By Cindy Haarstad

Macalester College prides itself on its commitment to its neighbors. The annual Employee Giving Campaign, which ran November 1-30, is a wonderful way for faculty and staff to demonstrate support for the greater Twin Cities community. The month-long campaign provides an opportunity for Macalester employees to participate in the coordinated annual fund drives of the Greater Twin Cities United Way, Community Shares of Minnesota, the Minnesota Environmental Fund, and the United Arts Fund. 54 faculty and staff generously provided $21,242 in donations for the 2012 campaign. Campaign co-chairs, Martin Gunderson and Cindy Haarstad, would like to thank faculty and staff for their continued support of the Employee Giving Campaign. In an effort to support Macalester’s commitment to sustainability, the Employee Giving Campaign relied mostly on electronic methods (e.g., Daily Piper and listserves) and word-of-mouth (e.g., announcement at Department Head and Faculty meetings) to promote the campaign and to receive pledges through a secure website (ipledgeonline.org/_macalester/). The comprehensive website is linked to the websites of 250+ charities that are a part of the Employee Giving Campaign. The depth and breadth of information on the website is impressive. The campaign co-chairs have received many comments on how informative the site is and how easy it makes donating via check, credit card or payroll deduction. Although the formal campaign ended on November 30, the donation website will remain open through December 16. Faculty and staff, if you haven’t done so already, please consider making a donation to the Employee Giving Campaign. Every donation makes a difference!