Alumni Loyalty Program

Report

Jesseca Obayashi

Lucas Johnson

Rob Clifford

Introduction

CoBA’s Alumni Chapter is a fast-growing chapter of the CSUSM community, but there is still room to grow

both in terms of member numbers and engagement. This report will summarize our recommendations to

maximize the growth and subsequent participation of all of the CoBA Alumni Chapter’s members. We

propose a three-pronged approach, initially focusing on increased conversion of graduates into chapter

members, then an overall push not only to increase member’s attendance at CoBA events but also their

participation and engagement with the events themselves, and finally the implementation of strategies to

promote long-term excitement amongst the chapter members.

Focus 1: Increased retention of graduates

The biggest challenge faced by CSUSM is a function of its location: despite being in a fantastic and highly

liveable area of San Diego County, it is primarily a “commuter school”. In practice, this means that new

graduates from its business school are less likely to remain in the North County area after graduation,

instead either moving closer to the business hub of downtown San Diego, or elsewhere in the state or

country.

Our team believes this is the main factor that is holding back the growth of the CoBA alumni chapter, and

while little can be done regarding those graduates who move interstate or overseas, it is important to

increase the perceived attractiveness of the alumni chapter for those graduates who do decide to stay in

San Diego, even if they move closer to the city centre. To do this, we propose several additions to the

current program, including:

a) Increasing the number of benefits offered by CoBA to recent CSUSM graduates.

Currently, students receive 2 years of chapter membership for free upon graduating. In addition to

this, we propose that they are also provided with:

i. a ticket for the first paid CoBA event of the calendar year;

ii. a CSUSM CoBA Alumni Chapter decal to display on their car; and

iii. a QR code to download the CoBA Alumni Chapter application on their smartphone.

Fig. 1: The 3 further initial benefits to be offered to CSUSM graduates.

Explanation:

1. Complimentary ticket: we believe the cost of subsidising this ticket will, over time,

be offset by the increased retention of members paying their dues.

The principle of influence by reciprocity aligns with this idea of members reacting

positively to being afforded a complimentary benefit, while the principle of influence

by commitment supports the notion that members will be more likely to remain a

member of the chapter once they have committed to attending at least one event.

2. Decal: besides fostering pride in the school and in being a CSUSM alumnus, the

decal will also serve a practical purpose: attendees arriving to CoBA Alumni events in

a vehicle with an affixed decal will be provided with free parking.

3. App: the app will be developed at low or zero cost through working with CSUSM

Computer Science students as an extra credit option. Its functionality and features

are discussed in further detail below, under Focus 3: Increased long-term

excitement.

As well as these “signup bonuses”, we recommend the Chapter request that new members “like” the CoBA

Alumni Chapter group on Facebook, which will in turn add them to a database entitling them to a 10%

discount at the university store. This will crucially increase the Chapter’s online presence as well as

fostering university pride through school merchandise purchases.

b) Increase perceived value of Chapter membership to past graduates

We believe that there are CSUSM alumni in the Greater San Diego area who would benefit from Chapter

membership who are either unaware of its existence or unsure of the advantages that would be gained

from joining. We aim to change that by portraying joining and participating in the Chapter as a

worthwhile endeavour, with exposure to like-minded people with diverse business knowledge, numerous

social opportunities, and a real sense of belonging. There are multiple ways we suggest achieving this:

i. Use existing university database information to send out material informing all past

graduates of current CoBA activities and events, many of whom may have fallen out

of touch with the university since graduation;

ii. continued promotion of successful past events such as the Taste for Student Success,

specifically focusing on the social benefits. Many working professionals are familiar

with the difficulty of finding new friends and keeping old ones while juggling a

full-time career, and these events offer a pathway for these graduates to reconnect

with a new social circle - a solution to their issue.

ii. engaging CSUSM media students to attend CoBA events, take high-quality

photographs and video capturing attendees in a fun and relaxed environment, and

post the resulting media on CSUSM social media platforms, taking advantage of the

influence of social proof.

The current membership of CoBA’s Alumni chapter numbers around 500. We see no reason why this

number could not double over a 3-year period with our recommendations, as well as future adaptations.

Focus 2: Increased engagement of members

When looking at the “bigger picture” of alumni loyalty, the focus should be on member engagement just as

much as growth . Simply being a member is not sufficient to be successful - members should actively be

participating and engaging in, and contributing to events run by CoBA. While not everyone has the

charisma of Jim Hamerly, every alumnus will have something to contribute and we envision a Chapter

where this is encouraged.

To maximise this engagement. our team has come up with a loyalty-based reward program to pique the

alumni cohort’s interest and to get them to participate more deeply in all the events that are offered. The

program encompasses a variety of different aspects, all of which are tracked and recorded in a loyalty app.

The app works by setting up each member with a profile, where they can:

● View a calendar of all upcoming CoBA Alumni events at a glance, and RSVP/buy tickets to the paid

events

● Message other alumni members, view a short bio of every single alumnus, and allow exchange of

approved contact information.

● Record their loyalty points earned from attending events and participating, as follows:

○ 1 point for attending each event

○ Double points earned for buying a ticket and attending paid events

○ Chance to earn bonus points through various means (spinning the Wheel of Fortune,

assisting with events, etc.)

● Redeem their earned points for prizes or benefits, which may include:

○ Tickets to future CoBA events

○ Flippin Pizza voucher

○ Stone Brewing tour & tasting

○ Fallbrook Winery tasting & glass

○ eDriving Defensive Driving course (relevant to CSUSM’s notoriety as a commuter school!)

○ Name carved on a Brick at Kellogg Plaza

○ Sponsorship of a cougar at the San Diego Zoo

○ Season tickets to CSUSM Men's Basketball and Women’s Volleyball home games at the new

Sports Center

● Enter into our proposed Senior Experience raffle electronically

● View up-to-date announcements from the CoBA office

The app also indicates the tier of the program that the member has reached, with each tier being unlocked

as points are earned throughout the year by attending and engaging with events. The tier system is

discussed further under Focus 3: Long term excitement .

Member involvement - volunteering

Outside of the mobile app, we have developed ideas to increase the face-to-face interactions between CoBA

staff and the alumni members. Members may have different time commitments and schedules, but for

those who have more time to involve themselves, the possibility of asking them to commit time to helping

set up, manage, oversee and pack down events is a viable one. They could earn loyalty points and other

special recognition awards for doing so, while also reducing the cost to CoBA of running these events.

Contributing their broad expertise, equipment and knowledge will kill two birds with one stone: it will

increase engagement between these members and the chapter, and will make the events themselves more

affordable.

The idea of people feeling more attached to objects or things that they have put more time into is a

well-documented phenomenon known as the IKEA effect , and this is a manifestation of that.

Alumni Spotlight - adaptation

The Alumni Spotlight on the CoBA website is a fantastic idea, and we wish to adapt that idea and present it

more visibly. Each month, an alumni member is chosen by the CoBA staff with a particularly interesting,

unique or impressive vocation or skillset, and that person is then showcased at the next appropriate event

with a short presentation and asked to speak about their career or life to the attending group. Not only will

members learn more about each other as a cohort, but this allows for more potential business relationships

and friendships to be formed.

Focus 3: Increased long term excitement

Our loyalty program needs to be unique from others in that it generates legitimate excitement. The events

CoBA hold are fun and engaging, but the difficulty lies in how we can channel the excitement of members

into continuously attending various events. A loyalty program that is easy to use, creative, as well as

exciting, is the key to boosting the overall value of the alumni chapter.

Our plan to generate this excitement stems from a fixed/variable reward system that combines the best of

both worlds. As stated previously, the point system would be fixed by guaranteeing a single point for

attending, or two in the case of paid events. These would be allocated by simply checking in on the app

during the event. However, the aspect of excitement comes from adding the unknown variable of spinning

a virtual wheel for the potential to win more points(total of extra 1-3 pts), or a rare prize of special

recognition from CoBA in the form of free advertisement of their company, product, services, etc. in an

email to all alumni members (limited to one possible winner per event). These earned and bonus points go

towards a tiered status system that creates excitement and desire to continue to climb the ranks. The tiers

are as follows:

Tier 1: 0-10 pts is a “House Cat”

Tier 2: 11-20 pts is a “Wild Cat”

Tier 3: 21-30 pts is a “Jungle Cat”

Tier 4: 31-49 pts is a “Tukwut”

Tier 5: 50+ pts is an “Elite Cougar”

In addition, these tiers come with specific, custom fixed rewards :

Tier 1: 20% off one-time purchase of one item at university store.

Tier 2 : Exclusive early access to event information and 15% discount on tickets.

Tier 3: First in line status at annual BBQ

Tier 4: Personal handshake and photo with the Dean holding up a sign that says “Tukwut Pride!” to

be posted on alumni social media.

Tier 5: Personalized congratulations by CoBA and recognition on all forms of social media with

name listed and short bio. Updated car decal issued with “CSUSM Alumni Elite Cougar”

depicted. Priority parking at events. Invitation to CoBA AGM.

Fig. 3: Alumni tier logos.

To ensure continued attendance after reaching the ultimate status of “Elite Cougar” (or any status for that

matter) if the alumnus does not continue to attend events they would lose 2 points per event after lack of

attendance at three consecutive events.

Proposed budget breakdown

Budget: $500

The budget would almost entirely go toward the cost of developing and supporting the mobile app.

Additional funds left over can be allocated toward prizes to be earned through the tier system, hiring

photographers and videographers for major events, and subsiding the cost of the complimentary tickets

issued to new members.

Summary

A two-handed approach focusing on a) growth and b) engagement is the ideal way to grow the CoBA

Alumni Chapter into a unique, effective and impressive association that alumni are proud to be involved

with. The infrastructure is there, the school pride is there, and the attitude is there - all that remains is to

put our plan into action. We hope that you will take our team’s recommendations on board, and we look

forward to working with you to make the alumni program the best it can possibly be.