Petrus Development Grows to Meet New Demands of COVID-19 Church

New Director of Client Services to serve growing market for parish, diocesan, and ministry consulting 

College Station, TX - September 1, 2020 - Petrus Development announces the promotion of Tara Doyon as Director of Client Services and Senior Consultant. Tara previously served as a general consultant and has been an invaluable member of the Petrus team for five years, faithfully assisting dozens of client ministries launch or expand their development efforts.

During a time of change in the Church, new resources are needed to guide and assist Catholic institutions and organizations make necessary pivots. “Over the years, Petrus has done significant work for the Church and for a number of wonderful ministries,” Andrew Robison, President of Petrus Development.  “We are excited to promote Tara to this larger role with the company. In these difficult times of pandemic and economic shutdown, it is even more important that we provide excellent service and strategic counsel to parishes, campus ministries, and nonprofits looking to raise more money. I am so excited to have Tara stepping up into this new position, and I cannot wait to see the fruit that comes from having her more involved.”

Welcome Tara Doyon

A Bloomington native, Doyon served as Director of Stewardship and Development for the St. Paul Catholic Center at Indiana University since 2009 when the development office was organized. During that time, she established routine communication with donors, held countless alumni and donor gatherings, instituted annual fund and planned giving programs, and most recently completed a multi-million-dollar capital campaign for the Catholic Center. 

“God has blessed me with a personality and organizational ability to be successful in fundraising, expressed Doyon. “I love meeting new donors and coming to understand where their passions lie and how we might partner with them in ministry.” She continues, “Even better than that is having the opportunity to teach and train others to be great development officers so that they can build up their own organizations. I believe that we are all working to build the Kingdom of God and it is my joy to be able to do that through my work with Petrus Development.”

In her new role as Director of Client Services, Doyon will work with existing and future clients to design strategies for successful fundraising and program development, train new Petrus consultants, represent Petrus at industry conferences and events, and help plan virtual and in-person events including the annual Petrus Leadership Conference. 

During her five years with Petrus, Tara has worked with numerous campus ministries and nonprofits, including the Catholic Campus Ministry at Columbia University and NYU, the St. Thomas More Newman Center at the University of Missouri, and the Newman Catholic Community at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.  

“Tara has been vital in helping us establish the first-ever development office in our ministry's 49 years of existence,” said Nancy Jatcko, Director of Advancement at the SIUE Newman Catholic Community. “We had a small list of names and no idea how we would begin. Her ability to listen and reassure us that we could indeed be successful was precisely what we needed. Thanks to her expertise, encouragement, and vision, we achieved our development goal despite the uncertain landscape of COVID. Bringing Tara and Petrus to our team has been one of the most important things we’ve done and I highly recommend her.”

Doyon has always focused her professional work on the nonprofit community. She has worked for multiple YMCAs, a crisis pregnancy center and maternity home, and served on the advisory board of several local social service agencies. Doyon is actively involved with the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA), the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and Women’s Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Doyon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Park Administration, a Certificate in Fundraising, as well as an Executive Certificate of Religious Fundraising from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.  She and her husband, Ron, have two daughters.

Tara can be reached at [email protected].