The Results Are in: Thousands Respond to Alumni Survey

The University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association is launching a campaign in order to reach a goal of 20,000 members by the year 2010 called “20,000 in 2010.” The year 2010 will also mark the centennial celebration of the University’s founding on March 30, 1910.

In the fall of 2007, the Alumni Association, in conjunction with the Godwin Group advertising agency and its senior partner/board chairman Danny Mitchell '70, '71, sought information that will help achieve their membership goal.  To understand how to increase membership the Association conducted a two-pronged research project that included an online survey of alumni and focus groups of non-members in Jackson and Biloxi.  

In November 2007, three online survey links were sent to current members, prior members and non-members of the Alumni Association.

The survey served to answer the following:

• Perceptions and image of the Alumni Association as perceived by the non-members
• General level of awareness of the benefits offered by the Alumni Association
• General level of value of the benefits offered by the Alumni Association to current members
• Factors that prohibit non-members from joining the Alumni Association
• Factors that prohibit prior members from re-joining the Alumni Association
• Other benefits the Alumni Association could offer to increase its membership enrollment
• Determine awareness level of SouthernMissAlumni.com and the information located on the site

Following the survey, focus groups of non-members were held.  The focus groups served to answer the following:

• Perceptions and image of the Alumni Association as perceived by the non-members
• General level of awareness of the benefits offered by the Alumni Association
• Factors that prohibit them from joining the Alumni Association
• Items that would increase their likelihood to join the Association
• Whether being a member of a constituent group would increase the perceived value of membership

The Alumni Association thanks all of the alumni who participated in this project; your feedback will help to guide the Association's strategic actions in the future.  Should you wish to view pdf briefs of the Godwin Group's report concerning both the survey and focus groups you can now do so by clicking the links below.  For questions or comments about the research, please contact Jerry DeFatta, the Association's associate director for external affairs at jerry.defatta@usm.edu.

The Godwin Group's Online Survey Report

The Godwin Group's Focus Groups Report