NAU ALUMNI

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NAU ALUMNI

• What Do We Know About Them
• What Are They Telling Us?

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NAUAA Mission

• Engage Alumni in the life of Northern Arizona
  University (current abbreviated rendition)

University Advancement Mission

• Support the university and its mission, enhance
  its reputation, and compel private investment by
  creating and nurturing relationships with the
  universitys constituents (current draft)

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Major Themes

• Our alumni know us and even think we are doing a
  reasonable job, but they are not active with us.
• Major complaint is related to our ability to keep
  alums informed -- about the university and fellow
  alums. Second, to provide them mechanisms to
  connect.

Take-Away Message

• Must provide a variety of ways in which alums can
  connect and these strategies should build on or
  leverage each other

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Major Demographic Trends

• There are two fairly consistent trends across
  time -- 80 of Alums are white and 55 of Alums
  are female
• Over 35 of Alums are in the 31-40 age category
• 65 of Alums are in Arizona, with major
  out-of-state Alumni concentrations in San Diego
  and Denver
• Bachelors-Masters Ratio for Alumni is
  approximately 70-30

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82 of members are not active. Of those who are
active, most are only slightly active.
Generally, how active a member are you in the
Northern Arizona Alumni Association?
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Most alumni think the Association is doing a good
job
Overall, how would you rate the job that the NAU
Alumni Association is doing serving the needs of
the alumni?
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When asked why they think the Association is
doing a good or excellent job, the most frequent
response is that the Alumni Association keeps
them well informed
BASE Those who say the Association is doing an
excellent or good job.
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Alumni give Association high ratings on
communicating and fundraising low ratings on
keeping alumni in contact with each other
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Members under 30 are the least likely to say that
the Alumni Association is doing a good job
keeping them in touch with other members.
Job Rating Providing a mechanism for alumni to
stay in contact with each other.
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81 of alumni receive the PINE magazine by mail
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78 of those that receive PINE find it extremely
or somewhat valuable
Base Those who receive magazine
How valuable is the PINE magazine?
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35 of members would like to see PINE come out
more than twice a year
The PINE magazine comes out twice a year. Would
you like it to be sent to you monthly, four times
a year, twice a year, or less often?
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LouiE-news is less known by members. Only 19 of
members receive the email newsletter
Do you receive LouiE-News, an email newsletter
from the Alumni Association?
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33 of alumni find the email newsletter very
informative, and 46 find it somewhat
informative. However, 14 of those who receive
the LouiE-News do not read it at all
Base Those who receive LouiE-News
How informative is the LouiE-News?
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LouiE-News appeals to a wide range of age groups
of age group that receive LouiE-News
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36 of Alumni prefer to receive information by
email
Would you prefer to receive the LouiE-News and
other information by email or would you preferto
receive information by other forms of
communications?
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Less than 10 of members visit the web-site more
than twice a year. 70 of members never visit
the website
How often do you visit the NAU Alumni Association
website?
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Among those who feel positively about the
Associations communication, a website visit most
discriminates on overall satisfaction
BASE Those who rate communication from the
Alumni Association as good or excellent.
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OVER HALF of the alumni are UNABLE to name an
event or activity held by the Alumni Association.
And of those cited, homecoming is the most well
known event, but only 36 listed it.
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80 of members would definitely or probably
attend one of the events
21
Most members would travel to Flagstaff for an
event, but 77 say that they would be more likely
to attend if it were held in their city
For those who would travel, how much time would
you be willing to spend traveling to Flagstaff?
Would you travel to Flagstaff for a special event?
Would you be more likely to attend a special
event if it were held in your city?
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Almost 40 of members would like to attend an
event at least twice a year. Almost
three-quarters would attend at least once a year
How frequently would you like to attend events?
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Although 87 approve of advocacy on the part of
the Alumni Association, less than 30 would
actually take action
Do you think that the NAU Alumni Association
should work to increase visibility with the State
Legislature in an effort to advance NAU goals?
Would you be willing to write editorials or visit
with state legislators to increase NAU visibility
with Arizonas government?
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Engagement to What End

• Most clearly articulated in the mission statement
  for the university advancement office.
• -- to compel private investment
• Based on peer data and advancement trend
  experience, we know alumni are engaged primarily
  through relationship building -- or more to the
  point, getting alumni active/involved/connected.
• We now know this is also true for NAU, even in
  our small population of givers and people who
  consider themselves active.

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Contributors and Contributions

• Less than ¼ of all alumni have ever contributed
• Highest concentration of lifetime giving can be
  found in 1-99 category
• Only 63 alumni have given a one-time gift of
  10,000
• At the lower end of the contribution scale, the
  male-female proportion is the same as the general
  population. However, men contribute
  proportionately higher in the higher contribution
  categories.
• Older alumni contribute larger amounts
• 40 of total contributions come from out-of-state
  alumni, slightly more than their proportion of
  the total population
• Most likely to give are athletes 55 have
  contributed
• Only 7 of the alumni have given more than 50 of
  the years since their graduation
• Contributor breakdown by degree is about 70-30
  (bachelors-advanced), mimicking the general
  population. Likewise education-related alumni
  represent the highest proportion of contributors

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Contribution by Demographic Categories

• Most likely to contribute (41 have contributed)
• 62 of Active Members
• 51 of out-of-state residents
• 48 living alone and 46 of those living with
  one person
• 52 of those with children not at home
• 52 of those making 50K to 75K
• 55 of those over 40 years old

• Less likely to contributed (59 did not donate)
• 82 of those under 40
• 81 of renters
• 73 of those making less than 40K
• 64 of in-state residents

Note Definition of contribution is from
indication on file listing of alumni.
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Contributors are more active than
non-contributors -- Survey contributors are more
active than record contributors
Percent that are active in the Alumni Association
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Contributors are more likely to rate the job that
the Alumni Association is doing as good or
excellent. Survey Contributors rate the job the
Alumni Association is doing higher than record
contributors
Who rate the job the Alumni Association as good
or excellent
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What Have We Learned?

• Active alumni are more likely to ultimately give
  back to the institution
• Alumni are more likely to consider themselves
  active when they are able to connect to the
  institution and to each other
• Opportunities and strategies for communicating
  and connecting, appear to be the key in getting
  alumni to see themselves as active and satisfied
  constituents