Mindset Report: Alumni Under 40 by Georgia Tech Alumni Association

Mindset Report:

ALUMNI UNDER 40

Not all alumni are the same

Georgia Tech alumni under the age of 40 are highly trained, resilient, curious, and hardworking. They are looking to learn, discover, and connect.

This report sets its foundation in data including the 2020 Alumni Attitude Survey results as well as past donor status, event attendance, social media activity, and digital behavior.

This data is a roadmap for an actionable strategy for young alumni engagement. Exercises and thought starters in the back of the booklet are designed to help integrate young alumni into our work.

PAGE 4

A Snapshot of Young Alumni

PAGE 10

Theme 1: Care out loud

PAGE 14

Theme 2: Chart my own path

PAGE 18

Theme 3: Grow forth

PAGE 22

Theme 4: Thrill of the hunt

PAGE 26

Theme 5: Applause, please

PAGE 30

Worksheet: Takeaways and Ideas

A Snapshot of “Young Alumni”

All data is representative of alumni who are under 40 unless indicated otherwise.

FY20 Donors by Age

Data is representative of all alumni

Living Alumni by Age

Data is representative of all alumni

Young Alumni by Country

Young Alumni by State

Young Alumni by City

Ranking of Qualities That Most Describe a

Hard Working

Problem Solver

Resilient

Analytical

Intellectually Rigorous

Reasons to Participate in an Event

To have fun

To meet people in my area

Generations of total majors offered were created since 2010

Reasons to Give to Roll Call

Knowing how gifts are used

Providing financial support to GT Students

Lower tuition for current students

Increasing the quality of the academics

Cutting-edge facilities

Attracting high-quality faculty

To see friends/ network

Local Networks and Affinity Group Events Career Services (Career Fair, advisement, online job board)

Alumni-Student Mentoring Program Reunions Student Programming (SAA, Ambassadors, Student Foundation)

Loyalty: Older Generations vs. Young Alumni

Georgia Tech in general

My major or degree program

My college/school within GT Student organization or activity I was associated with GT Alumni Association

A faculty member or instructor

Average Young Alumni Average Older Generations

Barriers to Participating in Alumni Activities

Time/other commitments

Geographical distance

Unsure of how to get involved

I don’t know anyone

Young Alumni by College

College of Computing

College of Design

College of Engineering

College of Sciences

Ivan Allen College

FY20 Young Alumni

24%

of FY20 donors are young alumni

Value/ respect for degree

16%

increase in study abroad from Older Generations to Young Alumni

Top Areas That Impact Overall Opinion of Georgia Tech

of young alumni believe giving positively impacts the student experience and furthers the mission of GT think that GT needs financial donations of young alumni who haven’t given to Roll Call plan to in the future, versus only 6% of older alumni

Care Out Loud

As students, young alumni were highly involved in their campus communities and now look to reconnect to those roots.

As alumni, they prefer to invest their limited time with students, sharing their experiences and supporting them through early career transitions.

These community builders love to support great causes and make connections through their networks.

Care Out Loud

33% were involved in community service organizations as students.

63% of volunteers were young alumni, based on 1,000 alumni who filled out the volunteer form.

31% increase in Roll Call web traffic from young alumni in April with the compassion campaign #swarmstrength.

of last year’s registered mentors were young alumni. 62%

25% of the current Network Leaders and ambassadors graduated in 2010 or after.

28% of participation from Giving Tuesday 2020 came from young alumni, a 14% increase over their average giving rate.

Snapshot of alumni under 40: 1.a, 3.d, 4.a, 4.c, 6.a, 6.c, 6.d

Young alumni are making an impact in volunteer leadership and mentoring and are looking for ways to share with their communities. Make sure to shout out great work and provide sharable content to volunteers.

Young alumni are excited about opportunities to recruit others when it comes to giving. While they personally may give a small amount, their ability to reach out and crowdsource through friends cannot be denied.

Through the #swarmstrength and the peer-to-peer fundraising challenge on Giving Tuesday, young alumni accepted the challenge of spreading the word and engaging with their own audiences to support students.

Key Attributes

Active with volunteering their time

Value the mentoring relationship Sharing is as important as caring

Chart My Own Path

This generation of Tech alumni are decision-makers who thrive in a world full of options and opportunities.

Young alumni had diverse and flexible experiences as students and write their own traditions as alumni.

This born-to-lead, “the world is your oyster” bunch know what they like and want and gravitate toward their interests, which are quite similar to each other.

Chart My Own Path

Online giving in 2020 grew 20.7% year over year for nonprofit organizations in 2020, the biggest growth in online giving since its inception.

https://institute.blackbaud.com/charitable-givingreport/online-giving-trends/

20% more 18 to 44-year-olds said they were engaged in unique giving during Covid-19 than older generations; including ordering take-out from a local restaurant to help it stay in business or paying their stylist at a time when they couldn’t get a haircut.

https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/bitstream/ handle/1805/23750/covid-report1.pdf

of Pi Mile participants in 2017–2019 were young alumni.

Only 16% of Homecoming registrants are young alumni; however, the Young Alumni Homecoming Happy Hour has hit the registration capacity for the last 3 years.

Alumni are 23% more likely to take a click-through action on an email that includes local event information versus non-personalized content.

Snapshot of alumni under 40:

Young Alumni have two unique attributes when compared to past generations: They cite “resilient” and “intellectually rigorous” as top-five qualities of Tech grads (along with “problem solving,” “hard working,” and “analytical”). These two qualities make them life-long learners who are not shy about engaging with complex emerging technologies or learning new skills.

The “vibe” is key to young alumni events: Come and leave when you want, meet up with friends, catch up on what’s new, and explore fresh on- and off-campus experiences…with just a dash of nostalgia.

Young alumni prefer the à la carte nature of a newsletter over single-option or single-path emails. They are more likely to choose a local event than editorial copy when given the option.

Key Attributes

Open to new ways to give Come and “ghost” as they please Let them make their own choices

Grow Forth

Young alumni seek experts with proven track records of perseverance and a compelling journey.

They are problem solvers who value experience over titles. They love the climb, figuring out things for themselves and sharing what they learn with others.

These alumni value resilience, and work to build it in their lives. These alumni combat uncertainty by truth-seeking, curiosity, and a will to solve problems. Being a student or young professional during the Great Recession and growing up in an age of an ultracompetitive college application process has taught those who are under 40 to fight for what is theirs.

Grow Forth

Young alumni ranked the importance of career services, events, and programs 52% higher than older generations did.

60% more young alumni attended Homebuying and Personal Finance seminars than Happy Hours.

2% of overall traffic in November 2020 came from the WAN Cocktail Engineering Happy Hour with a twist, making it one of the top 3 pages for the month.

30% more young alumni attended the Blockchain Business Strategy and Applications seminar than general career events. Online stories with experts giving advice had 50% higher traffic than average and 75% higher traffic on stories of perseverance.

Snapshot of alumni under 40: 2.a, 2.b, 4.a, 4.c, 5.b, 6.b

Young alumni are looking for hands-on learning experiences where they can find support for life milestones like homebuying, preparing finances for the future, and getting their next promotion.

They appreciate opportunities to network with professionals in their field and establish relationships with innovative companies, especially when the opportunity is paired with a way to give back to students, peers, and friends.

Many young alumni are pursuing careers in emerging industries and are seeking mentors and peers who follow their own course or who change career paths.

Key Attributes

Hands-on learning

Enjoy the journey

Take action from inspiration and advice

Thrill of the Hunt

This generation of alumni are curious information seekers, and Tech expanded this skill.

Growing up in the age of the internet, they have become digital archeologists, digging to find the answer to a challenging problem or the next meme for a virtual laugh.

The current Tech experience involves an onslaught of information beyond just that of the classroom. The Reddit chatter, peer social media activity, and classroom chat boards require the ability to comb through vast digital details to find pertinent information. And that feeling of success to uncover digital “Easter eggs” stays with them into alumni-hood.

Thrill of the Hunt

Thrill of the Hunt

11K reach with 1.5K engagements on Facebook for Dellwood Drive.

4% of gtalumni.org visitors read the Dellwood drive story, making it the most popular web content in December 2020.

25% of alumni opened the A/B tested alumni newsletter 12/17/2020 featuring the Dellwood Drive story.

#3 Top on Instastories in January, the Sideways memorial reached more than 6K on Facebook.

6% more pages per session than older generations and the longest session duration of any generation except 65+.

Snapshot of alumni under 40: 3.a, 3.b, 4.b, 4.c, 5.a

Young alumni are willing to spend more time on gtalumni.org and will click through less-visible content blocks in the email if the content is of interest to them. They are on the hunt for a good story, a way to be in the know on what’s going on with alumni in space, the basketball team’s winning streak, and good news about fellow graduates and students.

While they self-profess that history has little impact on their overall opinion of Georgia Tech, they are known to consume lighthearted, historical stories such as the Dellwood Drive and Sideways stories.

Getting specific and framing the story around something personal and universal (having Tech neighbors or anxiety for finals) is a great way to increase interest.

Key Attributes

Scroll-anddiscover mode

Show them an event or content is for them— don’t tell them

Share the “next” engagement opportunity based on their interests

Applause, Please

Young alumni show their Tech sprit when they share the accomplishments of others.

Not all affirmations are equal for this audience: Praise should be genuine, effusive, and slightly sentimental.

“Thank you, you were very helpful,” resonated more than “We did it.”

Applause, Please

6x more likely to complete the Young Alumni Council application when nominated by someone else than when self-nominated.

27% open rate when names of alumni who were part of the Mars mission were included in the newsletter.

Top categories that affect overall opinion of Tech:

Value/respect for degree Diverse/ inclusive environment School rankings

of (322) 40 Under 40 nominators were young alumni.

You have a winning process when young alumni raise their hands to participate through nominating and simple sign-ups.

Young alumni like to show their Georgia Tech pride by celebrating accomplishments of others in the community.

Be inclusive of them wanting to give shout-outs and praise their work when they volunteer and give. Do it as a “warm hug” versus a “pat on the back.”

Key Attributes

Shout out peers Celebrate Tech

Flatter me via my peers and I’ll respond