Diocese hires director 
of major gifts

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

To help support evangelization, Catholic schools, seminarians, and retired priests, the diocese now has a permanent, full-time director of major gifts, who started Sept. 2.

Tina Marie Anderson comes to this position after having worked six and a half years helping the Catholic fundraising firm Guidance in Giving conduct several capital campaigns for dioceses and parishes in the nation, including the Legacy of Hope capital campaign the Worcester diocese began in 2018.

Mrs. Anderson said she is “so grateful to be back home serving my own diocese,” where she’s part of St. Joseph Parish in Charlton and St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge. At St. Joseph’s she helped with the Life Teen religious education/youth ministry and the Light of the World retreats and was a lector, extraordinary minister of holy Communion and member of the stewardship committee, among other things. More recently, she and her husband, Martin, have also been worshipping at St. Anne and St. Patrick.

Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan, vicar general and development coordinator in the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, for which Mrs. Anderson works, said she will be seeking large gifts – mostly monetary, including investments, and potentially real estate  – and helping people with estate planning if they want to include the diocese and/or their parish in their wills.

He said the funding will be used for parish-based evangelization strategies, retired priests’ care, seminarians’ education and Catholic schools (primarily the diocesan schools – St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary and St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High).

“My heart and soul is for evangelization,” Mrs. Anderson said. “I think the Church needs to be more unified across the board, and we need to focus on sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is our main mission, and bring more people back to the Church. That is the mission of every single one of us.

“We are very committed to working together with the parishes in making a stronger, more unified Church. If we have strong parishes, we have a strong diocese. And if we have a strong diocese, we have strong parishes. … My job is to help bring in the resources that can strengthen the diocese as a whole, parishes [and] Catholic schools.”

Mrs. Anderson is to meet with individual donors, couples, families, and clergy. She’ll also work with trusts, seek grants, and form committees, she said, and her role might change some over time.

Mrs. Anderson said she got her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nichols College in Dudley in 2007. She and her husband have three adult children. She helped with fundraisers for their schools and Tantasqua Music Association, and previously worked for Cormier & Rea Tax and Financial Services in Sturbridge and with mortgages for Savers Bank in Southbridge.

For fun, she enjoys cooking, reading and horseback riding. And, she said, “I have a huge heart for children. I love my first vocation, which [is] to be a wife and a mother.”

“We’re delighted to have Tina on board,” Msgr. Sullivan said. “She brings a lot of experience to the position.” And she brings faith to her work.

– Tina Anderson can be contacted at [email protected] or 508-929-4349.