The most recent classes of graduates, shaped by pandemic interruptions to their campus experiences, present a unique set of challenges when it comes to reconnecting with their alma maters. Find out how alumni relations teams are rising to the challenge, with innovative programs and strategies for engaging their newest young alumni.

Collaborative relationships between colleges or universities and their communities can contribute to an improved quality of life for everyone involved. From economic growth and development to attracting diverse talent to addressing inequalities, town-gown relations can enhance all aspects of a community. 

Newcomers pivoting to advancement from other fields are learning as they go, leveraging their skills, and building key ties with their new alumni, staff, and donor communities.

The seeds of alumni support are sown even prior to enrolling in college.  Formative pre-college experiences play an important role in shaping pro-social habits, mindsets, and dispositions that predict later-life support for one’s alma mater.

Many agree that collecting, storing, and analyzing qualitative data is vital to advancement’s growth and an important balance to departments’ continually growing quantitative data capabilities. But is there a method that’s scalable? How can advancement professionals work with data that is, by its definition, difficult to measure? 

What is race equity as it applies to education institutions? How are advancement teams approaching this work, which experts say involves a wholesale transformation of organizational cultures? How are institutions and individuals moving forward in the name of equity? 

Alma mater means "fostering mother" in Latin. It is often used by alumni as a term of endearment conveying affection or a sense of home for schools they attended. But for far too many alumni of color who matriculated at majority white schools, that sentiment is not so simple. 

Supporting fundraising and alumni relations simultaneously is one such example of strategic decision-making focused both on the present and the future health of our educational institutions. 

In too many organizations, advancement is lagging on diversity, equity, and inclusion when it should be leading—and leading proactively. To build inclusive cultures and achieve real success in DEI objectives, advancement teams have to move from awareness to assessment to understanding. It's action with accountability. In this book excerpt, Angelique Grant and Ronald J. Schiller share key steps for leaders to do that.

How advancement draws on athletics to communicate with constituents, motivate alumni, and speak to a greater mission—even in an era when the sports environment has changed radically