Money makes the world go ‘round and the Advancement Office makes Creighton Prep go ‘round.

Prep’s Advancement office is made up of a team of dedicated members who work day and night to help fund Creighton Prep’s costs from tuition to projects such as the new Lannon Learning Commons.

Every student receives some financial aid when they come to Prep. The real cost of a Prep education is around $17,000, but students paying full price only pay $11,000. The Vice President of Advancement, Mr. Rick Berger (class of ‘76) says it’s his team’s job to keep tuition low. “By keeping tuition as low as we can possibly keep it, we are living up to the mission of St. Ignatius and the Society of Jesus,” Berger said.

Mr. Taylor Stormberg (class of ‘09), Director of Annual Funds, is also a big advocate for keeping tuition low. Stormberg plays a huge part in controlling annual fund dollars that come in each fiscal year. Stormberg thinks his most important accomplishment at Prep is making tuition affordable for all students.

“I would say being able to raise annual fund dollars that come in the door to make tuition affordable for all students,” Stormberg said.

Students play a big part in helping raise money for Creighton Prep. Raising money helps both families that need tuition assistance and students themselves.

“You’re helping all those families that need financial aid, and hopefully you’re learning a little bit about helping to support the school,” Berger said.

In addition, the Advancement Department has been in charge of many projects here at Creighton Prep from the refurbished chapel to installing new furniture in the classrooms. Stormberg, however, would like to see that change.

“I would love for us to get to a point where instead of going for a facilities approach on projects and raising capital dollars for that, our endowment increases and could maybe double or triple,” Stormberg said. “That, in a sense, would lower the cost of tuition and allow more students to come to school here.”

Projects still play an important part in making our school a great place to be at. The process of making a project come to life is very complex.

“First and foremost we look at what are our priorities and initiatives for the school as a whole and what do we need five, ten, fifteen years from now, but that needs to line up with our donor base,” Stormberg said.

The donor base is something very important to consider when planning a project. An example of a project that has been considered but does not have enough donors to succeed is a pool for Prep.

“It is very hard for us to go raise money when we have a small pool, no pun intended, of people that can support that project,” Stormberg said.

Most money that Prep gets comes from alumni. The advancement department is always busy trying to call alumni to see if they would like to donate to help the school.

“For alumni, we really want to try to kinda tug at the heartstrings about what their time was like at Prep, so whether they did band, art, or sports whatever that was and try to find that sweet spot that really hits home,” Stormberg said.

The Advancement department is a team of dedicated individuals committed to supporting Prep everyday they step into the office.

“When you go on and have a successful career you remember to help support Prep and help the students that will be attending then to get the same experience that you did when you came to Prep,” Berger said.