In the competitive landscape of education, institutions are working to enhance alumni engagement strategies to grow a robust, supportive community that contributes financially and advocates for the institution. One practical approach to achieving this goal is benchmarking against both peer institutions and internal year-over-year progress.
The Importance of Benchmarking Against Peer Institutions
One of the most valuable features of the Alumni Attitude Study (AAS) is its ability to benchmark against peer institutions. With over 1 million alumni responses collected from 350+ organizations, the AAS offers one of the largest and most robust databases in the industry. This unparalleled breadth allows institutions to compare their performance across a wide range of metrics, including alumni satisfaction, giving patterns, and event participation rates.
For example:
Institutions can identify areas where they outperform peers, such as high alumni satisfaction with career services or DEI initiatives.
They can also pinpoint areas for improvement—like lower-than-average event attendance or donor retention—and adopt best practices from high-performing institutions
Peer benchmarking provides an external perspective that internal surveys done by Institutional Research departments can’t and helps institutions set realistic yet aspirational goals. Without comparative data, it’s difficult to determine whether an institution’s engagement efforts are truly effective or simply meeting internal expectations.
The Importance of Benchmarking Internal Progress
Equally important is the practice of benchmarking year-over-year progress within the institution itself. The Alumni Attitude Study facilitates this longitudinal analysis by providing consistent, reliable data.
Period-based benchmarking with the Alumni Attitude Study allows institutions to build on successes, celebrate wins, and recalibrate if necessary. Alternatively, if specific initiatives or perceptions in general show stagnation or decline, it prompts a critical evaluation and required adjustments. The Study’s comprehensive data collection and analysis capabilities ensure that institutions have the insights to make informed decisions and enhance their alumni engagement strategies.
For example:
An institution may find that its alumni giving rates increased after implementing targeted communication campaigns informed by previous AAS results.
Conversely, if volunteer participation stagnates despite new initiatives, internal benchmarking can prompt a reevaluation of those efforts.
This internal benchmarking helps stimulate a culture of continuous improvement and accountability. It encourages alumni teams to assess their strategies regularly, celebrate achievements, and pivot when necessary to address challenges. Additionally, it helps to maintain momentum and enthusiasm among staff, alumni, and other stakeholders by showcasing tangible progress and areas of impact.
Combining Both Approaches
The true power of benchmarking lies in combining external peer comparisons with internal progress tracking—and this is where the Alumni Attitude Study excels. Together, these approaches create a comprehensive framework for strategic planning and continuous improvement. Peer benchmarking provides an external perspective, offering fresh ideas and comparative standards, while internal benchmarking tracks progress and ensures that strategies yield desired outcomes over time.
For example:
A university might use peer benchmarking data from the AAS to identify that its young alumni engagement lags behind similar schools, but excels in faculty connections. It could then implement targeted campaigns focused on young alumni, while continuing to leverage its faculty relationships—a strategy it could refine further through year-over-year tracking.
Why Benchmarking is Essential
Benchmarking with the Alumni Attitude Study doesn’t just improve alumni engagement—it drives institutional growth by aligning engagement strategies with broader objectives like fundraising goals, student recruitment efforts, or DEI initiatives. By understanding how their performance compares both externally and internally, institutions can allocate resources more effectively and make informed decisions that benefit their entire community.
In an era where alumni support is more critical than ever, educational institutions cannot afford to rely on guesswork or incomplete data when shaping their engagement strategies. The Alumni Attitude Study provides a powerful combination of peer benchmarking and longitudinal tracking that equips institutions with the insights they need to thrive.
Whether you’re looking to adopt best practices from peer institutions or measure your own progress over time, Alumni Attitude Study offers unmatched expertise, robust data, and actionable recommendations that drive results.
For more content about alumni engagement data trends, check out our blog Alumni Insights.