Springfield, Ohio, June 2019 Oesterlen Services For Youth, Inc., in Springfield, Ohio, has hired Ms. Amanda Nicol as Director of Development. This position oversees the Fundraising, Marketing, Capital Campaigns, Special Events, Church Relations and Public Relations for the Agency. In addition, Pastor Rachel Tune has recently joined her team part-time as Church Relations Specialist.
Ms. Nicol comes to Oesterlen with more than 15 years of extensive not-for-profit fundraising experience in health and human services, higher education and youth development. She is naturally a strategic thinker, with a track record of developing and delivering revenue-building plans. With strong financial management experience, she has developed multi-million dollar budgets for agencies and operating departments.
Ms. Nicol previously worked with an agency similar to Oesterlen northwestern Ohio which serves clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a faith-based environment. There she grew the annual fundraising appeal by enhancing relationships and development activities, special events and marketing. She also implemented a campaign to serve the future needs of individuals by balancing reimbursable expenses and fundraising activities to expand programs within the agency. In her position, Ms. Nicol was a strong advocate for choice of residence for persons with I /DD, delivering more than 20,000 signatures and providing testimony on behalf of the agency to the Ohio House Sub-Committee on Finance.
As part of the United Methodist Association family of agencies, Amanda served as a peer reviewer to sister agencies across the country for the EAGLE Accreditation, a faith-based accreditation similar to the Council on Accreditation (COA) or Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations(JCHO). As a member of the EAGLE commission, she reviewed standards for accreditation and agency applications.. Finally, Amanda served on the Values and Faith Alliance for the State of Ohio, laying important groundwork for disability advocacy and working with other faith- and values-based agencies in the state of Ohio.
As Church Relations Specialist, Pastor Tune will work part-time at Oesterlen. She also serves in a shared position as Pastor to Wittenberg University in Springfield, where she has served for the past twenty years. Pastor Tune had served on Oesterlen’s Board of Directors for 3 years as well as on a number of Oesterlen’s guidance committees, before joining Oesterlen’s staff.
Pastor Tune’s new position at Oesterlen includes maintaining and growing Oesterlen’s strong relationships with congregations and the three Ohio synods of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) synods, by sharing the life-giving ministry and mission of Oesterlen, serving as a liaison and resource to congregations seeking professional assistance in Oesterlen’s areas of expertise, and encouraging church groups to partner with Oesterlen in a variety of ways. She will be working with congregations for tours of campus; service projects on its 100-acre campus; offerings and in-kind collections; and in arranging for preaching, temple talks, and speakers for Sunday School or other church groups. She also oversees the chaplaincy program, which provides weekly chapel for the residential program.
Oesterlen is thrilled by the addition of Amanda Nicol and Pastor Rachel Tune to the Development Department. Oesterlen’s Executive Director Donald Warner said, ” We are blessed to have each of them working among us. Oesterlen feels Amanda’s impact will be tremendous as it has already been felt. Rachel is a proven advisor that is skilled in encouraging words and support. Oesterlen is truly grateful to have both Amanda and Rachel on the team.”