Dedicated Staff Gladly Take Your Donations
By Nicholle Smith '06
Barb Steele and Diana Partee help
keep Antioch afloat, supporting the fundraising effort is
their mission, and optimizing the database is their skill.
For more than two decades, the pair have been involved with
the inner workings of this institution. During the last two
years they have been working side by side sustaining the core
of Development and Alumni Relations. These two dedicated women
maintain the records of Antioch's donors.
Barb has been a member of the Yellow Springs community since
she was a child. Born and raised in this small village, she
became familiar with Antioch at a young age. About one dozen
of Barb's relatives were employed at the College, including
her grandparents and mother. "She's the reason I started
working at Antioch in 1978," Barb recounted about her
mother, who was the Director of Master Files in Development.
Three days a week, for three to four hours, Barb volunteered
to file records for her mother. She then went on her first
nine-month contract with the Development and Alumni Relations
department in 1980.
Barb Steele has been the Director of Alumni/Development Records
for nearly ten years now and has recently been promoted to
Director of Development Records and Prospect Management. Today's
technology digitized the work of record keeping. Barb manages
more than 62,000 database records of constituents. "Database
manager is a big job, especially with 10-12 users. I have
to make sure the software is installed correctly and that
the system is maintained daily so that other users can perform
their tasks," Barb explained. When the conversion from
the last program to the current Gift Maker Pro database occurred,
Barb had to make more than 400,000 transactions. But Barb's
contributions to Development do not end here. She does retrievals
for in-house donations and the list for mailing labels. She
is also in charge of campaign prospects. She creates daily,
monthly and yearly reports for the donations that come in
each day. Throughout the 24 years of her service to the Development
and Alumni Relations office, there isn't a task she can't
assist with. In fact, Barb maintained the Gift Recorder position
for a few years before Diana Partee arrived. According to
Barb, "these two positions, to keep the records clean,
to keep them updated, and keeping everything processed and
the pulling out all of the retrievals for people who raise
money - it's kind of like the core, the heart and soul of
this department."
Diana Partee filled the union position of Gift Recorder two
years ago. Originally from a tiny town in Brown County, Ohio,
Diana moved to Yellow Springs for its accepting and tolerant
community at the age of 26. Her first position at Antioch
was tracking tuition records for the University. Then she
worked in the Business Office until the consolidation. When
Antioch University reorganized its administrative offices,
Diana took a union position within the Business Office for
Antioch College, which she kept for nearly 12 years. Now in
the Development and Alumni Relations department her record
handling experience made Gift Recorder an easy transition.
"The work is not exciting," she tells me, "but
it is essential. It is in the functioning of the College.
Since we live in a capitalistic system, we have to adhere
to some of the rules about money." Diana maintains an
accurate account of the donations that come into the College.
"It's amazing how many movements it takes to process
a check, to move it through the system to get the data correct,"
Diana says. The contribution Diana makes to Antioch College
is crucial, as many of the donations have specified spending
restrictions. Every cent and restriction must be noted in
the database to ensure donor satisfaction.
"Donations support the operating
functions of this institution, as well as the impressive financial
aid packages for the student body."
Together, Barb and Diana nurture the basic essence of Antioch
College's income. Donations support the operating functions
of this institution, as well as the impressive financial aid
packages for the student body. Even as Antioch embarks on
redesigning the curriculum Barb Steele is prepared. She solidly
stated, "I've been through a lot of changes. Change doesn't
bother me. It's a good job, and it's a good contribution.
In order to make it through, you have to be dedicated and
believe in what your work is doing and what your self worth
is. Antioch is unique, always has been and always will be."
photo by Nicholle
Smith '06 Diana Partee and Barb Steele
are co-workers in the Office of Development and Alumni
Relations.
Your donation really
helps us uphold and improve upon the Antioch traditions
Antiochians from all eras value so deeply. Please
donate to the Annual Fund today. Contact 1.800.411.6780
with donations and questions.
|
|
