Alumni Corporate Engagement Project
Overview
Aalto university’s Advancement and Corporate Engagement (ADCO) department wanted to carry out a study to better understand their Alumni audience and charitable donors and find ways to improve overall engagement in order to increase donorship in the long term. ADCO commissioned our student team of 4 members to explore how we can improve the overall relationship and experience when given to their current and future donors. The project required iterative strategic design research to be carried out.
Project Scope
We used a design thinking approach, completing the business project in three design sprints focused on strategic design research. The process included audience understanding research, qualitative interviews with stakeholders, and a survey sent to 4,000 alumni, generating 400 responses connected to CRM data. The survey covered alumni engagement history, interests, perceived importance, and areas for improvement.
From the survey data, we segmented alumni based on group vs. individual orientation and community support vs. benefit. We then created user personas for each segment, mapped student/alumni journeys, and established communication guidelines. In-person workshops with the ADCO team were conducted throughout.
The project’s conclusion involved presenting findings to the entire ADCO department, comprising approximately 20 members. The outcomes enable Aalto University’s ADCO department to offer more personalized and engaging content, fostering a culture where alumni actively contribute time and donations as a common practice.
Key Deliverables
Gathering data on alumni
Qualitative research obtained from stakeholder interviews and survey data.
Defining segments
Segments defined through behavioral factors, characteristics, and insights.
Creating personas
From segmentation, we identified different key user personas and profile types.
Journey mapping (current & new)
Defined personas were given their own alumni journey map (pre & post studies)
Identifying touchpoints
Touchpoints identified based on the journey map, e.g actions & comms.
Engagement opportunities
Lastly, based on what we discovered, we proposed communication guidelines.
Example Visuals Made
Teamwork by: Eva Gallegos, Onni Anttoora, Lien Nguyen, and Matthew (Roblin) Presley.