Well, folks, here they come! The students are back in town, and with them comes that contagious energy that helps to fuel and inspire our efforts each day.
Tonight, the Student Engagement team hosts thousands of those Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium for Freshman Welcome. This is an important moment—a chance to welcome the entire Class of 2026 into the UGA family as they start a journey to graduation and then alumni life. Thanks to all who make this big event possible; we recognize it's a lot of work!
DAR leadership participated in a retreat earlier this month, and we focused on two things that are very much top-of-mind for me: strategy and collaboration. You all should be hearing more about what was discussed from your directors in the coming weeks and months. We’re pursuing ways to work smarter, to focus our energy on the most strategically important projects, to let go of projects that are no longer serving us and to create space for innovation.
If you have ideas or questions—or if I can be of help to your team—please let me know. Thank you, as always, for all that you do! |
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Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the UGA Foundation |
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Annual Giving / Alumni Directors Meeting August 22 | 3PM Zoom |
GAIL Steering Committee Meeting
August 24 Zoom |
Employee Engagement Update August 31 | 8:30-9:30AM Zoom |
| DAR 101 October 11 | 8:30 AM-4 PM Terry Business Learning Community |
Annual Giving / Alumni Directors Meeting October 11 | 3PM Zoom |
Division Meeting October 17 Tate Grand Hall
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Team Stewie November 15 Flinchum's Phoenix |
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Events for Alumni + Friends |
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Write blogs for the DAR site
Ensuring your unit's DAR site page has interesting and recent blog posts informs colleagues of work happening in your area—and it's a great way to engage prospective hires for your team. Blogs don't have to be long and DARCOMM is happy to help wordsmith. Contact Emily Munnell with ideas and questions. Promote national championship swag boxes
We have 500+ Georgia G-Boxes left and are hoping to get rid of them by the Oregon game. Please share this giving opportunity via your personal and professional channels. It's an easy ask for alumni and student volunteers to help promote, too. Questions? Email Heather Duiser. Need visual assets? Email Elizabeth Elmore.
Submit events/programs for football landing page
DARCOMM is updating alumni.uga.edu/football for the season. If you have events, programs, or fundraising campaigns that relate to football, please send to Elizabeth Elmore. Scan your website for old donation pages
Read more below. If you find an older donation page on your site, please email askit@uga.edu to request it be updated to a more user-friendly style.
Help recognize the 40 Under 40 Class of 2022
Please use the 40 Under 40 promo toolkit to celebrate honorees in social media, e-newsletters and websites. If you write a piece about an honoree, please let Danielle Bezila know.
Add events to the UGA Master Calendar—including internal DAR meetings!
Please continue to add events to the UGA Master Calendar, including DAR meetings that your colleagues should know about. The format of calendar pages have changed; let DARCOMM know if you have questions/concerns! |
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2022 Employee Engagement Survey |
DAR leadership met with the Engagement Survey consultant in early August and is analyzing and processing survey feedback—it’s a lot to digest! More information will be shared with the division during a Zoom call on August 31 at 8:30 a.m. The Zoom link was sent via email. Questions? Email Michelle Carter. |
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Rally Towel Campaign Extended to August 19 |
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FY23 Q1 Annual Giving Project Overview |
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Engagement Center Calling Update |
The Engagement Center started calling alumni on behalf of all schools and colleges on August 14 and will begin calling parents of current undergraduate students in September. If you have questions about the Engagement Center, contact Heather Duiser. |
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Update Your Donation Pages |
A few years ago, DAR transitioned donation pages into a more user-friendly format that featured navigation options for easier fund searches and a block-style list of donation amounts. We have seen the change improve our conversion rate for online donations. While most pages were updated, a few pages on campus still linger in the older format, which features radio buttons (see below). Please email askit@uga.edu to request that page be updated.
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New PLC Recruitment Video |
Thanks to Edwin Hammond, the Parents Leadership Council has a new recruitment video featuring new PLC co-chair Talia Murphy. The video showcases the PLC impact on campus and within UGA's parent community. It will be used for the coming fiscal year to help recruit parents to PLC. Questions? Contact Kate Lovin.
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A Photo is Worth a Thousand Words |
Thanks to everyone who made it out for our annual end-of-year celebration in the West End Zone of Sanford Stadium. Photos from the event have arrived and we hope you enjoy looking through them as much as we did. What a team we have. Go Dawgs! |
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Georgia Magazine Supply Chain Issues |
The Summer issue of Georgia Magazine (cover story: Joro spiders) is delayed from a late May mail date to mid-August due to paper supply issues. DAR can expect copies of the magazine to arrive by end of August/early September.
The Fall issue is being held to avoid mailing the issues back-to-back. At this time, MARCOMM is targeting a late September mail date. The Winter issue also may go out a week or two later than it's typical late-November mail date. Questions? Email Elizabeth Elmore. |
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April McDaniel
April McDaniel, Warnell's director of alumni relations, has been named vice president of the Athens-Clarke County Friends of the Library for the 2022-2023 year. (L to R): Carla Eaton, treasurer; Kristen Linthicum, secretary; April McDaniel, vice president; Geraldine Kalim, president. |
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The Regional team will be traveling to the following cities soon.
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Katie Adams Tampa (Aug. 17-19) Rob Carrico Houston (Aug. 22-25)
LaRisa Chambers San Francisco (Aug. 29-Sept. 1)
Alysse Capitanelli Manhattan Area (Aug.15-19) |
| Chris Jefts Thomasville (Aug. 16-18) Rome/Cartersville/Dalton (Augt. 29-31) Justin Hill Jacksonville (Aug. 23-25)
Beth Zimmerman Indianapolis/Cincinnati (Aug. 23-26) Matt Mize
Louisville/Lexington (Aug. 24-26) |
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Open Positions
This is to make you aware of position postings in the division. We encourage anyone interested in applying to do so. All UGA HR policies and procedures will apply. If you know of a potential candidate who may be a good fit for an opportunity, contact Michelle Carter. |
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- Welcome to Lacey Bartlett, Gift Receiving Associate, UGAF Gift Accounting
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Welcome to April Buckley, Gift Accounting Associate, UGAF Gift Accounting
- Welcome to Heather McCauley, Senior Development Analyst, Research
- Welcome to Eliza Hembree, Development Analyst, Research
- Welcome to Jameer Logan, Director of UGA Foundation Investments, UGAF Investments
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Congrats to Will Lewis, named Associate Director of Employer Relations and Communications, Career Center
- Congrats to Eric Schmidt, transferred from Advancement Services to Parent Giving
- Congrats to Umesh Patel, named Assoc. Director of Alumni Career Services, Career Center
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Congrats to Courtney Ayers, transferred from Engineering DAR to Parent Giving
- Best wishes to Kathryn Kay, transferred from DAR to Student Affairs
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Football Season Previews by Clarke Schwabe, Alumni Football Correspondent*
One of DARCOMM's primary roles within DAR's Strategic Plan is to "Reach more Bulldogs with positive, engaging communications." During football season, the team produces content to drive alumni eyeballs to DAR sites and connect DAR goals with fans' passion for the Dawgs. Clarke has produced three season previews—one focusing on UGA's opponents, one focusing on our players/coaches, and one Jerry Tanner episode on TikTok. Check them out and please share as you are able!
*This is by no means an official title, but let's be real—it's true ? |
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Do you have important information for an upcoming edition of the Pulse? Send it to Elizabeth Elmore. |
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