The following benchmarking questions are from the International CASE Alumni Relations Survey, which provides a set of measurement standards for alumni relations programmes at institutions outside North America. Developed by alumni professionals from around the world, the survey helps alumni relations directors measure their year-on-year progress, improve the efficiency of their alumni activities and analyse specific areas of their programs (e.g., communications). These questions can be adapted for any alumni relations community of practice that wants to engage in benchmarking.
| First, tell us about your membership body | ||
| A1 |
What is the name of your membership body? (e.g., "Poppleton University Alumni Association", "Friends of PU", etc.) |
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| A2 |
Please indicate which sort of membership it is. |
1. Paid membership |
| A3 |
Is your membership body currently an independent association or is it run from within the institution it is connected with? |
1. Run from within the institution |
| A4 |
Which of the following constituencies are served by the membership body you run? |
1. General/mixed subject areas |
| A5 |
What is the full legal name of the educational institution to which your alumni relations/affairs office or alumni association is attached? |
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| A6 |
What type of educational institution does your alumni relations group serve? |
1. School (pre-collegiate secondary level) |
| A7 |
If you answered "Other" to the previous question, please specify the type or types briefly below. |
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| A8 |
Is yours the ONLY membership group that has ever existed at your institution? |
1. Yes |
| A9 |
What stage of maturity would you say your alumni initiative has reached? |
1. Startup |
| A10 |
For how many years have your members been offered dedicated EVENTS? |
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| A11 |
For how many years have your members been offered dedicated E-NEWSLETTERS? |
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| A12 |
For how many years have your members been offered a dedicated WEBSITE? |
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| A13 |
For how many years have your members been offered dedicated VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES? |
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| A14 |
For how many years have your members been asked to support dedicated FUNDRAISING programmes? |
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| A15 |
In which country is your main campus located? |
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| A16 |
How many FULL-TIME students does your institution have? |
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| A17 |
How many PART-TIME students does your institution have? |
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| A18 |
What is the TOTAL number of students at your institution? |
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| Your contact info... | ||
| B1 |
What is your name? |
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| B2 |
What is your job title? |
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| B3 |
What is your email address? |
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| B4 |
What is your telephone number, including country code? |
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| Your database | ||
| C1 |
How many FORMER students do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C2 |
How many CURRENT students do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C3 |
How many HONORARY GRADUATES do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C4 |
How many FACULTY/STAFF (who are not themselves former students) do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C5 |
How many FORMER faculty/staff do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C6 |
How many FAMILY MEMBERS of current or former students (who are not themselves former students) do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C7 |
How many individuals of other types do you have recorded on your database? |
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| C8 |
If you entered a number for "other" above, please tell us what TYPE of constituents the "others" are. Otherwise please enter a zero. |
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| C9 |
What is the total number of individuals recorded on your database? (This should equal the sum of your answers to Q1 - Q7.) |
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| C10 |
How many individuals in your database do you count as members of the group which your office supports and who are "living and contactable" (i.e., not lost or dead and you think you can contact them by at least one of post or email or phone? These are the individuals later referred to as your "constituents")? |
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| C11 |
For how many constituents do you have any type of PHONE NUMBER on their record? |
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| C12 |
For how many constituents do you have a MOBILE/CELL PHONE NUMBER on their record? |
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| C13 |
How many constituents do you believe are addressable BY POST (i.e., they are not lost alumni)? |
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| C14 |
How many constituents have advised you that they have CHANGED their postal address in the last 12 months? |
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| C15 |
For how many constituents do you have an EMAIL ADDRESS on their record? |
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| C16 |
For how many of the former students recorded on your database do you have any EDUCATIONAL HISTORY information for your institution recorded? |
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| C17 |
For how many constituents do you have any EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION recorded? |
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| C18 |
How many constituents in your database group have changed status in your database to "GONE AWAY" in the last 12 months? |
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| C19 |
How many constituents have requested that you do NOT contact them FOR FUNDRAISING PURPOSES? |
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| C20 |
How many constituents have requested that you do NOT contact them AT ALL? |
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| C21 |
How many FORMER students do you estimate that COULD have been registered on your database have NEVER been recorded? |
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| C22 |
Is your database run by your office? |
1. Yes |
| C23 |
Is your database paid for by your office? |
1. Yes |
| Your programmes | ||
| D1 |
Does your office offer and/or manage magazines for your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D2 |
Does your office offer and/or manage other printed communications to your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D3 |
Does your office offer and/or manage e-newsletters to your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D4 |
Does your office offer and/or manage website content for your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D5 |
Does your office offer and/or manage alumni relations events for your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D6 |
Does your office make some aspects of the database available to your constituents (e.g., through alumni directories either published or online)? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D7 |
Does your office offer and/or manage benefits and services to your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D8 |
Does your office offer and/or manage careers support to your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D9 |
Does your office offer and/or manage volunteer opportunities for your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D10 |
Does your office offer and/or manage any other activities for your constituents? |
1. Yes, offered and mostly managed by the A.R. office |
| D11 |
If you answered "yes" to the previous question about "other activities", please briefly specify what these are. |
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| Your staff/budget | ||
| E1 |
How many paid staff (full-time equivalents) are there in your alumni relations office to manage the programmes mentioned in the last section? |
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| E2 |
What was your office's total nonphilanthropic income for the year, regardless of the use to which the income is put? |
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| E3 |
What is your total operating budget (in your own currency) for those tasks listed in the previous section which are managed by your alumni relations office? Do not include staff salaries. |
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| E4 |
Please state the full name of the currency you will be reporting your budget in, so that we can convert and standardise the figures later (e.g., "Euros", "HK$", "Australian Dollars", etc.). |
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| E5 |
What is the cost of your primary print publication per year (as defined by the first question in section F)? |
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| Your communications | ||
| F1 |
How many times is your primary magazine sent out each year? |
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| F2 |
In the past 12 months, how many of your constituents have been sent at least one copy of your magazine by post? |
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| F3 |
How many of your constituents have chosen to receive your magazine electronically instead of by post? |
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| F4 |
How many times is your primary e-newsletter sent to your database constituents each year? |
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| F5 |
In the past 12 months, how many of your constituents have been sent at least one copy of your e-newsletter? |
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| F6 |
How many actual e-newsletters were sent to recipients over the entire year? (NB: we are not asking for how many issues of the newsletter you sent out.) |
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| F7 |
How many of the above were opened to be viewed? |
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| Your events | ||
| G1 |
How many events on campus have you offered members the chance to attend in the last 12 months? |
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| G2 |
How many events in your home country but off campus have you offered members the chance to attend in the last 12 months? |
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| G3 |
How many events outside your home country have you offered members the chance to attend in the last 12 months? |
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| G4 |
How many events and/or reunions in total did your office organise/manage last year? |
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| G5 |
How many people were invited to at least one event/reunion by personalised letter, email or telephone? |
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| G6 |
How many people, of those referred to in the previous question, who received a personalised invitation to an event, actually attended the event they were invited to? |
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| G7 |
How many people attended at least one event/reunion? (If possible, please avoid double counting people who may have attended more than one event/reunion.) |
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| G8 |
In the last 12 months how many events/reunions were organised globally (anywhere in the world, including your own country) by alumni themselves, as far as you are aware? |
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| G9 |
How many professional development/career networking events have you organised in the past 12 months? |
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| G10 |
How many personal interest/hobby-based events have you organised in the past 12 months? |
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| G11 |
How many holiday/excursion events have you organised in the past 12 months? |
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| G12 |
What was your total expenditure on events for the year? |
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| G13 |
What was your total income from events for the year? |
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| Your subgroups | ||
| H1 |
How many officially recognised subgroups are there within your membership that exist with memberships that are not determined by country or geography? |
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| H2 |
How many officially recognised subgroups are there within your membership body that exist specifically in your home country? |
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| H3 |
How many officially recognised subgroups are there within your membership body that exist specifically in countries other than your home country? |
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| Your member benefit offers | ||
| I1 |
Do you offer library access to your members (either free or price-discounted permission to use facilities)? |
1. Yes |
| I2 |
Do you offer institution sports centre discounts to your members (either free or price-discounted permission to use facilities)? |
1. Yes |
| I3 |
Do you offer further-study discounts to your members? |
1. Yes |
| I4 |
Do you offer institutional discount offers to your members (e.g., accommodation, restaurants and other services offered by your institution)? |
1. Yes |
| I5 |
Do you offer a free lifetime institutional email address to your members? |
1. Yes |
| I6 |
Do you offer free career support to your members (i.e., advice/assistance from careers service for at least two years after graduation)? |
1. Yes |
| I7 |
Do you offer membership cards to your members? |
1. Yes |
| I8 |
Do you offer credit cards to your members (i.e., branded affinity credit cards marketed to members in order to raise money for the institution)? |
1. Yes |
| I9 |
Do you offer local third-party discount offers to your members (i.e., discount deals from companies local to your institution)? |
1. Yes |
| I10 |
Do you offer national third-party discount offers to your members (i.e., discount deals for your constituents from companies in your home country)? |
1. Yes |
| I11 |
Do you offer international third-party discounts to your members (i.e., specifically international deals provided by companies for your constituents)? |
1. Yes |
| I12 |
Do you offer travel services to your members (i.e., trips and excursions organised for constituents possibly accompanied by staff)? |
1. Yes |
| I13 |
Do you offer institutionally branded merchandise to your members? |
1. Yes |
| I14 |
Do you promote the opportunity for constituents to interact with other constituents and the institution in online social networks? |
1. Yes |
| I15 |
Do you offer any other benefits to your members? |
1. Yes |
| I16 |
If you answered yes to the previous question, please briefly specify what those benefits are in the box below . If you did not answer yes, please enter a zero. |
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| Your volunteer programme | ||
| J1 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to help run sub-groups of your association such as branches/chapters/clubs/networks, etc.? |
1. Yes |
| J2 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to help with student recruitment? |
1. Yes |
| J3 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to help with alumni relations work (e.g., at events, stuffing envelopes, data processing, etc.)? |
1. Yes |
| J4 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to help fundraise for the institution? |
1. Yes |
| J5 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to speak/present to others (e.g., career talks/after-dinner speeches, etc.)? |
1. Yes |
| J6 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to mentor current students/alumni? |
1. Yes |
| J7 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to help your institution with business development by speaking to their employers? |
1. Yes |
| J8 |
Do you manage or recruit volunteers to perform any other activities? |
1. Yes |
| J9 |
If you answered yes to the previous question, please briefly specify the types of activities in the box below. If you answered no, please enter a zero. |
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| J10 |
How many constituents in your database have ever offered to support you in any of the ways referred to in this section? |
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| J11 |
How many constituents have actually supported you in the volunteer ways referred to above, in the last 12 months? |
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| J12 |
How many of the people who have attended events have volunteered or offered to volunteer on behalf of your institution? |
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| Your institution's fundraising programme | ||
| K1 |
Does your institution actively solicit donations from your constituents? |
1. Yes, in the past 12 months |
| K2 |
How many of your constituents in the database group have ever donated to your institution? |
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| K3 |
How many of your constituents in the database group have donated in the last 12 months? |
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| K4 |
How many of those who have attended events have ever donated money to your institution? |
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| K5 |
How many of those who volunteered have ever donated money to your institution? |
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