Welcome to Our Alumni Engagement Study Discussion Group

For the past decade, Harford Survey Research (HSR) has studied alumni engagement.  We have interviewed alumni, facilitated focus groups, conducted alumni surveys, and mined alumni giving data, all in an effort to understand why some alumni remain engaged with their alma mater and make gifts to these schools, while others do not.  One of the most significant outcomes of this research is HSR's Alumni Engagement Scale (AES).  The AES is an objective measure of alumni engagement that evaluates student experiences, alumni attitudes, and interest in participating in alumni programs and events.  It can be used to evaluate alumni program success, and most importantly, alumni engagement scores predict giving.  The AES provides an index of an alumna's "intention to give" to their alma mater.  Needless to say, this is valuable information for development officers' planning a school's annual fund campaign.

Come to the our Alumni Engagement Study Discussion Group to learn about the AES and how you can employ it in your alumni advancement strategies, as well as to hear about some of the very innovative strategies schools are using to build engaged alumni communities.  We will be sharing the results of our National Alumni Engagement Survey, talking about the measurement of alumni engagement, discussing the alumni programs we are implementing, and offering advice.  This is an open community forum that HSR provides to our clients and alumni relations, development, and advancement professionals. Here, schools can talk anonymously about their programs, and benchmark their efforts against the work of similar schools.  We want to hear what you have to say. Participate in the community forums. Post your comments, provide feedback, share your opinions, and exchange ideas.  The questions you ask, comments you post, and ideas you share will drive the discussions on this site.