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In pursuit of the student member

In pursuit of the student member. Sizzler 2014 – 10 for 10 July 28, 2014 Jim Karl, Executive Vice President Purdue Alumni Association. Purdue Alumni Association – Quick Hit. Founded 1875 as “The General Alumni Association” 400,000 living alumni

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In pursuit of the student member

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  1. In pursuit of the student member Sizzler 2014 – 10 for 10 July 28, 2014 Jim Karl, Executive Vice President Purdue Alumni Association

  2. Purdue Alumni Association – Quick Hit • Founded 1875 as “The General Alumni Association” • 400,000 living alumni • Independent 501 3c membership-dues based organization • President & CEO Kirk Cerny • 29-member Board of Directors • Strategic Initiatives • Membership • Relationships • Be a Pillar of Strength for Purdue University • Approximately 59,500 members • 12,000 Annual • 7,700 Gateway (first-year grads, one-year complimentary) • 35,700 Life • 4,100 Student members

  3. PASE — Purdue Alumni Student Experience • Established in 2005 • Mission: Promote Purdue pride and tradition on campus, cultivate relationships between students and alumni, and enhance the college experience • Premise: On-campus student engagement facilitates post-grad engagement • Largest student group on campus • Membership-based organization • Annual and multi-year membership options • Primary target audience is incoming freshman and other underclassman • Traditionally offered an immediate incentive join: T-shirt, mug, fleece, etc. • Key tangible benefit of membership is textbook discount at local business • Offer events and programming throughout academic year • Service orientated: Nearly Naked Mile • Alumni Networking: Invite to Club Leaders reception • General programming simply for fun and/or student networking • Recruitment traditionally occurs during a one-day campus visit in early summer (STAR) or during first couple weeks of new academic year.

  4. Student Membership: The Issue • Total PASE membership growth rate flattening; numbers declining • Key underlying factor was inability to grow pre-arrival sales • Steep drop-off is overall numbers and percentage of total

  5. Student Membership: The Response • Reinvent how we communicate and market PASE membership • The core ‘product’ was fundamentally unchanged • Recognized the need to exploit and integrate three elements • Data: Obtain as much foundational data as possible about our audience • Data Handling: Manage, analyze, and utilize the data in an aggressive manner using with the appropriate system >>> iModules • Marketing Plan: Redefine our message and how we deliver it, both in-person and online Foundational Data Targeted Marketing iModules CRM

  6. Student Membership: Specific Actions Taken • DATA • Obtained incoming student and parent/guardian contact and enrollment info (Year 1) • DATA MANAGEMENT • Worked with iModules to load all incoming students as ‘nonmembers’ (Year 1) • Completely redefined Membership Form (Year 2) • Ease of use, improved flow • Expanded potential for appeal and promo code use • Extensive use of query and email capability to segment audience for all phases of the campaign (Year 2) • MARKETING PLAN REDEFINITION • Hire, train, and incent students to sell PASE membership value/benefits at STAR (Year 1) • Send targeted (separate) informational emails to students & parents prior to STAR (Year 1) • Execute incentive/contest-based online membership campaign prior to STAR (Year 2) • Five-week campaign including email and social media — primarily Facebook • Four groups of targeted/segmented emails sent over the five weeks • Enable parent to easily purchase for student (Gift / Donation Form) • Questions: Who is decision maker? Is our message reaching the audience?

  7. Student Membership: Results • 2013/14 (Year 1) • Pre-sales increased from 600 to 1400 (18% >33%) • Total increased by ~ 1000 • 80% Four YR members • 2014/15 (Year 2) • Pre-sales remained high at 1485 … and growing daily • Online sales at 600 • Growth expectation: 10%+ • ~70% Four YR members • Loss of benefit of F2F Sales pitch • Decision maker learning

  8. Student Membership: Year 2 Learning • We can get students and parents/guardians to open an email! • Send #2 was ONLY to those who didn’t open send #1 • Their degree of action after opening is significantly different (2X more for parents) • Applying a “course of study” emphasis didn’t seem to matter

  9. Summary • Progress was only achieved when we were able to integrate critical elements • Data • iModules CRM: data, email and membership management • Appropriately targeted and timed marketing effort • Still plenty to learn about these early stages of the ‘alumni continuum’ • Who is primary influencer to join as student? • How do we effectively engage all these new members! • iModules extended team very helpful • Non-standard needs (large nonmember load) • Professional Services (membership form rework) • Experiential knowledge from varied clients • Accept criticism

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