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.

Table of Contents PAGE 4

PAGE 22

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A Snapshot of Young Alumni

Theme 1: Care out loud

Theme 2: Chart my own path

PAGE 18

Theme 3: Grow forth

Theme 4: Thrill of the hunt

Theme 5: Applause, please

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 3500

18%

3000

16% 14%

2500 2000

17%

11%

13% 9%

1500 1000 500 0 1.a

20 - 29

30 - 39

40 - 49

50 - 59

60 - 69

70 - 79

80 - 89

90+

Data is representative of all alumni

Living Alumni by Age 45K

25%

40K 35K 30K

19% 18% 15%

25K

12%

20K 15K

10K 4%

5K 0K 1.b

20 - 29

30 - 39

40 - 49

Data is representative of all alumni

50 - 59

60 - 69

70 - 79

80 - 89

90+

Young Alumni by Country 88% USA

4% China

1% South Korea 1% France 2.a

3% India

Percent of Total Young Alumni Population

Young Alumni by State 52% Georgia

Young Alumni by City Atlanta 14%

5% Texas

Marietta 3%

Alpharetta 3%

Lawrenceville 2% Duluth 1%

3% Washington

8% California

4% Florida 2.b

Percent of Total Young Alumni Population

2.c

Percent of Total Young Alumni Population

Ranking of Qualities That Most Describe a GT Alumnus/Alumna Hard Working

45%

Problem Solver Resilient

27%

Intellectually Rigorous

19%

10%

55%

28%

21%

Analytical

3.a

48%

41%

Average Older Generations

31%

23%

20%

30%

Average Young Alumni

40%

50%

60%

Reasons to Participate in an Event 18%

of total majors offered were created since 2010 3.b

To have fun

To meet people in my area

To see friends/ network

3.c

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 Higher school ranking It’s the right thing to do

3.d

Not Important

Critically Important

Young Alumni Wishlist

Local Networks and Affinity Group Events

Career Services

Alumni-Student Mentoring Program

(Career Fair, advisement, online job board)

4 Reunions

5 Student Programming (SAA, Ambassadors, Student Foundation)

4.a

Loyalty: Older Generations vs. Young Alumni Georgia Tech in general

Average Young Alumni

My major or degree program My college/school within GT Student organization or activity I was associated with

Average Older Generations

GT Alumni Association

A faculty member or instructor GT Athletics Not Important

Critically Important

4.b

Organizations/Activities Young Alumni Were Involved in as Students

4.c

Barriers to Participating in Alumni Activities Time/other commitments

64%

Geographical distance 35%

19%

I don’t know anyone

28%

Value (cost as compared to benefit) of the event

24%

Type of subject matter of the event

33%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

FY20 Young Alumni

Young Alumni by College College of Business

10%

College of Computing

16% 4% 57%

College of Sciences

Ivan Allen College

5.b

34%

12% 10%

I won’t make a difference

College of Engineering

Average Older Generations

32% 32%

I don’t want to

College of Design

Average Young Alumni

45% 46%

Unsure of how to get involved

5.a

68%

Male (68%) 5.c

Female (32%)

24% of FY20 donors are young alumni

16% increase in study abroad from Older Generations to Young Alumni 6.a

6.b

Top Areas That Impact Overall Opinion of Georgia Tech 1.

Value/ respect for degree

A diverse and inclusive environment

School rankings

Accomplishments of students

Accomplishments of alumni

6.c

100%

65%

27%

of young alumni believe giving positively impacts the student experience and furthers the mission of GT 6.d

think that GT needs financial donations

24%

of young alumni who haven’t given to Roll Call plan to in the future, versus only 6% of older alumni

Care Out Loud

Mindset ReportAlumni Under 40

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.

62%

of last year’s registered mentors were young alumni.

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

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

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

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

Mindset ReportAlumni Under 40

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

65%

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

Snapshot of alumni under 40: 1.a, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 3.a, 3.c, 3.d

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.

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

Mindset ReportAlumni Under 40

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.

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

30% more young alumni attended the Blockchain Business Strategy and Applications seminar than general career events.

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

Mindset ReportAlumni Under 40

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Mindset ReportAlumni Under 40

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: #1

Value/respect for degree

Diverse/ inclusive environment

School rankings

30%

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

Accomplishments Accomplishments of students of alumni

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

Worksheet: Takeaways and Ideas Care Out Loud What are your initial reactions to this theme and information? Is there anything surprising?