In the second part of our conversation with John Knowles, John details some ways to secure major gifts and shares advice for those looking to get into the field and dedicate their work to a greater purpose.

ABOUT JOHN KNOWLES

John Matthew Knowles is the Executive Director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, or DFMC. He leads the international membership organization for Diocesan Financial Officers and other executives holding high-level financial management responsibility serving dioceses of the Catholic Church throughout North America and beyond. DFMC membership has grown over 5% since his appointment, and the 2022 Conference in Washington, D.C. surpassed all historic benchmarks for membership and external support.

For most of his career prior to DFMC, Mr. Knowles worked as a divisional director and managing strategist within the Ave Maria Foundation family of non-profit institutions, all founded by the renowned Catholic philanthropist and former Domino’s Pizza Chairman, Tom Monaghan. Mr. Knowles served as the first Director of Development and External Affairs at Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida and later Legatus Director for the Northeast and International, based in metropolitan New York City. In each of these roles, he drove record-setting business development outcomes, and served on the four-person global strategic leadership committees for each organization. For six years, Mr. Knowles held the Chairmanship of the Legatus Gala in New York City, an annual tradition of great interest for the metropolitan Catholic community tracing its roots to the mid-1990s. Mr. Knowles managed the stage program and production team for the Legatus Summit, that organization’s global conference.

Alongside his leadership of DFMC, Mr. Knowles is a sought-after board member, strategic advisor, and consultant. He is President of the New York City-based Catholic Finance Association, or CFA, which is the membership organization for Catholic financial services professionals, broadly defined. He is the co-founder and current board Treasurer of Catholics At The Shore, an annual upscale conference retreat held each Spring in Stone Harbor, New Jersey; and is a governing board member for Array of Hope, a New Jersey-based multimedia firm. Mr. Knowles advises the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), Aquinas Wealth Advisors, and provides informal personal counsel to many prominent Catholic lay leaders across America. He is the executive producer and host of the “Faith and Finance Forum” interview program, which is available bi-weekly on YouTube and in podcast format on all major platforms. Mr. Knowles is active in real estate/property management and independent investing, which round out his diverse professional pursuits.

Mr. Knowles holds a B.A. in International Relations and Comparative Religion from Western Michigan University; a Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University; and a Fellowship Certificate in Leadership from Michigan State University. His professional and philanthropic achievements in Florida earned him recognition from Gulfshore Business Magazine as a 2011 “40 Under 40” Award honoree. His memberships include Legatus (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Chapter), the Union League of Philadelphia, The Steel Club of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the Knights of Columbus. In 2009, he married Jennifer Knowles, the couple are blessed with two children, and are parishioners at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Buckingham and Saint Isadore in Quakertown, both in Pennsylvania. They live in a 300-year-old small town between Philadelphia and New Jersey in a rural area surrounded by rolling hills and tranquil scenery, where Faith and Family are what matters most to everyone around.

Connect with John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnyknowles/

Learn more about DFMC: https://www.linkedin.com/company/diocesan-fiscal-management-conference/

Building Donor Relationships with Thomas Smith, Part 1