this episode, Andrew visits with Peter de Keratry, Executive Director of Stewardship & Development for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City as well as co-Founder of Petrus Development. Peter’s first real job in development started while he was still an undergraduate at Texas A&M, raising money for the St. Mary’s Catholic Center. Since then, Peter has had a significant impact on the development landscape across the Church and around the world. In this episode, we talk about how Peter learned the art and science of fundraising, why and how they founded Petrus Development and what Peter thinks is the most important thing that any development professional can do for his or her organization.

Show Notes:
Peter began his development career as a student at Texas A&M working on a building campaign for St. Mary’s Catholic Center. He can still remember his first time attending St. Mary’s when he “felt the hair on the back of my neck the first time I stood in Church and sang the Our Father.”

Fr. Mike Sis invited Peter to help raise $4M to a build a new student center and chapel for St. Mary’s. It took over 3 years but they were successful. Peter attributes much of that success to the team of committed volunteers that Fr. Mike assembled to help. They had a core team of three couples: Vince and Judy Sweat, George and Mary Elizabeth Dresser, and Kevin and Anne O’Neill. Also helping was Dr. Ed Davis, Frank Shannon, Porter Garner and many others.

Peter also met an alumnus named Carl Raba. Carl taught Peter a valuable lesson. In a meeting, Carl told Peter, “You are clearly very uncomfortable doing this. You need to stop apologizing and ask me for a gift. This is my outlet for impacting this ministry.”

After graduating, Peter went to work for CCS as a fundraising consultant. There he learned the value of “process” in fundraising. This helped him later on as he helped Frank Shannon run a successful $100M capital campaign for the Citadel.

Peter learned a valuable lesson from a donor at the Citadel. This donor encouraged him to “stop thinking of these gifts in the context of his own economics.” Major donors have significantly more wealth and capacity than development officers and can give greater amounts. Asks to donors should be “commensurate with the donors’ ability to give.”

After the Citadel, Peter founded Petrus along with John Flynn. Peter and John desired to help Catholic campus ministries learn how to fundraise so that they could reach more students on college campuses across the country. The Church has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Catholic colleges but very little in Catholic campus ministry. Since its founding, Petrus has worked with over 100 Catholic ministries. Peter feels proud to have been part of something that has affected the Catholic Church in such a positive way.

One of Peter’s favorite experiences as a consulting was working with Tim Krug who worked for the campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin. Tim was overwhelmed after a Petrus Conference and Peter advised him to call three people, sit down with them in their home and ask each of them for $1,000 per year for 3 years. This the heart of what we have to do in development.

Peter is currently working for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Archbishop Coakley is leading the archdiocese in a capital campaign to build a shrine for Blessed Stanley Rother. Blessed Stanley served as a priest of the diocese and was martyred in Guatemala in 1981 for his faith. The people of Oklahoma have supported this project because they feel like “Blessed Stanley is our saint!”

http://stanleyrother.org/

Peter teaches young development officers that it is not okay to continue to ask for small gifts if they are professional development officers. As a professional fundraiser, people have got to be asking for gifts that are meaningful and impactful for the organization. “You’ve got to step it up a notch, both in activity and in what you are asking for.”

Peter also attended the Masters of Arts in Philanthropy and Development program at Saint Mary’s University in Minnesota.

https://www.smumn.edu/academics/graduate/business-technology/programs/m.a.-in-philanthropy-development

For more information about Peter de Keratry and his work and to connect with him, visit https://www.petrusdevelopment.com or https://archokc.org/stewardship.

In this episode, Andrew visits with Tara Doyon, Director of Development and Mission Advancement at St. Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. Tara began her career in development at St. Paul in 2009 despite having no formal training in fundraising. She learned quickly the benefit of surrounding herself with great mentors and advisors and has had a huge impact on the Hoosier Catholic ministry. In this episode, Tara and Andrew discuss what she focused on in the beginning to be successful, her thoughts on Catholic stewardship and her current capital campaign project at St. Pauls.

Show Notes:
Tara had a great mentor from the very beginning who helped coach her in the best ways to fundraise. One piece of advice was that there are no donors sitting in your office, you have to get out of the office to meet the donors where they are.
LAI Principle: Linkage, Interest and Ability - how is a donor connected to your organization, what is their interest in your organization and do they have the ability to make a financial gift to your organization
When your organization is just starting a development program, Tara recommends casting a wide net. You need connections with many people from many networks to build a strong development foundation.
Development Office is responsible for maintaining the continuity of the message when leadership changes.
Mentality of tithing is different from paying bills. It is an opportunity to participate in ministry and priests and lay ministers should not be ashamed to talk about giving and to ask for donations.
Organizations need to be able to accept donations in the currency that their donors are using. St. Paul Catholic Center was the first church in the diocese to offer a giving kiosk in the church for parishioners and students to use for their tithe. Now, they offer Venmo as an giving tool. Tara prefers that because it integrates with their database and accounting software.
Tara is currently working on a capital campaign to renovate the bottom floor of their parish hall. They went through a planning process whereby they developed a master plan, conducted a feasibility study and then launched a campaign. A previous diocesan campaign was not done well and made many in the community wary of supporting another campaign. St. Paul’s learned how strong the feelings were during the feasibility study interviews and spent extra time explaining the case and specifics of the campaign. They recently launched the public phase of their campaign and donors are responding very generously.
St. Paul’s had a cash reserve when they began their campaign and Tara believes that was useful. However, she recognizes that not every organization can wait until they have savings. Sometimes, the situation requires that the institution move forward with a major initiative despite not having a reserve or despite not being 100% ready.
Tara recommends reading articles from the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University and Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). These articles can provide tips and advice but are shorter and easy to consume.
Book recommendations:
Imagining Abundance by Kerry Robinson