The Results Are In! Member Survey Results

Thank you to all alumni who participated in our recent alumni survey. With 517 participants, we were able to pick out some themes and trends that we feel represent our alumni preferences. The ages of our respondents grouped mostly between 21 and 30 years and 61 and 70 years, giving us a telling look at what ages our alumni are most interested in engaging with us. Your feedback is an important tool for us to adapt our communication, resources, and engagement to what our alumni value most. As we move through this new century as the Jesuit honor society, your feedback helps guide where we go.

COMMUNICATION

We found some trends in our survey results relating to communication. A majority of you are happy with our messaging. Good news! You did give us some direction about preferred content. Here are your top content preferences: ASN news, Jesuit higher ed news, Ignatian resources, and alumni stories. We hear you!

We also saw conflicting themes regarding mode of communication. Hard copy newsletters still appear to be popular, while many respondents also indicated interest in receiving email communication. A clear trend showed that members do NOT prefer to receive ASN news and updates via social media. Again, we hear you. We will be evaluating our communication strategy with these preferences in mind.

CONNECTION to ASN

One of the questions we were most looking forward to finding the answer to was “What keeps you connected to ASN?”  From your responses, it’s clear that the basic honor of being inducted is our biggest connector.  Connection to the Jesuits and shared Ignatian values also ranked high among respondents.  We are proud to be the only honor society bearing the name JESUIT, and that pride appears to extend to our members as well.  These themes will be an important foundation for our programming and communication moving forward.  How can we be a conduit to foster connections between our alumni and the Jesuit community?  How can we connect our like-minded members - who share common values - to be a strong network of collaborators for social good?

PROGRAMMING

Our alumni clubs are always looking to plan programming that would excite local members.  From the responses we received in the survey, educational and speaker events are the biggest draw.  Close behind are Ignatian or spiritual programs and service opportunities.  This is great feedback and helps our alumni clubs get a better idea of what programming to offer. This information also tells us that educational webinars, like our Lunch & Learn webinar series, may be a good way to include all members in popular programming.  Based on your responses, we will also stay committed to providing regional events to connect our members in person. What better way to connect with fellow change-makers?

SUGGESTIONS

Perhaps most interesting to read were the suggestions you all made for what ASN could do differently.  While there was a wide array of responses, a few stood out with multiple related suggestions.  Many of you stated a desire for more local opportunities.  We are listening!  And, in fact, we have been working over the last couple of years to begin or rekindle alumni clubs in several key cities: San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and St. Louis.  Chicago’s alumni club has recently regained footing and, with a full leadership team in place, is busy planning meaningful programs.  Read more from the Chicago club’s president Maria Mikula-Helm in the Q&A article.

Voices of our alumni in or nearing retirement were also clearly heard.  There were several suggestions to engage retirees with pertinent, targeted programming.  Retirees noted a desire for service opportunities, social events, news from their contemporary alumni, and mentoring programs.  We are excited about the interest here and are brainstorming how to create some new programming geared toward this age group. 

We also saw a trend of webinar suggestions.  We are so happy that many of you enjoy our Lunch & Learn webinar.  Your suggestions lead us to believe that there is interest in expanding this format of engaging alumni, though not in lieu of local alumni club events.  Watch for more webinar content in the future.  While we would love to connect all our alumni in person, webinar technology allows us to provide programming for members living outside our alumni club regions and across the globe. 

Didn’t complete the online survey? We’d still love your feedback. Contact Amy Venables O’Neil, Director of Development and Alumni Relations at amy.oneil@marquette.edu.