Interview: Jeff Cathey Divisional Development Director Texas Division

Over the last nine years of working at TrueSense Marketing and partnering with The Salvation Army, I have had the opportunity to work with Jeff Cathey in the AOK and Texas Divisions.  His leadership, fundraising development knowledge, overall accountability, direct communication, and professionalism have been strong influences over both Divisions.  If you are not aware, Jeff is leaving The Salvation Army Texas Division in mid-September.  I am sad to see him go! 

But before he departed, I asked a couple of questions about Jeff’s experience working with The Salvation Army:

• What do/did you appreciate the most as the Divisional Development Director for Texas and AOK?
  
  JEFF: The ministry and mission of The Salvation Army is incredible, and team Texas is the best!  They give their ALL every day and raised the bar.
• What are the biggest fundraising challenges facing The Salvation Army in the future?
  
  JEFF: Balancing spending with fundraising production and staying relevant in their processes.
• What advice would give to the Corps in regards to fundraising locally?
  
  JEFF: Have a strategic plan that includes a development plan, and be highly visible in telling the story.  Where this occurs, we usually had fundraising success.
• What are three skills or “tools” that every Divisional Development Director should have handy?
  
  JEFF: Be strategic, servant leadership, model success.
• Do cowboy boots go with everything?
  
  JEFF: Duh … it’s Texas.  Of course they go with everything!

Jeff also mentioned that he shares this with his team ALL the time: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it’s the courage to continue that counts.”  This alleviates some of the pressure.

Jeff will be joining Dickerson Bakker, a nationally recognized nonprofit consulting firm and an approved consultant in all four U.S. territories for The Salvation Army, to serve as vice president — helping to lead the firm’s expanding work with The Salvation Army.  This new role enables him to continue working to advance the ministry and mission of The Salvation Army on a different level, helping to build capacities for fund development, revenue growth, strategic planning, and capital campaigns all across the nation.

While I will no longer work with him on a day-to-day basis, I am happy to know that his extensive development experience will continue to help benefit The Salvation Army.