Effective Segmentation of University Alumni: Mining Contribution Data with Finite-Mixture Models

Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J.; Balasubramanian, Siva K.

doi:10.1007/s11162-014-9339-6

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Under the scope of relationship marketing, initiatives have been developed to enhance relationships to meet the expectations of alumni, but when HEIs face scarce resources and tight budgets, which is the case of the majority of Portuguese HEIs, effective clustering strategies are needed to achieve successful measures (Durango-Cohen & Balasubramanian, 2015;Le Blanc & Rucks, 2009). Clustering thus allows optimisation of resources and greater effectiveness of activities such as solicitation and communication campaigns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Clustering thus allows optimisation of resources and greater effectiveness of activities such as solicitation and communication campaigns. Moreover, leads to a better understanding of alumni characteristics, and once they have been gathered into similar groups, those campaigns can be tailored accordingly (Durango-Cohen & Balasubramanian, 2015;Le Blanc & Rucks, 2009;Rattanamethawong, Sinthupinyo, & Chandrachai, 2018). Furthermore, complementing these advantages with the knowledge of what predicts prospective alumni intending to collaborate in the HEIs' activities, an important contribute to better define strategies is achieved (Clotfelter, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identifying patterns of alumni commitment in key strategic relationship programmes

Pedro

Mendes

Pereira

2020

Int Rev Public Nonprofit Mark

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Higher education institutions (HEIs) need to understand their alumni when drawing strategic relationship programmes. This paper aims to identify clusters of alumni based on their commitment relationship and to analyse factors influencing their intention to collaborate with the HEI. The study took place at a Portuguese university, considering a dataset of 1075 of alumni asserting intention to collaborate. First, a cluster analysis was conducted to identify patterns of commitment relationship. Secondly, a logistic regression was run to identify determinants of intention to collaborate. Both techniques revealed the decisive role of HEI commitment in the process. Relationship advantages and positive feelings towards the HEI were also pointed out as important. Alumni asserted recommendations, further training, sharing experiences and giving help as ways to collaborate with HEI. Regression results suggest that sociodemographic variables such as gender, marital status and volunteering are significantly associated with a probability to collaborate. Results also show that affiliation in sororities/fraternities and participation in extracurricular activities are significantly associated with that collaborative intention. The findings provide clues to support strategic relationship programmes based on consistent marketing campaigns, while bringing value to the literature in the European context, where alumni culture requires real insights to evolve.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying patterns of alumni commitment in key strategic relationship programmes

Pedro

Mendes

Pereira

2020

Int Rev Public Nonprofit Mark

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“…Other studies investigated socio-economic variables, such as income and education, past giving, sector of employment, type of financial aid received, as well as demographic indicators (Gunsalus 2005 ; Newman and Petrosko 2011 ; Wunnava and Lauze 2001 ), such as age, ethnicity, income, gender, residence, and marital status (Clotfelter 2003 ; Drezner 2018 ; Holmes 2009 ; Hueston 1992 ; Okunade and Berl 1997 ; Weerts and Ronca, 2008 ). Other researchers focused their attention on behavioural factors, such as volunteering for the college, membership in alumni chapters, and reunion attendance (Durango-Cohen and Balasubramanian 2015 ). Furthermore, characteristics related to institutions and universities have been investigated, such as size, type of institution, or endowment value.…”

Section: Background and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, universities depend ever more on private donors, who have become an important part of the financial mix and the well-being of HEIs (Tsao and Coll, 2005;Weerts and Ronca 2009;Iskhakova et al 2020). Even though alumni contributions have always represented a significant source of university funding (Baruch and Sang 2012;Durango-Cohen and Balasubramanian 2015;Stephenson and Bell 2014), encouraging such a practice can make a positive impact on the stability and longevity of an HE institution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions

et al. 2020

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Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni's intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (n = 318) and Italian (n = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations.

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“…Figure 1 shows that, if the ultimate goal is promoting the development of alumni economy, the relevant government departments, alumni workers and alumni associations in colleges need to play a key role and cooperate closely. Government departments should focus on creating brand activities related to alumni economy, such as alumni centralized returning to investment and centralized project inspection [3]. Government departments should also publicize and promote the activities.…”

Section: Goal Decomposition and Variable Analysis In The Alumni Economentioning

confidence: 99%

Suggestions for Developing "Alumni Economy" Based on Organizational Management Method

2018

2018 2nd International Conference on Innovations in Economic Management and Social Science (IEMSS 2018)

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Since 2017, the "Million Alumni Intelligence Back to Han Project" in Wuhan has successfully activated the alumni economy, and then Xi'an, Nanjing and other cities have paid great importance to the alumni economy. As a new economic form, the alumni economy will become a new key to urban economic development. Starting from the actual cases, combining the relevant theories of economics, a research of promoting the economic development of alumni is analyzed with the method of causal analysis diagram in management science, and practical thinking and suggestions are put forward. It is expected to provide references for local governments, universities, alumni associations and other multi-party organizations to enhance the actual effect of alumni economy development.

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Effective Segmentation of University Alumni: Mining Contribution Data with Finite-Mixture Models

Cited by 8 publications

References 46 publications

Identifying patterns of alumni commitment in key strategic relationship programmes

Identifying patterns of alumni commitment in key strategic relationship programmes

Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions

Suggestions for Developing "Alumni Economy" Based on Organizational Management Method

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