Many small-shop alumni directors with no-frills budgets have found volunteer alumni help worth the organizing efforts. Some creative ways that colleges and universities have found to inspire new interest among the uninvolved are described. (MLW)

This article offers suggestions to alumni affairs offices who are dealing with increasing numbers of outspoken or angry alumni. Advice includes responding promptly, listening carefully, getting the facts ahead of time, keeping alumni informed, and monitoring the hot spots. Examples of how various colleges and universities handle alumni complaints…

Provides advice for small alumni offices on how to sponsor an alumni travel program, focusing on booking a travel agent, deciding where to go, using faculty as tour guides or lecturers, making time for alumni office staff to go along, remembering special touches, visiting local alumni, avoiding overt fund raising, and being prepared for problems.…

One of the hottest movements in banking right now is affinity credit cards. For banks, they mean a new source of credit customers. For institutions and alumni organizations, they can mean an easy, inexpensive way to keep the institutional name in front of alumni. (MLW)

Discusses the need for alumni directors to have a good working relationship with their college or university chief executive officer (CEO). Alumni directors need to increase their visibility, meet with the CEO on a regular basis, show results, plan around the CEO's schedule, and mediate conflicts between alumni and the CEO. (MDM)

Advice is offered on promoting diversity within the college alumni association, based on the University of Kansas Alumni Association's experience. Suggestions include providing offerings that appeal to everyone; challenging alumni to participate in reaching out to others; and inviting alumni involvement when dissatisfied. (MSE)

This article profiles "Northeastern University Magazine," discussing how this alumni magazine has changed its focus over the last several years to appeal to a younger audience and to present stories that cover the institution and its graduates as subjects worthy of study in themselves. (MDM)

Provides advice to small alumni offices on how to manage alumni relations and the annual fund campaign, noting that small offices need to develop a flexible attitude, consider the benefits of performing both tasks, work with people they can count on, manage their time carefully, and balance both activities. (MDM)

Institutions are finding that a campus alumni center can bring a substantial return on the investment, in alumni events, visits to campus, and contributions. Institutions around the country are building new buildings, recycling existing buildings, and restoring historical landmarks as focal points for alumni activities. (MSE)

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics has called for reform of college sports. Assistance from alumni in shaping that reform is appropriate and important. Associations can help by opening up discussion, taking a stand, involving alumni, and giving increased attention to sports in publications. (MSE)

Five innovative programs found at entrepreneurial alumni associations around the country are described including: camps and vacation centers, sports newsletter, book publishing, audio tapes, and seminars.

An overview of the management basics every alumni director needs is presented, including: staffing, planning, managing money, budgets, and facilities management. (MLW)

Alumni travel programs provide an ideal opportunity for both learning and nurturing a climate of support for a college. Yale University's (Connecticut) alumni association has found the inclusion of faculty on its educational tours to be highly successful, sometimes constructing entire trips around the faculty member's educational objective. (MSE)

Three alumni travel directors offer advice on taking control when tour crises arise. The cases cited involved irresponsible tour agents, problem travelers, and on-location disasters. Both precautions and creative solutions are emphasized. (MSE)

Advice is offered for making college alumni reunions fun and memorable, illustrated with anecdotes from various institutions. Suggestions include exciting opening activities, focusing on the particular habits or characteristics of a class, appealing to a variety of tastes, emphasizing class identity, savoring favorite campus traditions, and…