Just a couple days before last Christmas, Kathleen Doria joined the SA 300 team to oversee its fundraising efforts for the city’s increasingly imminent yearlong Tricentennial.

She created the fundraising framework for the organization, identified likely candidates for philanthropy, crafted detailed pitches for potential partners and accounted for nearly $5 million in contributions and pledges in the ensuing nine months, said Edward Benavides, CEO of the Tricentennial organization.

But officials acknowledged this week that SA 300 opted not to extend Doria’s contract. The professional fundraiser, who was paid $125,500 under the contract that began in late December and ended Sept. 30, was unsure why her contract wasn’t renewed.

Benavides was complimentary of Doria’s efforts and work product but said that “we’re going in a different direction” with a fundraising plan.

That plan doesn’t include a professional fundraiser. But it does include San Antonio’s salesman in chief.

“I am getting personally involved,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “And I’m meeting personally with the philanthropic community, with the corporate community, with the pillars of San Antonio to make sure that most importantly, we all understand what the Tricentennial is and what it means for this city’s future.

“That was the biggest gap that was unaddressed prior to getting here. And it’s not anything that can be accomplished without the direct action by the mayor of San Antonio and the judge of Bexar County. And Judge (Nelson) Wolff and I are united in that effort — to ensure the Tricentennial is a success.”

Fundraising for the Tricentennial has faced a number of obstacles, several people involved with the effort have said. Lionel Sosa, an informal Nirenberg adviser and one of five chairmen of the Tricentennial Commission, said there’s a significant sense of urgency because fundraising began late. He also acknowledged that they face an uphill battle because there’s a major misconception that the Tricentennial is a big party.

That’s a point often driven home by the mayor, whose mantra is that failure is not an option.

“There is no alternative to the success of the Tricentennial. I believe firmly that this is our most important opportunity in a lifetime to demonstrate why people, businesses, organizations, should invest their families, their time, their resources and their businesses in our city on a world stage,” he said. “And the Tricentennial program will be a reflection, not just of our history, but also the city that we are to become.

“It is not a party,” he said.

Sosa said the commission’s fundraising committee has been beefed up.

“We’re now able to make contacts at the highest levels,” he said.

Several people involved with the effort said commission member Mary Rose Brown, an executive vice president and the chief administrative officer for NuStar Energy, has taken a leading role in Tricentennial fundraising. She works closely with Bill Greehey, NuStar’s chairman, who recently pledged $1 million to the event.

Meanwhile, Nirenberg is forging ahead. He declined to detail whom he’s spoken with or what his work has amounted to, but a source with knowledge of the mayor’s efforts said “significant” pledges will soon be announced.

Late Friday, Benavides said the contributions and pledges continue to increase. Earlier in the day, SA 300 announced a $100,000 contribution from Baptist Health Care for a health initiative called “300 Miles,” in which participants will accumulate 300 miles of walking, running or biking between Oct. 22 and May 6 at the YMCA’s Síclovía. (That project, Doria said, began when she received a cold call from a representative from Baptist asking how the company could get involved.)

Less than a month ago, the San Antonio Express-News reported that SA 300 had secured less than half of its $10.3 million goal. By Friday, the number had grown to $5.96 million — amounting to 58 percent of the goal.

jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaugh