Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. Records

Accession A93-11
48 Rolls of Microfilm
74 Document Boxes

Table of Contents

Description of the Project

The microfilming of the historical records of Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. has been arranged by the Special Collections and Archives Department of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). The filming is part of a larger project to preserve and make available for research the historical records of major professional associations, firms, and individuals prominent in the fields of philanthropy and fund raising. A grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and other donors has made the filming possible.

The Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. Microfilming Project began in October 1991. For the project, the IUPUI Special Collections borrowed the records of Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. from their Columbus, Ohio office, prepared the records for filming and transported them to the Indiana Historical Society's Preservation Microfilming lab which did the filming. The records were processed in groups, rather than all at once. As a consequence, the inventories that appear at the beginning of each roll of film describe only the materials that were filmed as a part of that group. For an inventory of all Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. records on microfilm, contact the IUPUI Special Collections and Archives.

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History of Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc.

The partnership between Charles S. and Harvey J. Hill, formed in 1919, eventually became Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. Although Harvey Hill remained with the firm only a few years, Charles Ward continued there until his death in 1929. As a YMCA Branch General Secretary, Charles S. Ward developed a short term, intensive fund raising campaign method to replace the traditional year long system of fund raising. He began to assist other branches with their fund raising problems and eventually served as the Field Secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA. The "Ward Plan" was a thoroughly organized, well publicized campaign, relying on broad based giving, and usually conducted for only a few weeks. Charles Ward counseled local YMCAs, hospitals, and universities over the next several years and during World War I he worked with the American Red Cross, the National Catholic War Work Council, and the United War Work Appeal.

In 1919, Charles Ward left the YMCA to form a partnership with Harvey J. Hill to provide fund raising counsel to non-profit organizations. Within a few years they had added several junior partners to their fund raising firm. Many of the partners and junior partners, such as Lyman L. Pierce, Arnaud C. Marts, George Lundy, Bayard Hedrick, Howard Beaver and George Tamblyn, later formed their own fund raising organizations. Others, such as Christian Dreshman, Herman Reinhardt, J. Theodore Morris, and F. Herbert Wells, would remain with the firm for decades. Formerly based in New York City, Ward, Dreshman and Reinardt, Inc. moved to Columbus, Ohio in the late 1960's. They continue to use methods based on the original "Ward Plan" and work primarily with local and area wide church appeals, YMCA branches, educational institutions, hospitals, and Community Chests. Since Charles Ward began to use his campaign method in 1905, the firm estimated that by 1980 it had raised more than $3,000,000,000. in over 6,000 campaigns

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Scope and Content Note

Series I: Office Records, 1911-1987

The office records of Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. consist of twelve parts: 1) papers of the Officers of the firm; 2) records of the Board of Directors; 3) Commendation Letters; 4) Administrative Files; 5) Reports; 6) records of the Annual Staff Conference; 7) Campaign Manuals and Samples; 8) Client Files; 9) Campaign Proposals; 10) records of the Group Hospitalization Plan; 11) Historical Papers; and 12) Publications.

  1. Officers

    This section consists of the papers of Herman F. Reinhardt, J. Theodore Morris, Donald Hannum, and Edwin E. Armstrong and papers relating to the deaths of Charles S. Ward and Christian H. Dreshman. Herman Reinhardt's papers include memos to the staff (1955-1958 and 1962-1964), a speech on Charles S. Ward, clippings, photographs, and a memorial booklet. The papers also include a speech by Arnaud Marts, of Marts and Lundy, entitled "A Multi- Billion Dollar Idea for American Philanthropy" (1960). The papers of J. Theodore Morris, who joined the field staff in the early 1930's and served as a board member for over twenty-five years, consist of correspondence (1965-1980) which reflect his activities as a campaign director and a board member. The papers of Edwin Armstrong, a president of the firm, consist of memos to the staff (1956), and a speech on financing health care programs (1968), given during his term as president of the AAFRC. Donald Hannum's papers relate to his promotion to Vice President of the firm.

  2. Board of Directors

    The records of the Board (1955 - 1966) consist mainly correspondence relating to the activities of the board, including minutes of stockholders meetings and the distribution of stock among company employees.

  3. Commendation Letters

    These are letters of appreciation written by clients to the firm from 1911 to 1930 and letters received by prospective clients conducting investigations of the firm (1925-1954).

  4. Administrative Files

    Administrative Files include papers relating to by-laws and by-law amendments (1956-1957), fee schedule revisions (1969), staff salaries (1950-1953), company stock (1955-1956) and the firm's move to Ohio (1968).

  5. Reports

    The Reports consist of the "History of Fund Raising for Colleges" ca 1938 and "Subscription Refunding Financing Method" (undated).

  6. Annual Staff Conferences

    Papers relating to Staff Conferences (1939-1962) include mainly speeches, and reports presented during conferences.

  7. Campaign Manuals and Samples

    Manuals include those developed for specific types of campaigns, such as planned giving endowment (ca 1986), church area campaigns (1987), the community campaign (1981), and college and university campaigns (1938) as well as a general procedures notebook (ca 1949). Samples (ca 1926-ca 1970) include invitations, pledge cards, reporting cards, envelopes, a workers manual, and forms used during a wide variety of campaigns. Also included are papers and reports relating to hospital campaigns, gift analysis, the rack system and the development of a Stewardship Commitment Program.

  8. Client Files

    Client files included within the office records consist of brochures for the Associated Building Campaign (1929) and Merseyside Hospitals (1939, England) as well as an initial contact file for prospective clients (1965-1981). More extensive pre-1950 client files can be found in a separate series of the Ward, Dreshamn and Reinhardt, Inc. Records.

  9. Campaign Proposals

    These proposals (1929-1949) were produced mainly for hospital and university campaigns. The proposals included here did not have a file among the pre-1950 client files of the Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. Records.

  10. Group Hospitalization Plan

    During the early 1930's Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. developed a plan for group hospitalization through its subsidiary, Hospital Financial Services, Inc. Included here are proposals of the plan presented to the Chicago Hospital Association, an article by Christian Dreshman on the plan and articles, gathered as background information, relating to other plans.

  11. Historical Papers

    Historical papers include research materials on Charles S. Ward and the history of fund raising and legal documents (1921-1943) relating to company partnership agreements.

  12. Publications

    The firm's publications include its newsletter, Financing Social Progress, brochures, mailings and the pamphlet "Voluntary Giving in a Free Land" (ca 1955) which describes the history of the firm. The advertisements (1922-1973) primarily appeared in religious or hospital related magazines, such as The Churchman, Episcopal Church Annual and The Modern Hospital. The brochures were aimed towards a variety of possible campaigns, such as Community Chests, industrial and community development projects, churches, hospitals and other health care facilities, and educational institutions. Other brochures were produced for a more general audience or as part of a series, such as "Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee" (1980) and "People Serving People" (ca 1976). Many of the brochures were kept together in notebooks, to show prospective clients. There were separate notebooks for Church Campaigns (ca 1923-ca 1939), Educational Institutions (ca 1925-ca 1945), Hospital Campaigns (ca 1925-ca 1945), and YMCA and YWCA Campaigns (ca 1926-ca 1945). The Mailings Notebook contains mainly hospital and church related mailings and includes information on the date of the mailing and the target audience.

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SERIES II: PRE-1950 CLIENT FILES

40 ROLLS OF MICROFILM

63 DOCUMENT BOXES

The Pre-1950 Client Files of Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. consist of seven parts: Churches, 1924-1949; Church Area Campaigns, 1926-1948; Educational Institutions, 1921-1949; Homes, 1925 - 1950; Hospitals, 1920-1949; YMCA & YWCA Organizations, 1920-1949; Youth Groups, 1922-1949; and Miscellaneous Clients, 1922-1948. The records are filed within the sections alphabetically by state, then city and the name of the organization. Although all Pre-1950 client files have been filmed, only a sampling of later client files have been microfilmed. Other groups microfilmed include the papers of Charles Sumner Ward and office records, 1911-1987.

There are 319 clients represented here, many of whom conducted multiple campaigns with Ward, Dreshman, & Reinhardt. Typical paperwork microfilmed includes: correspondence to campaign workers and contributors, campaign brochures, reports and newsletters produced for the workers regarding the campaign's progress, newspaper clippings regarding the campaign, posters, banners, stickers, postcards and pins.

While the types of clients varied, much of the paperwork remained consistent over the years and duplicates and routine paperwork, such as unused forms, cards and lists, have not been filmed. Representative files with typical examples of paperwork and forms were filmed intact, these are listed below with the section descriptions. These files were selected as typical clients, who are representative of time periods and locations. Paperwork not filmed includes: carry or kit envelopes, report envelopes, refusal envelopes, subscription cards, receipts, prospect cards, invitations, rsvp cards, admittance tickets for dinners, auditors reports, daily report forms, authorization and identification cards, requests for prospects, and team organization charts. Also not filmed were lists of prospects and campaign workers and unused stationary and envelopes.

  1. Churches

    This section consists of the records of fifty-six churches in nineteen states and Canada. Half were clients between 1924 and 1929. A large percentage were from the eastern half of the United States, mainly New York, and New Jersey, but also including Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Other locations include Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Representative files filmed intact were St Paul's Church (1925, Yonkers, NY); Church of St. Mark and St. John (1926, Rochester, NY); Church of the Heavenly Rest (1929, NYC, NY); Sacred Heart (1938, Charleston, WV); St. Paul's (1939, Dayton, OH); and Grace Church (1946, Providence, RI).

  2. Church Area Campaigns

    Seven church area campaigns were conducted in six states between 1926 and 1949, although none during the 1930's. Representative files filmed intact include Diocese of Michigan (1927, Detroit, MI) and Synod of Texas (1946, Houston, TX).

  3. Educational Institutions

    This section consists of the records of seventy-two clients from twenty-seven states and Canada between 1921 and 1949. More campaigns were conducted in Pennsylvania than in any other state, although several were conducted in Illinois, Ohio and Virginia. A few campaigns were also conducted in Canada. Representative client files filmed were Alma College (1921, Alma, MI); Sweet Briar College (1928, Sweet Briar, VA); St. Mary's on the Delaware (1937, Burlington, NJ); Shauttuck School for Boys (1938, Fairbault, MN); Sisters of St. Joseph, Nazareth College (1940, Rochester, NY); St. Norbert (1940, Green Bay, WI); Salem College (1941, Salem, WV); and Gettysburg College (1947, Gettysburg, PA).

  4. Homes

    Campaigns were conducted for twenty clients between 1925 and 1950 in seven states and Canada for children's homes and homes for the elderly. Several campaigns were conducted in Pennsylvania, and clients were also located in Maryland, New York, and Tennessee. Representative files filmed were Oakhaven Old Peoples Home (1927, Chicago, IL); Kallman Home for Children (1931, Brooklyn, NY); and New Brunswick Protestant Home (1946, New Brunswick, Canada).

  5. Hospitals

    This section consists of the records of 141 hospitals from 1920 to 1949 in twenty-six states. Thirty-eight campaigns were conducted in Pennsylvania and twenty-one in New York during those years. Several campaigns were conducted in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Campaigns were also conducted for institutions located in France, England and Canada. Representative files filmed are: Church Home and Infirmary (1920, Baltimore, MD); Flushing Hospital and Dispensary (1926, Flushing, NY); Franklin Square Hospital (1926, Baltimore, MD); Children's Hospital (1928, Philadelphia, PA); Mercy Hospital (1928, Philadelphia, PA); Bronx Hospital (1931, Bronx, NY); Notre Dame Hospital (1948, Biddeford, MA); Georgia Baptist Hospital (1948, Atlanta, GA); and Albany Memorial Hospital (1949, Albany, NY).

  6. YMCA and YWCA Organizations

    Campaigns were conducted for thirty-seven clients in fourteen states and Canada between 1920 and 1949. Nine were YWCA campaigns and one a joint YMCW and YWCA campaign. Most of the activity occurred in New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Illinois. Representative YMCA examples consist of: Pottsville, PA, (1920); Holyoke, MA, (1944); and Westerly, RI, (1945).

  7. Youth Groups

    This section consists of the records of twenty-six clients in nine states from 1922 to 1949. Twenty-two of the campaigns were conducted for Boy Scout groups, two for the Girl Scouts, one joint Boy and Girl Scout campaign and one Campfire Girl campaign. Representative Boy Scout clients include: Oak Park (1926); Mineola, NY (1926); Ogdensburg, NY (1930); Farmingdale, NJ (1934); Mt. Vernon, NY (1938); Memphis, TN (1941); Roanoke, VA (1948); Staunton, VA (1949) and Brockton, MA (1949). The Campfire Girls, New York City, NY, 1930 client file has also been filmed as representative.

  8. Miscellaneous

    Campaigns for many types of clients, including Masons, the Red Cross, banks, museums, and the Salvation Army, were conducted in thirteen states for fifty-two clients. Most were conducted in Pennsylvania and New York, and the majority took place during the 1920's and 1930's. A campaign was also conducted for the American Students Social Center located in Paris, France. Files filmed as representative examples include: Masons (St. Louis, 1922), Masons (Steubenville, OH, 1929, 1935, 1941), Temple of Religion (NYC, NY, 1930), Benjamin Franklin Memorial/Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, PA, 1930, 1935 - 1939), Church and Drama Association (NYC, NY, 1941), USO (Orange, NJ, 1941), Red Cross (Savannah, GA, 1946).

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Series III: Post-1950 Client Files

The Post-1950 Client Files of Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. consist of eight parts: Churches, 1951-1985; Educational Institu- tions, 1951-1985; Homes, 1954-1983; Hospitals, 1951-1983; Miscel- laneous Fund Drives, 1950-1986; YMCA-YWCA, 1953-1984; Youth Fund Drives, 1957-1976; Proposals, 1951-1970. The records are filed alphabetically by state, then city and the name of the client organization, all of which are grouped in these various eight categories. The client files microfilmed in Series III is only a representative sample of the firm's Post-1950 patrons. All Pre-1950 client files have been filmed, as well as the papers of the firm's founder Charles Sumner Ward and office records, 1911-1987.

The types of campaign material microfilmed include: correspondence to campaign workers and contributors, campaign brochures, reports and newsletters produced for the workers detailing the campaign's progress, newspaper clippings regarding the campaign, posters, banners, stickers, postcards, pins and other promotional materials. A new emphasis on publicity, especially the electronic media and other news coverage, distinguishes the Post-1950 campaigns from the earlier series. Scripts for radio and television spots abound in the records of the later campaigns. The files of the early 1950s campaigns are not specifically organized in categorical manner, and the individual documents are sometimes presented in normal chronological order, but frequently are in reverse order. The campaigns of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are arranged in a much more coherent manner, with file subdivisions and a clear time reference for most of the material. While the types of clients varied, much of the paperwork remained consistent during the time span, although with an increasing emphasis on publicity material. Duplicates and some blank forms and envelopes have not been included for microfilming. Representative files with typical examples of paperwork and forms were filmed intact. These are listed below in the complete inventory and are described in a brief, summary description of each category.

  1. Churches

    This section consists of the records of nearly 40 church, synod, diocesan, or assembly organizations in the United States and Canada, during the years 1951-1985. Although there were quite a number of individual parish fund drives in this sample, there were also included many national fund drives for missionary work and world relief, including: Venture in Mission, the Protestant Episcopal Church nationwide project, represented here in nation- wide, state, and local diocesan campaigns. Also included were church conference campaigns for urban needs and health concerns, such as the New Jersey Methodist Conference. Finally, there were several campaigns for church sponsored educational institutions, such as the Alabama Presbyterian Synod fund drive for Southwestern University in Memphis, Tennessee.

  2. Educational Institutions

    This section consists of the records of 20 institutions of higher learning, including colleges, universities, and prep schools, of both public and private origin. Several large state universities were represented, including Penn State University, Altoona, and Mississippi College, Jackson, Mississippi. Numerous smaller universities and colleges were represented, including the founding of New College in Sarasota, Florida in 1962. Also included were academies of fine arts, such as the campaign for the Memphis Academy of Arts, Memphis, Tennessee in 1957.

  3. Homes

    The campaigns selected here consist of nine clients between the years 1954 and 1983. They consist of both homes for the aged and dependant children, including, for example: Retirement Living Inc., a retirement complex founded in Emporia, Kansas in 1983; and the campaign for the Camden Home for Children, in Camden, New Jersey in 1958.

  4. Hospitals

    This section consists of the records of over 20 hospitals between the years 1951 and 1983, in various campaigns throughout the nation and in Puerto Rico. Hospital campaigns in large urban metropolitan areas, such as the St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital campaign in Houston, Texas in 1953, were included as well as the hospital fund drives in small communities, as for example the Patrick County Memorial Hospital campaign in Stuart, Virginia in 1960.

  5. Miscellaneous Fund Drives

    Campaigns in this section include a diverse spectrum of clients, in nationwide campaigns between the years 1950 and 1986, including the following examples: the Blood Bank of Hawaii campaign in Honolulu in 1979; the Salvation Army campaign in Elgin, Illinois in 1969; the Dakota Zoo campaign in Bismarck, North Dakota in 1988; the Art Museum campaign in Phoenix, Arizona in 1958; and the Goodwill Industries campaign in Wilmington, Delaware in 1963. Nearly 30 clients are represented here.

  6. YMCA-YWCA

    Campaigns for many local community centers were conducted between the years 1953 and 1984. The representative sample here consists of the files of nearly 20 clients nationwide, including the following: the YMCA campaign in Los Angeles, California in 1966; the YMCA campaign in Atlanta, Georgia in 1957; the YMCA campaign in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1953; the YMCA campaign in St. Louis, Missouri in 1979; and the YWCA Campaign in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1953. There are 17 YMCA campaigns and two YWCA campaigns in this sample.

  7. Youth Fund Drives

    This small sample includes the files of five clients between the years 1957 and 1976. The sample consists of the following: the Atlanta Boys Club campaign in Atlanta, Georgia in 1957; the Boys Ranch campaign in Dodge City, Kansas in 1958; the Boys'Club Inc. campaign in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1962; the Boy Scouts campaign in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1976; and the Boy Scouts campaign in Charleston, West Virginia in 1959.

  8. Proposals

    This sample consists of campaign proposals for over 50 potential clients between the years 1951 and 1970. The overwhelming majority of these proposals (46 out of 53) are for new or renovated YMCA-YWCA facilities and grounds, while the remainder consists of proposals for universities, conference centers, and facilities for retarded children and a new hospital.

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SERIES IV: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, 1920-1973

8 ROLLS OF MICROFILM

11 DOCUMENT BOXES

Series IV consists of three parts: 1) monthly financial statements from most of the years from 1920 to 1955; 2) annual audit reports from the years 1920-1959; and 3) income and expense statements for each of the firm's clients from the years 1960 - 1973.

The monthly financial statements include statements of income and expenses, balance sheets, and detailed lists expenditures for personnel, travel, advertising, and office operations. For most years these files also include summaries of salaries and expenses for the year. Several of the files from the 1920s contain additional documents of note. The 1925 file contains extensive minutes from a December 1925 meeting of the firm's partners; the 1927 file includes documents analyzing the performances of the firm's New York and Chicago offices; and the 1929 file contains documents relating to the death of Charles Sumner Ward. The annual audit reports consist of brief summaries of the firm's income and expenditures for the preceeding year.

The income and expense statements for the firm's clients are from the years 1960 - 1973. The statements are organized by year of the account, and then subdivided into two sections: 1) statements organized by client; and 2) statements filed under the name of the staff member who handled the account. Typical statements include the name and address of the client, the date of the contract, the fee, the length of the campaign, the name of the campaign director, a record of payments by the client, a list of travel and other expenses, and compensation paid to the firm's personnel on the campaign. The statements filed under the employee's name also include a form listing the payments made to the employee by the firm. The statements organized by client are not in any clear order; the statements filed under the name of the staff member are arranged alphabetically by employee name. Income and expense statements were not found for the years before 1960 or after 1973.

Both the audit reports and the monthly financial statements were damaged by water and subsequent mold growth. As a consequence, many pages were stained, a number contain unreadable sections, and several were completely lost.

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SERIES V: Charles Sumner Ward Papers

The Charles Sumner Ward Papers consist of Ward's personal correspondence, campaign materials, newspaper clippings and scrapbooks, dating from the early 1900s to approximately 1920. The Series has been divided into four main sections: 1). Miscellaneous Papers; 2). World War I Relief Campaigns; 3). YMCA-YWCA Campaigns; 4). Scrapbooks.

Ward (1858-1929) began his career in fund raising while working for regional branches of the YMCA in the late 1880s. His innovative approach to the field, emphasizing a short term, intensive campaign, was a major contribution to American philanthropy. He received promotions to direct fund raising for the YMCA at the national level. Because of his phenomenal success in raising funds for YMCA-YWCA campaigns from the 1880s through the 1910s, he was appointed by the Red Cross War Council in 1917 to direct the national Red Cross fund drives. In 1919-1920, he founded Ward, Wells, and Dreshman, a firm which offers fund raising counsel to non-profit organizations.

The largest part of Ward's papers contains the campaign material from national fund drives for the American Red Cross and other war- related causes during the years of America's participation in World War I, 1917-1918. Campaign material from these fund drives include brochures, bulletins, newspaper publicity features, magazine promotions, and miscellaneous printed matter from the national organization during the war and immediate post-war years. In addition to the American Red Cross, Ward directed fund raising campaigns for the United War Work Campaign of 1918, and drives for European refugees.

The next large section includes campaign material from numerous YMCA-YWCA campaigns at the turn of the century, and scrapbooks that contain newspaper accounts of Ward's campaigns during the early 1900s. Campaign materials include brochures, flyers, advertising and promotional matter, letters, and miscellaneous literature. The newsclippings from his 1912 campaign in England are included in the "London" scrapbook. The "Denver" scrapbook consists of press coverage of his campaigns in the West between the years 1906 and 1911. The "New York" scrapbook includes coverage of his campaigns in the eastern part of the country during 1913. A loose, unbound scrapbook also contains newsclippings from campaigns during the 1910s. An oversize folder contains miscellaneous campaign material and newsclippings from the year 1914. The scrapbooks principally contain news coverage of YMCA-YWCA campaigns, and articles about C.S. Ward. Several of them are loosely bound, and their contents may be difficult to read because of the deterioration of the paper on which they were printed.

The miscellaneous papers consist of correspondence of Ward and his associates, primarily Harvey J. Hill, reports, brochures and printed materials from YMCA campaigns. Also included is a campaign for Hamilton College in 1914, and a campaign for community service in New York City in 1920. Duplicate files and oversize posters have not been filmed.
Last updated by bburk on 02/28/2009