Tina Kauffmann ’13 MAC, who has been a development officer at Bellarmine for 32 years, the last 16 as associate vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, has announced that she will leave Bellarmine University on May 31 to become vice president of advancement of Sacred Heart Schools, her high school alma mater.
Kauffmann earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Dayton, where she was director of the Telefund from 1988-89. She held the same position at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst the following year.
In 1990, she was hired at Bellarmine as the director of Annual Giving. She then became the director of Development, the interim vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, and, in 2006, was named to her current role of associate vice president for Development and Alumni Relations.
“I feel like I’ve hit the trifecta of Catholic education,” Kauffmann said. “I have worked for incredible presidents at the University of Dayton, at Bellarmine, and now at my alma mater, Sacred Heart Schools. I will certainly miss the fantastic people I’ve worked with at Bellarmine—but I know that I leave a tremendous team in place to ensure the university’s continued growth and excellence.”
At Bellarmine, Kauffmann was a key leader of the team that planned and completed the $100 Million Capital Campaign, Bellarmine’s largest fundraising campaign. Its success quadrupled the total of Bellarmine's previous campaign. She is responsible for major donor and trustee solicitations, staffs the Board of Overseers, manages development operations, and serves as the liaison for the President’s Society.
She and the development team have received national recognition for their fundraising accomplishments from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). She received the Bellarmine University “Bellie Award” for Catholic Identity in 2015, and in 2020, she received the Msgr. Alfred F. Horrigan Distinguished Service Award.
“I have worked closely with Tina as we prepare, engage and travel to meet with donors, friends and alumni/ae. She is an incredible representative of a Bellarmine education, and we are grateful for her leadership, service and accomplishments,” said Bellarmine President Susan M. Donovan. “We wish her well at Sacred Heart and hope to continue to build upon the bond that we have with that special institution.”