The Ole Miss Athletics Foundation announces new leadership of major gifts with the elevation of Matt McLaughlin to Chief Development Officer / Associate Athletics Director for Development.

McLaughlin, who previously served as the Assistant A.D. for Development / Major Gifts, has been part of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation for nearly a decade, having joined the fundraising team in October 2012.

“Matt’s 10 years of experience with the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation along with the many strong relationships he’s developed both internally and externally make him ideally suited to lead our major gifts efforts,” said Denson Hollis, Ole Miss Athletics Foundation CEO. ” Matt is an extremely talented fundraiser and has been instrumental in securing the second and third largest gifts in Ole Miss Athletics history. His proven success in development shows me he is ready to take his career to the next level.”

“I would like to thank Keith Carter, Denson Hollis and the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation board for this opportunity,” McLaughlin said. “I am thrilled to continue working with our student-athletes, coaches, staff and generous supporters. My mission will continue to be finding the resources necessary for our student-athletes to compete at the highest level in the classroom, on the field of play, and most importantly, in life after sports.”

In his previous role, McLaughlin played a key role in developing Name, Image and Likeness planning for Ole Miss Athletics and will continue to galvanize NIL efforts in his new position.

McLaughlin joined the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation in October of 2012 and was elevated to his previous position in January of 2020. McLaughlin has been responsible for advancing fundraising efforts through philanthropic major gifts to the Vaught Society and Champions. Now. campaign, amongst other revenue generation initiatives. The Champions. Now. campaign is a $175 million capital campaign to improve the Ole Miss football, softball, soccer, golf and baseball facilities.

McLaughlin served in a leadership role for the record-breaking FY21 and FY21 fundraising years.  FY22 was an all-time record year for OMAF major gifts, where the team raised $31.7M.  In FY21, the major gifts team raised $23 million, the third-most in the foundation’s history.

Prior to the launch of the Champions. Now. campaign, McLaughlin contributed to the planning, management and completion of the Forward Together campaign, a $200 million capital campaign aimed at facility improvements. McLaughlin has held positions in both major gifts and the annual fund, joining the foundation as an annual giving development assistant in 2012 before transitioning to the major gifts team in 2015.

Throughout his career, McLaughlin secured the second- and third-largest gifts in OMAF history, naming commitments for The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss, as well as the new football weight room currently under construction at the Olivia and Archie Manning Athletics Performance Center.

McLaughlin, a native of Tampa, Florida, earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Jacksonville State University, where he was a four-year letterman for the Gamecock baseball team. The Gamecocks won two Ohio Valley Conference titles during McLaughlin’s four-year tenure. Most recently, Matt earned his master’s in education from Ole Miss. McLaughlin is also part of the SEC Network broadcast team, providing color commentary for Ole Miss baseball games.

Matt lives in Oxford with his wife, Brittney, their daughter Finley and triplets Miller, Ellis, and Brooks.