In this research we demonstrate the synthesis of pristine tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium (Alq3) and nickel-doped Alq3 nanorods as well as their characterization. The thermal vapour transport method was used to synthesize nanomaterials in the morphology of nanorods. The surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structural properties were analyzed using X-ray diffraction. UV-Visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were used to examine the optical characteristics. Doping of Ni introduced ferromagnetic properties in the Alq3 and also retained its semiconductor properties. Ni-doped Alq3 nanorods are useful for the development of spintronics devices.