Today is the first day of a month in the USA with a quick sojourn in Canada, visiting Boston, Connecticut, New York, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver. I’m writing this from Heathrow, waiting to board.

Whilst there, I’ll be visiting over 30 universities, investigating how digital is changing the face of their alumni relations and fundraising programmes. My hope is to learn from them what works, what doesn’t, where the challenges and opportunities are, with a view to producing a roadmap of recommendations for universities and nonprofits worldwide to take on the new digital reality they live in.

I’m there because of the incredible work of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, which supports a small number of Fellows to travel – worldwide – to undertake this kind of research. WCMT opens borders in the pursuit of knowledge. I feel privileged to be one of the 2016 Fellows, against a very challenging and interesting backdrop – the immigration ban furore swirling around the US at exactly the time I am scheduled to travel.

So… eyes and ears wide open. I’ll be writing every few days.