A Development Office for the American Province of the Poor Handmaids was organized in 1988 with the help of a grant from the Lilly Foundation with the assistance of Sr. Bernadette Kalscheur, SSSF. Sr. Wilma Sehr was the first director of the Development Office.

Records from the Development Office include Lilly Foundation grant information; correspondence and minutes of meetings between Sr. Wilma Sehr and development mentor, Sr. Bernadette Kalscher, SSSF; material collected from the development offices of other congregations; reports to Provincial Council; information on Development Office policies; a capital campaign study; grant application materials; address lists; and correspondence. Development Office mailings and fund-raising materials may be found in Printed Material.