The latest episode of “The Grace of Giving” podcast is out today and features our first surprise remote guest! Check it out here. If you’d like to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out this brief form and we’ll contact you.

The February Matching Gift Email will send this Friday, February 14 to this list of assigned entities who work for matching gift companies and have made a gift since January 18, 2020 and as of today have not yet matched their gift.

Please note that individuals on the second tab of the excel file (“Fundraiser Outreach”) have not received the matching gift email message (all gifts exceeding $25,000) but may be eligible to match their gift. You are encouraged to reach out to your assigned benefactors directly to discuss the details and answer questions related to the matching gift process.

If you have any questions regarding this communication, please reach out to Laura Walker.

For those who are interested, we will be hosting 2 free yoga classes for Development employees. These hour-long classes will be led by one of the University’s certified instructors and will be held on Tuesday, March 3rd and Thursday, March 12th @ 4:30 p.m. in the Family Room on Eddy Street. Mats will be provided, but we encourage you to bring a water bottle. Space is limited to the first 50 who sign-up, so don’t be shy and click HERE! If you have any questions please contact Amy Plotkin or James Riley.

Please keep Vicki Reeder and Katie Edel in your prayers for the passing of Vicki’s brother, and Katie’s uncle, William Murphy, on Saturday, February 8th. Visitation will be Wednesday, February 12th from 5:00-8:00 with the funeral on Thursday at 11:00 at Welsheimer Funeral Home, 521 William St. More information and the obituary can be found here.

The Business Objects Prod server will be unavailable this weekend from 8:00 am Saturday morning until 5:00 pm Sunday afternoon. During this time period users will not be able to log in unless they have been contacted to participate in system validation. Also, once the server is taken down scheduled reports will not run until the system is brought back online.

During this outage the Business Objects server will be upgraded from version 4.1 to version 4.2 of the software. The primary difference between these two versions of the software is that the functionality of the HTML report editor has been improved. All users who are using Applet mode to modify or view Web Intelligence reports should change this setting to use HTML mode instead. Instructions on how to change this setting will be sent out when the server is brought back online.

The Office of Sustainability unveiled a new mascot last week that will help spread useful information on living less wastefully. The cartoon squirrel known as “Big Stu” (no relation to Development) is the creation of Alyssa Carroll ’20, a graphic design intern in the office.

Big Stu has squirreled away recycling and sustainability tips, which he will share on social media and digital monitors on campus. If you’re looking to make your home and office more sustainable, follow Big Stu on Instagram (@sustainable.stu) and read about him in The Observer.

Dear Colleagues,

The Badin Guild will be hosting stewardship receptions in Naples and West Palm Beach on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, and Thursday, March 5, 2020, respectively. Heather Reynolds, M.S.S.W., Managing Director of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) will be our special guest speaker at both of these events. The Naples reception is hosted by Frank and Dominica Annese and George and Ginny Mammola.

Invitations with event details were sent on Monday, January 27, 2020 via email and mail invitations will drop this week. Reminders will be sent in February.

Invitation and RSVP lists for these events are available to view here. If you have a benefactor you would like to invite or would like more information on these events, please contact Laura Walker.

Colleagues,

We have recently been contacted by the managers of the ESC Parking Garage asking us to refrain from playing loud music from our cars while in the garage. If you are in the habit of rocking out perhaps a little too hard, please keep this request in mind. We thank you in advance for your courtesy and consideration.

Dear Colleagues,

A new bequest brochure is now available for download here and print copies will be available in the Office of Gift Planning in the next week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Laura Snell Walker.

The biennial ImproveND survey gives faculty and staff the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience with a wide variety of internal services at Notre Dame. The survey closes on Friday, Jan. 31. If you have not already done so, please set aside time to complete the survey. A link to the survey should have been to sent to your inbox earlier in the month.