Give us your opinion. Make an impact.
In August 2015, the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) launched Alumni Voices, a new digital volunteer opt-in panel of nearly 3,000 alumni, proportionally represented across all decades and Schools, that provided feedback on a variety of alumni-related topics and initiatives (including volunteerism, alumni benefits, the new Alumni Community, and Columbia Magazine).
Alumni Voices Panel Demographics 2015-16
Goals of the program
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Give alumni the opportunity to inform the strategic direction of University initiatives.
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Provide the CAA with insights to prototype new programs, examine current practices, and test new ideas.
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Create a new micro-volunteering touch point to reach previously disengaged alumni.
"Addressing each of these goals, Alumni Voices offered a unique look at alumni opinions over a year-long period and, with existing alumni Athena records, helped us begin to quantify the connection between engagement and giving behavior," says Kenny Chen, Program Coordinator, CAA Marketing & Digital Initiatives.
3 key insights we learned in Year 1
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72% of panelists volunteered with Columbia for the first time ever through Alumni Voices.
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55 panelists were new donors, giving to Columbia for the first time in FY16.
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Panelists who feel connected with Columbia averaged $10,600 more in lifetime giving when compared to disconnected alumni ($12,000 vs. $1,400).
Plans for Year 2
Linda Ury Greenberg, Director for Marketing Research, offers that "Year 2 of Alumni Voices will see the expansion of the variety of topics and internal collaborations, focusing on new issues and initiatives with tangible results that can be shared back to panelists."
Additional goals include:
- Providing input for new programming
- Developing insights around the Big Ideas
- Deepening our data thinking
- Encouraging more engagement and volunteering with Columbia
- Expanding and engaging new internal partners, as we extend the reach of the panel to more campus colleagues
How Can Alumni Voices Help You?
Contact us if...
- you want to partner with our team to develop and sponsor a survey focused on your actionable issues.
- you want to collect verbatim comments for marketing efforts.
- you have a few questions you would love to ask a cross-section of alumni.
- you want more information about the topics we have researched to see what can help you in your work.
And, if you're a Columbia University alum, sign up to be a panelist for Alumni Voices Year 2! (It only takes a few minutes.)
If you have any other questions on the program, email the Alumni Voices team at [email protected].
Learn more about Alumni Voices by visiting alumni.columbia.edu/alumnivoices