Vu Le is the brains and comedic voice behind the Nonprofit with Balls blog. As an executive director of a nonprofit, Le often writes from the perspective of a grantee, producing no-nonsense articles such as “9 annoying nonprofit trends that need to die.” His Seattle-based organization, Rainier Valley Corps, trains people of color for nonprofit leadership positions, so he has lots to say about improving diversity.

In fall 2015, Boston University shared big news on its website and Facebook pages about its 100-year-old Castle. The building—formerly the president's home and now a venue for weddings and special events—would be converted into an alumni center. The posts generated more than 300 likes, shares, and comments.

The online financial services company SoFi was founded in 2011 by four Stanford Graduate School of Business classmates to provide alumni-funded student loans. (See "A Vested Interest," October 2012.) Since then, the company has expanded its financial products to mortgages and wealth management and seemingly adopted an alumni relations approach to customer service, offering members social events, career counseling, and webinars. Macklin shares the key to SoFi's success: Be relevant in several aspects of members' lives.

Rory Green is a second-generation development officer—both of her parents were fundraisers—and the founder of Fundraiser Grrl, a cheeky crowdsourced blog about the rewarding, frustrating, and downright outlandish things fundraisers experience. Through the GIF-driven posts, fundraisers both celebrate and gripe about their professional lives. Face palms, snark, and funny tales abound.

It's an exciting time to join the development office as its new vice president. The university is gearing up for a campaign that will transform the campus with new academic programs, buildings, professorships, and aid for students. Every trustee has pledged leadership-level gifts. The $1 billion target is a stretch but doable because the last campaign brought in $800 million.