Dog Days of Summer Redux

Full disclosure – I am reviving the same idea for this newsletter that I wrote just about one year ago.  The circumstances are similar.  I am writing this two weeks in advance of the due date as I prepare for two weeks of vacation.  With the high season for vacation upon us, we miss the opportunity to connect on a more frequent basis with one another, so I am pleased to provide a quick overview of some of the projects we in Advancement Services are currently working on as we look forward to the fall.  I hope everyone has found the time to take some well-needed vacation this summer.  As always, please reach out to any member of the Advancement Services team if you have any questions about these, or any of the work we do to advance our collective programming.  Enjoy the remainder of the summer.    

• Our Technology Roadmap consulting study (Zuri Group) remains on track with the expectation of a final report sometime mid-fall. Interviews and information gathering are currently in full swing and will continue to the end of August with the analysis phase beginning in September.
• LiveAlumni training has been taking place throughout August to assist the organization in better utilizing the platform. Thanks to everyone who shared content ideas. The sessions have ranged from introducing the platform to using the information to engage our constituents further. If you missed the training and are interested in learning more, please reach out to Rachel Deir.
• This stage of the Encompass email and events platform refresh remains on track.  Encompass Event Creator training launched mid-July. Special thanks to Barb Lindsay and Chantal Valkenborg for their work on this initiative. Effective Sept. 1, all event registrations will be run out of Encompass.  
• Related to the above, Gift Services has also been working diligently on developing the business rules and procedures to support donations through our new events system.
• We will be launching a new biographic update page for the Office of Advancement in the very near future. This new intake form, created in Encompass, allows for quick information entry and provides a user-friendly experience. Watch QUIRC for additional information.
• ITM continues to play an integral role in the Teams Telephony Replacement Program and will also participate in the RFP to identify solutions for requirements not met by the software (emergency phones, fax machines, etc.) Learn more about the enterprise Telephony Replacement Program.
• Enhanced alumni engagement data collection has begun as we work with partners across campus to collect 24 months of historical activity-based data and establish repeatable processes for collecting that data on an ongoing basis. These efforts support the ongoing development of the Alumni Engagement dashboards that are expected to launch in the fall.
• Colleagues in ITM, Marketing, Communications and Donor Relations and Gift Services are collaborating on the development, testing, and implementation (September) of updated receipt and acknowledgement letters.
• Staff from both the Prospect Research and Prospect Management teams are preparing for the always-anticipated Faculty Outreach Meetings. These semi-annual meetings provide faculty/school/unit Development teams with new training and business intelligence and seek to understand how our team can best support philanthropic efforts for 2021-22. Watch for the FOM invitations coming soon.
• Colleagues in Research and ITM have begun collaborating on the creation of a new request system for the Research unit on the JIRA platform. This represents the next step in our effort to adopt the JIRA platform across all Advancement Services units. We are also assessing additional needs across the organization.

APRA 2021 Virtual Conference

Please visit the VP Advancement News page on QUIRC and select ALTogether Newsletter vol. 114, for an overview of the Raise Up virtual conference by Jacqueline Bonnycastle, Prospect Research Analyst, who attended the conference in July. Thanks to Jacqueline for preparing this report.

Employee spotlight

The Employee Spotlight celebrates the arrival of our new staff and current staff by profiling responses they share through a fun and informal survey that will help us get to know them better. Be sure to review these profiles and use these fun facts and tidbits to find commonalities, embrace differences and spark a conversation. 

This week we are featuring the always wonderful Angel Shur. Learn more about Angel and and the story behind her name.

Jobs with Advancement

We need your recruitment help. Know great talent that would be a good addition to our team? If so, please promote the vacancies below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and résumé) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla Ferreira Rodrigues or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.

Apply for available positions

Available Position:

Fun fact

Queen’s has been given some interesting gifts over the years, and from well-known donors. For instance, "The Moncton Walrus."

The intact skeleton was excavated in 1871 from a New Brunswick gravel pit under the supervision of Sir Sandford Fleming, then a young engineer with the Intercolonial Railway, later the University’s second Chancellor from 1880-1915. It was donated to the university by Sir Sandford Fleming in the late 1800s.
You can check it out for yourself. It is in BioSciences in the main atrium.