Fall 2003

Colleges, universities, and cultural and charitable institutions are increasingly using opinion research to gain an edge in the competition for charitable dollars.

Opinion Dynamics has helped many non-profit organizations meet their development goals through surveys of potential donors. This includes several alumni studies for different colleges and universities around the country. Like any potential donor study, research among graduates provides vital insights that help colleges and universities develop communications campaigns that resonate with alumni.

Alumni and other potential donor surveys are designed to answer three overarching sets of questions.

-How do alumni or potential donors feel about the institution? Do they feel it needs and deserves support?
Do they know where the money goes? Where do they want it to go?

• Is the institution seen to be as deserving of support as other charities? What aspects make it more deserving than other institutions--hospitals, churches, museums, etc.? How can the institution's competitive case be strengthened?

• Are the mechanics of the development program working properly? Are alumni being asked to give? Does the institution communicate their fund raising efforts effectively and ask for the right amounts? Are recognition and rewards appropriate? Does the institution communicate its appreciation?

Nationally, we found that establishing a competitive case for giving to colleges and universities is likely to stimulate giving among many college graduates. Our survey finds that two-thirds (67%) of college graduates believe their alma mater needs their support, but two-thirds (66%) also believe other institutions deserve their support more.

Establishing a competitive case for giving to a particular institution requires the identification of both the best messages, and viable channels for delivering those messages. This is accomplished through an in-depth analysis of the survey data in order to gain a detailed picture of alumni and their attitudes towards their alma mater. What do alumni view as the programs or aspects of a university most worth supporting? What other charities do alumni support? What are the strongest links between alumni and their alma mater--friends, graduating classes, specific departments, or the university as a whole? Do answers to these questions vary among subgroups of alumni--by age, gender, income, etc.?

Our past research shows alumni of different institutions express support for everything from the arts to athletics. Our research has also found internal differences among alumni of the same institution.

Larger donors often have different priorities than smaller scale donors. As institutions have evolved over the years, older alumni often have different views than younger ones. Understanding these differences and incorporating them into fund-raising messages can help maximize both participation and yield.

Our national sample of college graduates found pervasive mechanical issues as well. A full 41% of college graduates have not been asked to give to their alma mater in the past twelve months. Clearly, the development efforts of many institutions of higher learning are suffering because alumni are not being asked for support. While "not asking" may seem like a simple problem to fix, it is often very difficult. Lists have become outdated, older alumni have been "lost", and the process of putting together a program for asking may be daunting.

Surveys of alumni groups provide multiple benefits to institutions of higher learning. Not only do they provide vital information for strategic planning purposes, they also serve to strengthen the ties between alumni and their alma mater. Surveys can effectively close the information loop between colleges and their alumni. In many instances we find that providing alumni with the opportunity to give feedback to their college through a survey will actually increase their sense of affiliation with their alma mater.

Although this article mainly focuses on institutions of higher learning, the techniques discussed here have implications for cultural, religious, and charitable institutions as well. Potential donor groups to any institution may vary internally and externally in their attitudes and their priorities. Understanding these differences will help develop more effective communications campaigns.

If you would ike more information on alumni research, contact Chris Anderson at canderson@opiniondynamics.com.

One of the first questions an analyst faces when starting a new project is, "what is the best method for gathering data?" In market research, the means for collecting data vary from focus groups to depth interviews, telephone surveys to intercept questionnaires. One method that often gets overlooked is in-home visits. Information can be obtained from such visits that may not be accurately gathered in any other way.

Recently, Opinion Dynamics utilized in-home visits to determine the saturation of energy efficient lighting in Massachusetts' homes. When we first set out to discuss research options with our client, telephone surveys seemed like a reasonable approach. However, we needed to determine the number of sockets in each home and the number of bulbs in those sockets that were energy efficient. It would be unreasonable to expect a respondent to count them for us. Even if we tried, many respondents would not be able to differentiate between energy efficient and standard bulbs. It became clear that in-home visits would be the most beneficial way to systematically document this information.

When your research calls for obtaining actual information as opposed to perceived information, in-home visits provide a way to accurately and efficiently ensure that the "right" data is found.

From past experience, we knew that in-home visits require careful consideration of several factors when being completed. First, the site auditor must demonstrate that he values the respondent's time:

• Site visits are scheduled in advance, and this opportunity may be taken to ask any questions the respondent can answer (such as the age of the home, etc.). This also helps reduce the burden when the site auditor is actually in the home.

• Software programs installed on hand-held personal computers (ODC uses our own EESiteAuditor™ customized database) speeds up the process of recording data. This also serves to reduce the potential for mistakes.

• Incentive checks made out to the homeowner compensate them for the time and make the site visit worthwhile to them.

  Secondly, with the recent climate emphasizing tighter security, many homeowners are wary of allowing strangers into their homes (and rightly so). These fears can be allayed by:

• Providing a letter from the sponsoring company explaining the nature of the project and providing contact information should the homeowner want to verify the site visit and the site auditor.

• Showing a photo ID badge with appropriate company affiliations and information.

Finally, cost plays a determining factor in deciding whether in-home visits are a viable option for your next research project. Often, the visits are not as costly as one might think--especially if the homes to be visited are clustered. Incentives to homeowners often range between $25 and $50 per visit.

In-home visits are a useful market research tool. Rather than relying on respondents to report factual data, trained site auditors ensure gathering of accurate, reliable data.

If you would like more information on this topic, please contact Brad Kates at bkates@opiniondynamics.com.

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A recent FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll asked a number of registered voters what their opinion was on various issues facing gays and lesbians in America. In general, it is clear that a majority of Americans support full participation in key institutions such as education and the military.

For example, 54% of our national sample of adult Americans oppose prohibiting gays and lesbians from taking on key leadership roles--even in potentially sensitive professions that deal with children (e.g., teachers). Barely one-third of our national sample (34%) favors a homosexual ban in the professional sector.

Figure 1. Should gays and lesbians be screened from jobs that allow them to be alone with children?

Moreover, a growing majority now favor open service by gays and lesbians in the military--rising a full 7 points in the last 3 1/2 years. While some of this increase may be influenced by the military conflict in Iraq, it remains evident that almost two-thirds of all Americans now support the full participation of gays and lesbian in our armed forces.

Figure 2 Would you favor or oppose allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military?

However, there is far less consensus when it comes to gay and lesbian leadership roles in spiritual institutions. As the next chart shows, only about one-third of our sample favors allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly as priests, ministers or rabbis.

Figure 3. Would you favor or oppose allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly as priests, ministers or rabbis?

Legalization of gay and lesbian marriages has even fewer advocates than gay and lesbian spiritual leaders do. The amount of support for same-sex marriage has increased marginally in the last seven years--totaling just one-quarter of the adult population.

Figure 4. Do you favor or oppose same-sex marriage?

In addition, six in ten Americans support a federal Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual institution.

Figure 5. Would you favor or oppose passing an amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman?

It is important to note that the idea of gay and lesbian marriages has never been discussed in the media to the extent that it is now. While acceptance of same-sex marriage, or homosexual spiritual leaders remains a distant likelihood for most Americans, the long-term trend seems to signify increasing inclusion of gays and lesbians into American society.

The FOX News/Opinion Dynamics surveys are conducted every two weeks to capture public opinions about current issues. For more information about FOX News, visit them at, www.foxnews.com.

For more information on this topic, contact, Ernie Paicopolos in our Cambridge, MA office at 617-492-1400, ext. 238 or via e-mail at epaicopolos@opiniondynamics.com.

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ODC in Brief

ODC welcomes William Norton as a Sr. Project Manager on our Energy Team. Bill comes to us from Abt Associates where he served as a Senior Analyst working on a variety of research projects sponsored by the EPA. Bill's previous work experience also includes managing and contributing to a variety of energy efficiency program evaluations for such companies as National Grid and Northeast Utilities.

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