Responses

The Office of Alumni Affairs is looking to evaluate if they are meeting the goal of increasing pledge fulfillment rate by 4% annually. Based on the quantitative data provided form 2011-2013 they had not seen an increase in pledge fulfillment. In fact, they actually saw a decrease in pledges by 2.63% overall. Additional data has been collected again over a two-year period, 2013-2015, to analyze whether there has been an increase of 4% annually. There are several steps to analyze this data to determine the success of meeting this goal.

            The first step (1) to analyze the data is to calculate the overall outcomes for pledge fulfillment rates each year, 2013-2015. (2) The second step will be to compare the yearly pledge fulfillment rates to that of previous years. For example, was an increase or decrease seen from 2013 to 2014 and then again from 2014 to 2015. (3)The third step is to compare the yearly pledge fulfillment data increase of decrease seen to that of the Office of Alumni Affairs goal of a 4% increase annually overall (The Urban Institute, 2004). (4) If similar data is available through the Association of Private College and University Alumni Directors (PCUAD), the data can then also be compared and shared among previously established benchmarks (Redder, 2007). 

            To analyze further, (5) the next step would be to look at the data breakdown based on demographics. For example, Age group is a demographic that can be analyzed to see if there continues to be a decrease in the 55+ age group and increase in under 30 and 30-55 years age group. (6) The Native American Studies Alumni who are hypothesized to have seen an increase in donations due to the pilot program and blog is another outcome characteristic that can be compared. (7) This data is then compared to previous annual pledge rates in the next step to determine if these differential groups specifically may have an effect collectively on the 4% increase. (8) A closer look at the attendance to baseball games, archeological digs or participation in the blog are potential outcome indicators to analyze to determine possible reasons for successful or unsuccessful pledge rates. (9) Where there are significant findings within the data such as increases above 4% or significant decreases among an age group, this should be highlighted. (10) Based on the data analysis and any significant findings, the evaluation can help explain the success of the Office of Alumni Affairs programming and rates of increase or decrease among demographics annually (The Urban Institute, 2004).

Redder, K. (2007). Easy as Pie. Retrieved from: http://www.case.org/Publications_and_Products/2007/October_2007/Easy_as_Pie.html

The Urban Institute (2004). Analyzing Outcome Information: Getting the Most from Data. Retrieved from:https://learn.snhu.edu/content/enforced/183814-HEA-530-Q3141-OL-TRAD-GR.19TW3/Analyzing-Outcome-Information.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=rLwwjO7m3pOQoaqPEkUwxqWbw