About QDP Corporation
First, Who is QDP
Quantified Data Products began in 1984 as a partnership between two deacons in a local church. The goal was to provide work for several people in the church who were needing work. John Gardner was a Selling District Manager for a national fundraising manufacturing company based in Princeton, Indiana. Not satisfied with the way his employer company was generating paperwork for his groups, John asked fellow deacon Max Garwood if it could be done differently . . . and a partnership was begun.
Soon, many of the company reps were paying to get their tallies processed by Quantified Data Products instead of by their company at no charge.
Eventually, John left the national fundraising company and Quantified Data Products became QDP Corporation. Click here if you want to know WHY we changed our name.
Operating a local fundraising distributorship under the name PRIORITY Fund Raising, the first tallies were processed in a room in the Gardner home and the first truck blocked traffic in the street to unload product into the garage for pre-pack.
At the same time, construction was under way for QDP's warehouse. The plan was to construct a temporary facility on Max's property (GM was coming to town and real estate at that time was insane) and move later. Instead, we have modified and expanded our facility to our comfort zone and will probably stay where we are.
Why QDP?
The main thing that makes us different from every competitor is the wide variety of experience that we have.
- John & Joan Gardner were and still are both teachers with nearly a decade of teaching experience overlapping over 27 years of fundraising. We understand the mechanics of what needs to happen inside the school to make your program educationally friendly. We use the programs we develop and we can translate computer-eze into fundraising speak.
- Max Garwood is a Computer Programmer, an Electrical Engineer and Patent Attorney. Max was our original Ultra programmer and knows how to make our equipment work. And then, he does, well, whatever lawyers do. The wall in his office has an impressive display of diplomas, citations and qualifications.
- Ron Green has been fundraising since the early 80's and has experience working with national and regional companies. Not many people have as much experience in this industry as Ron does.
- Dennis Barnum has a Computer Science degree and is our current programmer for Ultra, WinUltra, UltraScan, TallyScan, I-Scan . . . and whatever else we need.
- Sara Phares has a Computer Science degree and a Church Music degree from Huntington University. Sara develops and maintains our web presences, and develops websites for other fundraisers.
A Note about PRIORITY Fund Raising. If you'd like to see it, email John Gardner and identify yourself, please.
John Gardner is a former Band Director who went into fundraising after four years of raising money as a band director. He spent six years in sales and sales management with Princeton Industries, an Indiana manufacturing company with national fundraising coverage. John has been at the helm of QDP since its incorporation in 1985.
John is a deacon at Huntington Baptist Church, where he sings in the choir, leads congregational singing and has started an instrumental ensemble. Other community involvement includes past President of the local high school Band Parents, past President of the Huntington Camp of The Gideons, and Adjunct Faculty at Huntington College where he teaches clarinet and has performed on a faculty recital. He plays clarinet in the local theatre guild and college musicals as well as with the college's wind ensemble and the local community band. In Spring of 2001, he led the backup band of the local high school's show choir, winning three "Best Band" awards in competition. John has also volunteered as a Big Brother, and helps with the high school's band camp. He is currently on the AFRDS Technology Committee and also the Membership Committee.
Max Garwood holds a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. He retired from the Defense Logistics Agency of the Department of Defense to open his own law practice in Huntington. He currently works also as a patent attorney for an area firm. Max is a deacon at Huntington Baptist Church and a member of The Gideons.
Quantified is a math term. No one could say it. No one could spell it. And no one knew what it meant - thus the abbreviated name.