Transcript ALMA: Alumni Lifetime Metric Analysis

Engagement Models:
Thoughts on Getting Started
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
IVY PLUS CONFERENCE
JUNE 2011
Benchmarking Among Peers
 In March 2011, nine leaders from six Ivy Plus schools met
at a half-day conference at Columbia’s Alumni Center in
New York City.
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MIT
Princeton
Dartmouth
Harvard
Cornell
Yale
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plus materials from Brown
 The focus was engagement models: what we are doing
now, what we hope to do, and what we can share.
Benchmarking Among Peers
We measure…
Satisfaction
Club Strength
Participation
Surveys
Online
# of events
Focus groups
Event attendance
# of communications
Volunteering
# of board members
Giving
…but few of us tie these together yet.
Benchmarking Among Peers
Benefits of Engagement Models
Ability to validate value internally
Ability to apportion resources to maximize
engagement
Difficulties of Modeling Engagement
Hard to show impact on bottom line
Alumni “gifts” are not comparable: donation,
promotion, volunteering, “keeping the
university honest,” creating community
Data gathered/stored may not be uniform
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Benchmarking
Also conducted nine interviews with six schools
identified via Association of Private College and
University Alumni Directors as leaders in this area
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Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
University of Chicago
Vanderbilt
Emory
Stanford (both Ivy Plus and leader!)
Benchmarking
 Many schools just beginning these projects
 Timing coincides with 2008 downturn in economy
More competition for university funding
 Need to validate value of alumni relations programs
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% Change in Endowments 2007 -2008
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
-2.00%
-4.00%
-6.00%
-8.00%
Benchmarking
Goals vary…
Increase
Satisfaction
Increase
Participation
Drive
Development
…and raise questions.
1. Can we gather data well enough to create a model
that will help us to optimize these outcomes?
2. Should we optimize all three? In what order?
3. How can we protect traditions while nimbly
reacting to alumni needs?
Models to Consider
 Emory
 Creates engagement percentage:
Number of alumni who participate / number of contactable
alumni
 Determine correlation between engagement % and donation
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 RIT
 Determines effect on donation via regression model
 Apportions resources according to impact on donation
 Chicago
 Tests satisfaction via survey to sample population that matches
overall database in terms of engagement
What These Models Can Provide
 Ease of setting and measuring progress to goals
 Goals can be set more quickly and can be better compared unit
to unit
 Ability to plan for tidal program changes
 E.g., increase in SIGs
 Finer segmentation of population
 Easier to target donors in the pipeline
 Easier to create tiers for exclusive invitations or
communications
What These Models Require
 Additional staff for accurate data entry
 Many schools hired “volunteer coordinators” to gather
information about volunteer activity across campus
 Some schools hired staff to create programs in “undersatisfied” areas
 Shared vocabulary across campus (e.g., what counts
as a “volunteer”?)
 Ability to shift funding based on model
 Shared goals, agreement about what matters most
What Does Your Model Measure?
 What is your brand?
 Our brands are the strongest in the world
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Excellence, power, integrity, history
Each model must be different, must acknowledge
How remarkable our specific alumni and institutions are
 The emotional, familial nature of the bond we forge
 That we are respectful stewards of University funds
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