Dear Friends,

I am excited to share that Meredith Sharwarko joins our UR Family as Senior Associate Director, Annual Giving Programs starting today, Monday, January 9, 2023!

Meredith joins us from Hope College where she served on their Annual Giving team for six years—most recently as Director of Annual Giving. Prior to her work in higher education, Meredith was an Account Executive at Inte Q, a provider of loyalty and subscription-based benefit programs, data analytics, and merchandise products.

Please join me in welcoming Meredith to Notre Dame and be sure to stop by and say hello to her.

God Bless and Go Irish,
Brandon Tabor

Friends,

I’m thrilled to welcome back Zach Thurston to the Annual Giving team in a new role as Solutions Manager starting November 28th. After a stint serving as Marketing Automation Manager at Indianapolis-based software company Bloomerang, Zach has the following to say about his return to Notre Dame:

“I didn’t think I’d miss this place as much as I did during the six months I was gone. Very excited to be back.”

We’re excited, too, Zach. Now, onward and upward as we close out calendar year-end!

– Brandon Tabor

Good day, colleagues!

I’d like to share with you a few organizational updates we’ve made on the Annual Giving team:

Lauren Dolzan has been promoted to Director, Marketing Operations where she’ll continue her leadership of the team responsible for the Department’s content development and marketing, campaign execution, and digital giving experiences. Lauren joined University Relations in 2018 as a Project Manager and most recently served as Senior Associate Director, Marketing Operations.

Katie Kerby has been promoted to Director, Annual Giving where she’ll lead a team responsible for the Sorin Society, Order of St. Thomas More, John Cardinal O’Hara Society, and giving society exclusive member experiences and events. Katie was a second-year member of the UR Internship Program and has spent the last three years in Annual Giving, most recently as Senior Associate Director, Giving Programs.

Kasey O’Connor has been promoted to Director, Annual Giving where she’ll continue to grow the Rockne Athletics Fund team while building and coaching an all-star team of leadership annual giving officers. P.S. we’re hiring two more of these roles now! Kasey, a former Notre Dame student-athlete, has served at the University for four years in Athletics and four years in Development.

Please join me in celebrating these three outstanding leaders within our division. Annual Giving will soon post a few newly-opened roles as a result of these changes. If you have any questions about joining our team, please connect with me our leadership team!

God Bless and Go Irish!
Brandon Tabor

The University has been blessed with Dawn Smith’s drive, grit, and humor for 13 years—especially in the last year as she’s served in Development.

Today, we celebrate Dawn’s promotion to Senior Administrative Assistant, Annual Giving effective October 24, 2022! In this role, Dawn will manage incoming communications from benefactors, maintain the team’s budget, and provide administrative support to the turbocharged Annual Giving team.

A South Bend native, Dawn and her husband, Gary, are parents to Lexi (married October 8, 2022!) and grandparents to two grandsons, Declan and Greyson. Fun fact: Dawn’s maiden name was Smith, too!

Please give Dawn a high-five in recognition of her achievement!

– Brandon Tabor and Grace Prosniewski

 

The ninth-annual Notre Dame Day returns this April!

On Notre Dame Day, students, alumni, parents, and friends join together as a global community to celebrate all things Notre Dame—with an award-winning live broadcast and a crowdfunding campaign that empowers student causes, clubs, and residence halls.

Giving opens April 3rd!

This year, more than 800 Notre Dame causes, clubs, and residence halls will raise money and compete for a share of $500,000 in special challenge funds. Notre Dame Day is your opportunity to join the Notre Dame Family in strengthening the areas of campus that matter most to you.

Giving opens April 3rd at notredameday.nd.edu →

Join the celebration by watching the broadcast on April 24th and 25th!

Notre Dame Day 2022’s broadcast will be filled with hundreds of uplifting stories from Notre Dame about the amazing things her loyal sons and daughters are doing around the world and for others. You’ll hear powerful stories of grit, service, and survival, enjoy entertaining performances from students clubs across campus, and share in special moments that are created on our award-winning live broadcast from the Duncan Student Center.

Watch the broadcast starting at 6:42 PM ET on April 24 at notredameday.nd.edu →

To view past Notre Dame Day interviews and performances, visit the ND Loyal YouTube channel. To learn more about Notre Dame Day and how you can get involved, please email ndday@nd.edu.

Congratulations to Lauren and Stephan Dolzan on the birth of their first child, Zara. Zara came into the world on Wednesday, December 22, 2021 at 8:19am, weighing 6lbs 13oz. She is a beautiful addition to the Notre Dame family. Please join me in congratulating Lauren and Stephan!

– Brandon Tabor

 

 

Thank you to all who came to the Family Room or ZOOM yesterday to hear our colleague Darlean Vance and her family share the story of her grandson Bennett. If you are interested in donating and/or sharing their story with others, the gofundme page can be found here. Thank you for embracing a member of our greater UR family!

– Brian Diss

I write today to share the bittersweet news that Kaitlin Lucero will be leaving the University of Notre Dame to pursue an opportunity at Johnson & Johnson in their Regulatory Affairs division effective April 13, 2021.

As Assistant Director of Annual Giving since 2019, Kaitlin has overseen a variety of projects spanning all areas of Annual Giving—particularly giving society and fund-level renewal solicitations. Kaitlin has been an amazing teammate for all of us and we are delighted for her as he moves on to the next chapter in her story.

God Bless and Go Irish!
Brandon Tabor

Dear UR Family,

The eighth annual Notre Dame Day returns this April 18-19, 2021! This industry-leading day of giving is our opportunity to activate the Notre Dame Family and strengthen the areas of campus that matter most to them.

On Notre Dame Day, over 800 campus causes raise money to further the work they do and a live broadcast tells amazing stories of students, professors, alumni, and friends of Notre Dame who are making an impact all over the world.

Here are a few ways you can get involved: 

• Connect with Katie Kerby if you want to be a Development Mentor for a campus group. This is a relatively low time commitment (~1 hour total) where you can get to know Notre Dame students and help them learn how to make their case and fundraise for their cause. To learn more, watch this quick video!
• Remember: Notre Dame Day generates a lot of great ND content. Be sure that your benefactors tune in to the broadcast! As we get closer to the big day, we will share the broadcast schedule so you can share specific times of segments that will resonate with your benefactors. 
• Share this story with your network and help us get the ND family hyped for ND Day!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask! Thank you!

Katie Kerby and Brandon Tabor

Dear UR Family,

The eighth annual Notre Dame Day returns April 18-19, 2021! This industry-leading day of giving is our opportunity to activate the Notre Dame Family and strengthen the areas of campus that matter most to them.

On Notre Dame Day, over 800 campus causes raise money and compete for a share of half a million dollars in challenge funds to catapult the work they do. Additionally, a live broadcast tells amazing stories of students, professors, alumni, and friends of Notre Dame who are making an impact all over the world.

The Notre Dame Day team will follow up in the coming weeks with more information about how you can get involved.

For now, get pumped(!) and please consider sharing this story with your network.

Thank you!
– Brandon Tabor