Board Members

Robert Croft, CFRE
President

Robert is a partner with the fundraising consulting firm, Crandall, Croft & Associates, and works with nonprofit clients in Fort Wayne and nationwide. Prior to consulting, he was the Associate Director of Development for White's Residential and Family Services and Director of Development for Georgia Baptist Children's Homes and Family Ministries. He has directed all aspects of annual fund development, communications and marketing, planned giving, and numerous capital campaigns. Robert is also on the Board of Directors of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy and serves on the Professional Advancement Division of AFP International. In particular, he is working on the North American Task Force that created the new AFP Fundamentals of Fundraising Course. Robert is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and has been a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) since 2000. He holds a Bachelor of Science, Cum Laude, in political science and sociology from Georgia Southern University.
 

Barbara Jones
Executive Vice President and NPD Chair

Barbara is the Development Director at Vincent House, Inc. Her responsibilities include grant writing, fundraising, donor cultivation and special events. Barbara has a BA in Political Science from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. She has over 30 years experience in grant writing and grant program management in the public and nonprofit sectors, primarily in the area of affordable housing. She has completed numerous HUD training programs in the area of affordable housing development.

Sarah Nitcher
Treasurer

Sarah has been a professional fundraiser for more than ten years. She currently serves as the Development Officer for the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department and is responsible for fundraising sponsorship activities for the department. Her past position was grants administrator for the Indiana Arts Commission and Arts United in NE Indiana. Sarah is a communication generalist and has worked in the profession for over 30 years, beginning with newspaper and television reporting, corporate communication at Magnavox and GTE, university-level teaching and Forensic Speech coaching, and finally development and grants administration jobs. She has served on grant panels for the Indiana Arts Commission, Arts United and the City’s Community Block Grant (CDBG); provides training and serves as a facilitator for public meetings; and she is a board member of Audiences Unlimited, Inc. Sarah has a B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University and an M.A. in Professional Communication from Purdue University.
 

Jeri Rusk
Secretary

Jeri joined the American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana as the Financial Development Officer in 2002. She manages special events, planned giving, major gifts, grant writing, donor cultivation, and communications. Jeri is also a member of Junior League of Fort Wayne and a volunteer with the American Red Cross Disaster Services Human Resources which allows her to be deployed for up to three weeks at a time to assist with fundraising initiatives during national disasters. She holds a BS in Health Science from Ball State University and has earned her Certificate of Fund Raising Management from the Indiana University Center of Philanthropy Fund Raising School.

William C. Andreas, MBA, CFRE
Immediate Past President and Board Development Chair

Bill has nearly 20 years of experience in fundraising and development. He is currently the Executive Director of Arc Foundation, Inc., which is a supporting foundation for Easter Seals Arc of Northeast Indiana, Inc. He is responsible for the administration of the foundation, major and planned gifts, and monitoring grants, special events, annual gifts, and product sales. In 2000, Bill received ICEArc “Development of the Year Award” (given jointly by the Indiana Council of Executives and the ARC of Indiana) for his achievements in increasing foundation contributions. He received a BA in Business Administration and an MBA from Taylor University. Bill is a member of the Leave a Legacy Council, the Planned Giving Council of Fort Wayne, and the President’s Council on Easter Seals, and is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Allen County Council.

Jennifer has been active in fundraising and development since 1998. In her current position as Development Supervisor at CANI (Community Action of Northeast Indiana), she oversees all fundraising, marketing, and public relations. Before coming to CANI, Jennifer was the Membership and Computer Manager at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. In addition to being on the AFP board, Jennifer is a Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer, on the Northeast Indiana Public Radio Community Advisory Board, and a graduate of the Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana Leadership Institute. Jennifer has a B.A. in Fine Arts from Indiana University and an Associates degree in Computer Information Systems from Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne.

Candace Schuler, CFRE, GPC
Vice President External Relations

Candace has been a freelance business and development writer for over 25 years. Her experience in the development field is extensive and includes not only grant proposals but case statements, donor solicitation materials, letters of intent/inquiry, progress reports, grant source searches, and other related services. She also provides workshops to nonprofit boards and staff on grant writing and grant funder research methods. In the past ten years, her grant writing services have resulted in awards in excess of $70M for her clients. Candace holds a Certificate of Fund Raising Management from the Fund Raising School at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. She is a Certified Fund Raising Professional (CFRE), a Grant Professional Certified (GPC), and a graduate of the AFP Faculty Training Academy. In addition to her service on the AFP Board, Candace is also a member of the American Association of Grant Professionals, the Planned Giving Council of Northeast Indiana, the Northern Indiana Nonprofit Alliance, and the Fort Wayne Rotary Club, and is a Big Brother Big Sister volunteer. She is also the author of 26 published romance novels. 

Bob Crandall, CFRE
Every Member Campaign

Bob has been active in the nonprofit community for over 23 years, working in a wide variety of positions with responsibilities encompassing the creation of new fundraising and planned giving programs, managing capital campaigns, growing annual support, spearheading major special events, and more. His consulting firm, Robert J. Crandall and Associates, LLC client list includes Ivy Tech Community College Northeast, Calumet College of St. Joseph, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Allen County Historical Society and Museum in Lima, OH, United Hispanic-Americans, Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America in Wichita, KS, American Baptist Historical Society, and First Baptist Church in Massillon, OH. The firm’s staff includes five consultants with a wide variety of expertise. Bob holds a BA in psychology and history from the University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD and an MAT from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, and principal’s certification from Iowa State University. He has also completed training in the second AFP Faculty Training Academy and has been a motivational speaker, presenter, and discussion leader at both national and international AFP conferences as well as in Hyderbad, India, Amman, Jordan, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has served five years on the former NSFRE Board (now AFP), six years on the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy including two years as an officer, and is currently an active member of the AFP Leadership Society. Bob is a member of the Christian Stewardship Association and is the recipient of the 2007 Barbara Marion Award for outstanding leadership and service to AFP.  

Gary Nahrwold
Technical Support

Gary joined the Concordia Theological Seminary Advancement staff in June 2001. As Assistant Vice President for Institutional Advancement, his primary responsibility is major gifts fund raising, supervision of the staff, and the direct mail appeal program. He also calls on congregations of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to encourage direct support. Prior to joining the Seminary, Gary worked for 18 years at Magnavox (now Raytheon) in their Government and Industrial Electronics division and 4 years as Materials Manager for Franklin Electric in the Large Submersibles division. Gary holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Supervision (Industrial Management) from Purdue University. His wife, Renita, also serves at the seminary as Director of the Student Commons. The Nahrwolds have three children and nine wonderful grandchildren. 

Tim Ehlerding

Tim serves as an Advancement Officer and Capital Campaign Director for Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. As part of his seminary duties he focuses on planned giving strategies. Prior to joining the seminary in 2006, he served five years as a Financial Consultant and Regional Managing Associate for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Fort Wayne.With Thrivent he was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, a Registered Securities Representative, and presented at numerous workshops and training events on retirement, insurance, and investment issues. He also directed numerous leadership and management seminars nationally for Skillpath Seminars, Kansas City, before joining the seminary advancement team. The fifteen years before Thrivent found Tim working in various leadership and design positions as a Civil Engineer. Tim received an Associate of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from Purdue University. Tim is married to Susie, and both enjoy their three wonderful children: Emily, Stephanie, and Robby. Having been out-voted by a 4-1 margin, four of Tim’s family members get pleasure from a cat named “Birthday” and two dwarf hamsters.

Steve Linsenmayer
Luncheon Logistics

Steve has worked as Development Director for the Embassy Theatre Foundation Inc. since November 2007. Prior to that, he was a photojournalist at the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel for 19 years. He works part time for Northeast Indiana Public Radio and is vice president of the Burmese Advocacy Center board of directors. He is married to Ellie Bogue, who currently works for the News-Sentinel. They have two children, Alex, 20, and Rachelle, 17, and a big and a small dog.

Julie Knuth

Julie is the Director of Annual Giving at the McMillen Center for Health Education. She has been with the Center since 2002. Her responsibilities include fundraising, grant writing, and special event management. Julie graduated from Manchester College with a Bachelor of Science in Nonprofit Management—the first class in the history of the College to receive this Degree. She is currently in the process of obtaining her Certificate of Fundraising Management from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Julie is also on the Board of Saint Nicholas Church in Fort Wayne.