The CASE Library has developed this collection for members who are interested in planning for employment transitions, including resources on succession planning and knowledge retention. 

A good alumni engagement metrics system needs to be easy, efficient, and effective. 

Turnover can be costly. When a donor’s key contact leaves—whether it’s the president or development officer—the donor’s relationship with the institution is disrupted. The result? Delayed or decreased giving.

Those of us in alumni relations believe.

We believe in the power of what we do, that our work helps create a community with a strong values system. We believe in lifelong education, in making the world a better place, in bringing people together. We believe in strengthening ties, creating connections, and opening doors of possibility.

Ideas we love from institutions everywhere

Whether it's dangling from a precarious crevice atop one of the world's tallest mountains or pushing through mile 25 of a marathon, 69-year-old James Doti gets his best ideas off campus. Since Doti became president of California's Chapman University in 1991, the institution has risen to third in a U.S. News & World Report ranking of student selectivity, and its endowment has increased from $25 million to $300 million.

Grinnell College alumni love talking about their alma mater, but that enthusiasm hasn't always translated into high reunion attendance. Advancement staff members at the Iowa college saw a way to increase alumni engagement by creating more opportunities to help out at reunion, beginning with revamped training for its 50th reunion volunteers. With better structure and more-detailed tasks, the program led to an overall higher level of engagement.

When six Macalester College alumni couldn't travel to Minnesota to visit their alma mater, they gathered at one alumnus's home in Arizona for a wine and cheese party and chatted on the phone with the college president in a virtual town hall—along with thousands of other alumni worldwide. In Wisconsin, Beloit College recently hosted its annual on-campus folk and blues festival—and nostalgic alumni watched remotely from home. From class reunions to networking, more and more universities are getting savvy at hosting virtual events. Here's how eight institutions are doing it right.

The Library has developed this resource collection on engaging young alumni, particularly on giving trends and on best practices emerging from successful programs.

Each week, two women in their 90s ride the bus to Ithaca College from the nearby Longview retirement community to audit a course at the New York institution. Residents of the retirement community Oak Hammock at the University of Florida take language courses—and arrive by the busload to attend football games. Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University in Washington, D.C., volunteer to lead study groups or contribute to the newsletter.