Development keeps Elder running

Development keeps Elder running

Everyone at Elder, excluding freshman, has been to the old study hall room in their time here. This year you may have realized that study halls are held in the cafeteria. So what happened to the old study hall room? It was transformed into new, advanced offices and what is now the Alumni Development Office.

The faculty that works in here is Mr. Bill, Mr. Tom Reiring (not to be confused with the teacher with the biceps, Dave Reiring), Mrs. Meyer, Mrs. Niemer, and Mrs. Iori. The only students that really go here are the lucky few that are office helpers or those unfortunate few that have to face the wrath of Mr. Bill for not turning in all their Walk money.

Mr. Reiring, Director of Development: Mr. Reiring is pretty much in charge down the Alumni Development Center. He takes care of the donations that come in from alumni and other donors from the Westside. A normal day for Mr. Reiring involves getting in contact with some of Elder’s generous donors and showing the appreciation that everyone here has for them. Mr. Reiring said his favorite part of the job is, “being able to interact and work with the people that love Elder and love to give back.”

Mrs. Iori, Development Administrative Assistant: A normal day for Mrs. Iori consists of, “starting up in the main office from 7am-9am, after that I go down to the Development Office and put all the donations that Elder has received into the system.” In addition to doing that she also answers the phone in the office and pretty much whatever else needs to be done. Mrs. Iori’s favorite part of working at Elder is all of the coworkers that she has.

Mr. Bill, Assistant Development Director in Charge of Alumni Relations: Besides being the voice of the Elder walk and getting on students for failure to turn in walk money, Mr. Bill is pretty busy throughout the day. His days consist of communicating with graduates, updating Elder’s social media pages, getting updates on what graduates are doing, planning alumni events such as the sports stag, golf outing, or softball league, or planning special events. Mr. Bill said the best part of the job is, “working with the graduates. I always wanted to come back to Elder and give back.”

Mrs. Meyer, Auction Coordinator: Mrs. Meyer is in charge of Elder’s annual auction that takes place in the field house called Elderama. Mrs. Meyer works part-time for Elder except for the months of August, September, and October when she is full-time. Running Elderama consists of, “entering gifts that are donated; sending thank you letters; scheduling gift gathering parties; organizing the day of the event caterer, tables and chairs, decorations; and setting up all the gifts.” The favorite part of her job is meeting all the new volunteers that work each year.

Mrs. Niemer, Assistant Development Director in Charge of Annual Fund, Editor of PRIDE Magazine: For those of you who don’t know what the Annual Fund is, it is Elder’s largest fundraiser where 100% of money donated goes towards tuition assistance. The PRIDE Magazine is a magazine that is all about Elder. When asked about what a normal day consists of Mrs. Niemer replied, “There is no such thing as a normal day when you work with Mr. Bill! Anything can happen!” The best part of the job is the interactions with the Elder community and putting the PRIDE together.