What’s Happening in Denmark?
CURRENTS Article University-sponsored alumni relations is a relatively new practice in Denmark. The author shares his experiences at Aarhus School of Business and offers insight into alumni relations in the rest of the country and the Nordic region.

Bountiful Catch
CURRENTS Article In 2008, instead of asking The Rockefeller Foundation for a grant for scholarship money, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine asked for funding to relaunch the alumni association and survey its alumni to assess their impact around the world.

Postcard from Singapore
CURRENTS Article Starting an advancement office at an independent school in Singapore has many challenges. Find out how this alumni relations department had to start from scratch.

Advance Work: Wish Fulfillment
CURRENTS Article Many institutions start with a large initial endowment. Not the brand new Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

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.

From the Ground Up
CURRENTS Article Three California state universities that opened in 1995, 2002, and 2004 illustrate the challenges of setting up new advancement offices from scratch. They each had to develop and implement community relations and media relations strategies; launch fund-raising programs; and build alumni relations programs even before the first class graduated. This article is of interest to managers of alumni, development, and communications and marketing programs.

Sending Signals
CURRENTS Article The popular distance learning approach of Britain’s campus-less Open University has generated a global presence and an international alumni base, as well as an atypical advancement operation. The fledgling alumni office seeks to involve alumni volunteers in multiple ways suited to OU’s character, such as student recruitment and mentoring. The development operation maintains a strong emphasis on business development while building programs in annual giving and planned giving.

Setting Up Shop
CURRENTS Article The author presents stories of how institutions, ranging from two-year colleges to independent schools, have launched or revived alumni associations. Alumni officers can adapt the strategies she describes to match the needs of their own campuses.

Closing Remarks: A Voyage of Discovery
CURRENTS Article The president of a small, struggling college on the Pacific Island of Papua New Guinea has set out to learn how advancement principles can be adapted to help his institution.