Icing on the Cake
CURRENTS Article The University of South Carolina offers a wedding giveaway contest each semester. Current students, alumni, and children of alumni are eligible to win a free wedding, and a USC wedding planning class handles all of the decisions and details. Local vendors provide the dress, rings, flowers, etc., and the university's president, alumni relations office, and other campus departments have all been involved in the giveaway.

A TASTE for Adventure
CURRENTS Article Johns Hopkins University's Take a Student to Events (TASTE) program fosters informal relationships between alumni and current students. Alumni volunteers sign up to take individual or small groups of students on outings such as zip-lining, spelunking, job shadowing, etc.

Students: The Path to Donors' Hearts
Product This webinar examines a program at Georgetown University that, through student interviews, helped alumni establish emotional connections with alma mater. Giving by irregular donors increased by 43 percent following the initiative. Discussion includes the cost-effective means of building and deploying a cadre of student interviewers, how to ask the right questions and listen for the right answers and how to shape effective communications and develop outreach strategies from the information gathered. This multimedia file is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented Nov. 4, 2010.

Engagement Strategies: Marketing Insights from Alumni, Annual Giving Directors and Top Businesses
Product This webinar presents six engagement strategies used by annual giving directors to improve fundraising efforts and covers the communications challenges faced by advancement offices working to strengthen their connection with alumni. Includes a presentation of findings from the Mood of Alumni survey conducted by Engagement Strategies Group. This multimedia file is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented Sept. 23, 2010.

Research Shows Alumni of Small, Private Colleges More Engaged
BriefCASE Article A recent survey on brand connection and affinity indicates that alumni of small, private colleges are generally more engaged with their alma maters than graduates of large universities.

Alumni Engagement Goals for Campaigns
Product Traditionally conceived campaigns have set monetary goals in support of key initiatives. This seminar looks at how institutions are setting nonmonetary campaign goals to capitalize on their campaign investments. For alumni relations professionals in particular, campaign engagement goals can allow for a more active role in supporting institutional excellence. This is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented June 24, 2010.

Odds and Ends: Enthusiasm Required
CURRENTS Article In this interview with comedian Susie Essman of the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, Essman talks about her roles as a comedian, a supporter of arts education, and an involved alumna at her alma mater SUNY Purchase.

HBCUs Can Build Stronger Support through Faculty, Others with Vested Interest
BriefCASE Article Historically black colleges and universities that engage faculty, staff, alumni and other "vested" individuals in their overall fundraising efforts enjoy stronger giving and volunteer support. That’s according to three presenters at a recent CASE Online Speaker Series.

Grassroots Approaches to Increasing Alumni and Staff Engagement and Giving at HBCU's
Product This webinar helps participants understand the importance, for HBCUs, of individual giving to help reduce reliance on government, foundation and corporate support. This multimedia file is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented Jan. 21, 2010.

Advance Work: Better with Age
CURRENTS Article The alumni relations director at Siena Heights University created a new advisory group for former board members in response to their desire to remain engaged.

Advance Work: Powering Up
CURRENTS Article The United World College of South East Asia starts a robust alumni relations program from scratch.

Office Space: Foreign Affairs
CURRENTS Article As more institutions expand operations abroad, setting up satellite offices in various countries that have high concentrations of alumni makes sense.

跨跃孤洲
CURRENTS Article 邀请教授参与各种校友活动，不但能吸引更多的校友共同参与，还为校友会创造新的机会向校友宣传母校在科研和教学方面令人振奋的成就。然而，怎样才能让教授在校友工作中发挥更大的作用呢？校友工作者必须开拓新的沟通渠道，培养更紧密的合作关系，加强宣传校友工作对学校发展的重要性。

Island Hopping
CURRENTS Article Including faculty in various aspects of alumni programming can attract more alumni to events and provide the alumni association with another means to communicate the exciting research and academic offerings of alma mater. However, creating a larger role for faculty in the alumni association doesn’t magically happen. Alumni professionals must open new lines of communication, forge new relationships, and educate faculty on the importance of advancement to the institution.

Advance Work: The Eagle Has Landed
CURRENTS Article An international independent school has come up with an easy and relevant way to keep its alumni engaged. It involves a stuffed eagle, some pictures, and a blog.

Leveraging Leaders
CURRENTS Article This article discusses the University of California, San Diego Alumni Association's process for developing alumni leaders who donate their time, talent, and treasure to their alma mater, serving as catalysts for others.

Inner Workings
CURRENTS Article As alumni officers search for ways to engage former students, they often overlook opportunities to build partnerships that support the strategic initiatives of the institution, not just the alumni office. Alumni staff members at the University of Iowa medical school have found a way to meet a vital campus need with the Help Our Students Travel program, in which alumni host students who are traveling around the United States for residency interviews. The HOST program is just one example of how alumni offices can work in partnership with campus colleagues. Alumni officers on other campuses can develop similar efforts by examining the goals and needs of their institutions and examining how the entire campus can serve and be served by alumni.

One Craft, Different Cultures
CURRENTS Article More alumni directors outside North America are reaching out to their alumni audiences to encourage lifelong relationships with alma mater. However, these alumni directors face unique challenges. In Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australia, school and university alumni often don’t have the tradition of giving to alma mater that’s a given in the United States and Canada. The institutions might not have maintained close ties with alumni, and poor record keeping can hinder relationship-building efforts. Some institutions' goals for alumni relations include encouraging continuing education and career networking by alumni as well as fund raising. Campus alumni offices also can become resources for groups of alumni who are more connected to each other than to the institution.

All that Glitters
CURRENTS Article Profiles of selected 2001 Circle of Excellence winners, including alumni relations programs at Oklahoma State University, the University of Indianapolis, and Lake Forest College; communications programs or publications at Providence College, Hotchkiss School, Art Center College of Design, University of Natal, Carleton College, and Baptist College of Health Sciences; and development programs at Georgia State University, Lord Fairfax Community College, and the University of Utah.