Leading advancement teams today, amid change and hefty expectations, is like “constantly being in quicksand,” says Jhumar Johnson. That’s why cultivating resilience is crucial. Here, Johnson—who spent 11 years at the U.K.’s Open University—shares how resilience is built on consistency and trust, but also failure and joy.

It’s a perennial question for advancement teams: what are the latest activities (that actually work) to engage this generation of young alumni? In the CASE Communities online discussion boards, alumni relations professionals shared these ideas. 

"Everyone’s career story is unique,” says CASE Co-Executive Director of CASE Europe Pamela Agar, “[and] career paths can be surprising.” Here’s what she’s learned along her journey—and what she’s learned through each career move. 

At CASE’s “The Future of Advancement” panel discussions held throughout 2024, we invited members around the globe to share ideas about the profession. We consistently heard that institutions must sharpen their focus by listening more to their communities—understanding their doubts, addressing gaps in understanding, and clearly articulating our purpose.

For the University of New South Wales, the approach of its 75th anniversary in 2025 presented an opportunity to celebrate some of its pioneering alumnae and leaders. The Australian university launched an initiative to rename certain buildings and spaces and create a Celebrating UNSW Women Trail.

The Notre Dame University Alumni Association in Indiana, U.S., hosted its first Global Day of Service in 2023—drawing more than 3,500 volunteers for projects in 26 countries.

Two simultaneous public-private partnership campaigns at Heartland Community College (Illinois, U.S.) yielded innovative new agriculture and manufacturing facilities. 

To celebrate the completion of its first comprehensive campaign, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (U.S.) launched The Art of Gratitude. UTHealth Houston commissioned nine artists to create art that represented the theme of coming together in service of one goal.

In 2022, Cardiff University in Wales launched The 30(ish) Awards to celebrate young (and young-at-heart) alumni making positive contributions to their communities.

For marcomm leaders, it’s key to articulate where you want your team’s work to go—but then bridging the gap between intention and transformation takes a structured approach. That’s where a gap analysis framework comes in. It allows leaders to identify barriers to growth and develop clear, actionable paths to overcome them.