Responses

Data Presentation for Binchley College’s Office of Alumni Affairs

Lorain Ambrocio

Southern New Hampshire University

Data Presentation for Binchley College’s Office of Alumni Affairs

Binchley College’s Office of Alumni Affairs has set several program goals for the current budget year—one of them being to increase overall pledge fulfillment rates by 4 percent. However, in an interview with the Director of the Office of Alumni Affairs, Tom Fitzgerald, contribution rates of pledges have been declining among alumni who are over 55 years old. This demographic has been the target population for the office to request contributions from until recently.

Data Collection Process

Tom Fitzgerald stated that the declining pledge rates among alumni who are over the age of 55 may be a result of alumni who have passed away, been living on fixed incomes, have been struggling with illnesses, or have been helping their own children and grandchildren with educational expenses. This shift has caused the alumni office to rethink their marketing plans and target populations when requesting contributions. Jesse “White Feather” Williams, associate director of the office of alumni affairs, stated that there is a new pilot program designed specifically for graduates of the Native American studies program.

Since the program began two years, donations from middle-aged and younger alumni have slightly increased. The program consists of a weekend retreat for alumni and current students to work on excavation projects, along with alumni participating in research projects throughout the year. The alumni are then able to interact with the students and alumni office via a blog where they can view pictures of current projects, ask questions, and find other ways to be involved with the office. This is important to note as Williams stated that alumni have donated during the weekend retreat and throughout the year as requests are made from the alumni office when funds are needed for additional research projects.

Summary and Display

Appendix A, Table 1 highlights the declining pledge and fulfillment rates compared to other age groups of alumni and personnel on campus who made contributions to the office of alumni affairs between 2011 and 2013. In 2011, leadership had the highest pledge rate of 96.7 percent with 100 percent of those pledges being fulfilled. Alumni over the age of 55 had the second highest pledge rate at 29.1 percent and 88.8 percent of those pledges were fulfilled. Staff had a 23.4 percent pledge rate and an 86.1 percent fulfillment rate; alumni between 30 and 55 years old had a 22.8 percent pledge rate and a 63.5 percent fulfillment rate; faculty had a 18.3 percent pledge rate with an 82.2 percent fulfillment rate; and alumni under 30 years old had the lowest pledge rate with 12.2 percent and 52.8 percent were fulfilled. This shows that leadership at Binchley College and alumni over the age of 55 contributed the most to the college during this year.

By 2012, pledges and fulfillment rates for faculty, staff, and alumni over the age of 55 decreased (see appendix A). Pledges and fulfillment rates for leadership, alumni under 30 years old, and alumni between the ages of 30 and 55 increased. This year would indicate the start of the pilot program, thus showing increased interest among recent graduates and alumni who took part in this collaboration with the alumni office. By 2013, pledge and fulfillment rates decreased for faculty, staff, leadership, and alumni over the age of 55 (see appendix A). The rates for alumni under the age of 30 and between the ages of 30 and 55 continued to increase this budget year concurrently with the pilot program entering its second year. Shelley Braxton, student intern supervisor, stated that there has not been a survey to measure the effectiveness of the blog and pilot program in relation to alumni donations.

However, Figure 1 highlights the gradual increase in pledges among alumni under 30 years old and between the ages of 30 and 55. Even though pledges for these two demographic sets only increased 2 to 3 percent each year, fulfillment rates increased drastically by more than 10 percent in 2012 and another 2 percent in 2013. For alumni over the age of 55 there was a steady decline in pledges and fulfillment rates for all three years.

Despite not having a survey to measure feedback and contribution rates among alumni, the new pilot program that the office of alumni affairs created has helped to target a new population that was overlooked before. The pilot program has the advantage of working with recently graduated alumni, for example, by being able to market and increase interest in the program to current students as a new way to be involved on campus post-graduation. It may be a few more years before the office can gain the same amount of contributions as they had received from alumni over the age of 55. However, these results show that there is a growing interest among alumni under 30 and between the ages of 30 and 55 to be a part of the alumni network and make contributions toward research or future pilot programs—especially for those graduating from an anthropology or Native American studies degree program.

Appendix A

Table 1, Pledge and Fulfillment Rates from 2011 – 2013

Figure 1. Pledge and fulfillment rates for alumni under the age of 30, between ages 30-55, and over the age of 55 from 2011 to 2013.

Pledge and Fulfillment Rates for Alumni

Pledges - 2011 Alumni (under 30) Alumni (30-55) Alumni (over 55) 0.122 0.22800000000000001 0.29099999999999998 Fulfilled - 2011 Alumni (under 30) Alumni (30-55) Alumni (over 55) 0.52800000000000002 0.63500000000000001 0.88800000000000001 Pledges - 2012 Alumni (under 30) Alumni (30-55) Alumni (over 55) 0.14799999999999999 0.25600000000000001 0.26900000000000002 Fulfilled - 2012 Alumni (under 30) Alumni (30-55) Alumni (over 55) 0.64400000000000002 0.747 0.86299999999999999 Pledges - 2013 Alumni (under 30) Alumni (30-55) Alumni (over 55) 0.17100000000000001 0.26900000000000002 0.16300000000000001 Fulfilled - 2013 Alumni (under 30) Alumni (30-55) Alumni (over 55) 0.67400000000000004 0.76100000000000001 0.77800000000000002