Four technical universities in the Netherlands pooled their international alumni efforts and ended up with a world-class network. Now in its 10th year, 4TU encompasses more than 30 alumni communities in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Nordics, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S. as it continues to extend its global reach.

For Erasmus University’s Rotterdam School of Management’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2021, #RSM24: Around the World in 24 Hours brought together alumni chapters worldwide on a single day.

In August 2020, the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, launched ChangeMakers, a strategy to encourage UQ’s alumni across 190 countries to engage with the university and fellow alumni from anywhere in the world. The ChangeMakers alumni community hosts events, fosters mentorship relationships, and encourages volunteerism. More than 70 alumni have become ambassadors to help spread the word.

At Elon University, international students mark their connection to campus in the International Grove.

In 2019, Athabasca University's online Master of Business Administration degree program celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The landscape of interim leaders is varied, but there are some commonalities across the position such as the increasing likelihood that interims will be expected to act as change agents for the institution.   

Alumni relations teams that executed innovative programs in 2019 faced a big question in 2020: How could they continue those projects amid the pandemic? Here’s how five teams grappled with that—and the key lessons their experiences reveal about creatively and strategically problem-solving when contexts change.

The University of Illinois Foundation's chatbot, silent reading parties for UCLA alumni, Minecraft graduations, virtual potlucks for advancement staff, and more.

Alumni engagement metrics have come a long way in a short time and are proving to be crucial to advancement teams. With years of solid data under their belts, many in alumni relations are finding significant results from building systems around these metrics, altering their actions in response, and displaying the value of their work to constituents, institutional leadership, and board members.

When a university or college undergoes a name change or merger, becomes widely known for a new program, or has a changing student population, what steps do advancement shops take to communicate these changes to their constituents and pursue the advantages of the situation?