ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD RETREAT THE WELL February 10, …sacstatealumni.com/Attachments/Board Retreat Feb 2012.pdf · BALANCE SHEET Cash in the Bank $191,079 Investment (Merrill

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD RETREAT THE WELL

February 10, 2012

THEME: Commitment to the Future Sponsors: Jason Saslow, Bruce Hohenhaus, Lionel Rawlins, Mike Rizzo

AGENDA

Time Item Facilitator 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Welcome and social time

(continental breakfast available)

9:00 a.m. Meeting called to order Rebecca Gardner

9:05 – 9:30 a.m. Business Meeting · See attached agenda

Rebecca Gardner

9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Strategic Audit Review · MBA students present report overview · Q & A

Rob Allen/Rebecca Gardner

10:00 – 10:30 a.m. Strategic Audit Discussion Groups · Questions

Facilitators: · Rebecca · Rob · Jennifer

10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Next Steps · Each group shares the top three priorities

from the Strategic Audit that emerged in discussion

Rob Allen/Rebecca Gardner

11:00 a.m.– 12:15 p.m. Board Activity · Make sure to wear walking shoes and weather

appropriate outerwear.

Rebecca Gardner

12:15-1:30 p.m. Meet your Alumni Chapter Leaders— University Union Restaurant

· Lunch Program: Introduction to Chapter Ambassador/Liaison Program

Margot Bach

1:30 p.m. Adjourn Rebecca Gardner

1

BOARD MEETING AGENDA Friday, February 11, 2011

9:00-9:30 a.m.

Retreat Hosts: Jason Saslow, Bruce Hohenhaus, Lionel Rawlins, Mike Rizzo 8:30 a.m. Casual breakfast buffet and social time

9:00 a.m. 1) Welcome and Meeting Called to Order

9:05 a.m. 2) ACTION: Consent Items

a) Approval of 12/5/11 Board Meeting Minutes (Attachment 1) b) Acceptance of November Financial Reports (Attachment 2) c) Acceptance of December Financial Reports (Attachment 3)

9:15 a.m. 3) Executive Director’s Report (Barber) a) Alumni Campaign Update

9:20 a.m. 4) President’s Report (Gardner)

(a) DSA Auction Items (b) Other

9:30 a.m. Business Meeting Adjournment 9:30 a.m. Retreat Continues

2

BOARD MEETING MINUTES Monday, December 5, 2011

Board Members Attending: John Abbott, Kimo Ah Yun, Robert Allen, Margot Bach, John Barney, Joan Carnago, Matt Cologna, Jeanie Esajian, Eva Gabbe, Rebecca Gardner, Daniel Hahn, Carole Hayashino, Chris Higdon, Bruce Hohenhaus, Mike Rizzo, Marco Rodriguez, Dan Schauer, Nancy Tooker Board Members Absent: Laura Gonzalez, Eric Guerra, Janet Hecsh, Penny Kastanis, Bob Moreno, Lionel Rawlins, Sharon Sanders Krause, Jason Saslow, Sam Starks Others Attending: Jennifer Barber, Hannah Kook, Laura Stuebe, Michelle Madrigal, Adriana Valencia, Merisa Moy

1) Meeting called to order and Welcome 2) President’s Report (Gardner)

a. By-laws are being reviewed. b. Marketing Plan – Draft report of MBA students will be discussed at the upcoming Board

Retreat. c. Distributed packets of alumni stickers with tally sheets to Directors to use in an outreach

effort. 3) VP Advancement Report (Hayashino)

a. Vice President David Wagner is retiring after 37 years at Sac State. b. The Alumni Association Campaign continues. c. Carole Hayashino is retiring from Sac State. d. Vince Sales will be the interim VP of Advancement.

4) ACTION: Consent Items MOTION: To approve minutes of 10/10/11 Board Meeting: Matt Cologna

Second: Chris Higdon All in favor. PASSED.

5) ACTION Items MOTION: To approve amended Investment Policy: Dan Schauer

Second: John Abbott All in favor. PASSED. MOTION: To approve allocation of chapter funds: Dan Schauer

Second: Matt Cologna All in favor. PASSED.

6) Executive Director’s Report (Barber) a. RSVP’s are still coming in for the SAA Mocktail Party. b. The President’s Holiday Open House is next Tuesday. c. Pat Burke is retiring from the University. d. We assume Bob Moreno is doing well, he has been seen “out and about”. e. Recruitment for our membership/marketing person is moving forward. f. Twenty-one DSA nominations were received. Nominations closed on November 14. The

Selection Committee met this week and nominees are being called. Think about auction items for this year’s DSA auction.

DRAFT

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g. Alumni Campaign – the Campaign Executive Committee will meet in again in January. Discussing broader board involvement in the campaign.

h. Advocacy – alumni are encouraged to get involved and remind the Governor about the importance of higher education.

7) Committee Reports a. Finance Committee (Schauer)

· MOTION: To accept Sept. & Oct. Financial Reports: Joan Carnago Second: Bruce Hohenhaus

All in favor. PASSED. · Liberty Mutual – We have been partners for about five years and are guaranteed a

minimum of $70K year through our partnership. We sent them a proposal for them to increase their sponsorship to 12k a year.

· The Center budget is on track and expenses are within the budget. b. Membership and Fund Development Committee (Cologna)

· Looking for synergies between alumni who have contacts with the bank, construction, health and food industries and possible membership and sponsorship opportunities.

c. Chapters & Alumni Development Committee (Kook for Bach) · Reviewing chapter section of By-laws. · Working on a plan to enhance relations between chapter leaders and Board.

o Ambassador program – Board members would serve as liaisons to chapters. o Looking to add quarterly message from the President of the Board and the Executive

Director. o Chapter leaders invited to Board Retreat lunch to get to know the Board.

d. Scholarship Committee (Abbott) · Solicitation letters are being mailed. · Membership for recipients in SAA is being discussed. · Sub-group of DSA auction fundraising committee will meet on February 6.

e. Nominating Committee (Higdon) · Committee met in November and reviewed term limits.

8) Alumni Council Report (Esajian) · The Alumni Council has not met recently. · The tuition increase is an issue.

9) Other Reports · ASI President (Gonzalez)

o Working to put together a Farmers’ Market on campus and are currently running a survey to gauge student response as well as determine the best way to structure the farmers’ market for the benefit of the most students.

o Sac State won the Causeway Classic Blood Drive this year and we received the award at the Causeway Classic Game.

o Received news on Saturday of the death of ASI Alumni Shaun Lumachi. Mr. Lumachi, during his time at Sacramento State, was chair of California State Student Association, President of ASI Board and member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.

10) Student leaders of the Student Alumni Association and Student Advancement Council gave a presentation on their programs.

11) New Business/Meeting Feedback a. Retreat at The Well on February 10 b. Next Meeting: February 10, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

7:38 p.m. Meeting Adjournment

4

BALANCE SHEET

Cash in the Bank $191,079

Investment (Merrill Lynch) $245,126

Scholarships $43,188 Foundation Account

A/P - Scholarship Account $110

A/P - Investment Account $583

Chapter Savings $2,955

PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT

P&L YTD % of Annual

Budget Annual Budget

11/30/2011TOTAL REVENUE $7,510 $151,244 63.62% $237,713

TOTAL EXPENSES $6,589 $44,512 25.70% $173,190

NET PROFIT/LOSS $921 $106,733 165.42% $64,523

Notes:

1. Membership Dues/Income are down -10.28% from Budgeted YTD Avg $49,704.172. Actual expenses are down 38.32% from Budgeted YTD Exp $72,162.503. Finance committee has approved a $75,000 transfer from surplus cash in checking account to the Investment account in Merrill Lynch.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION - FINANCIAL STATEMENTSSUMMARY OF

November 30, 2011

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SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Profit & Loss Budget Performance

November 2011

Nov 11 Jul - Nov 11 % of Budget Annual BudgetOrdinary Income/Expense

Income2230 · MEMBERSHIP INCOME

2231 · MEMBERSHIP DUES 8,727.50 44,592.50 37.38% 119,290.002233 · LIFE DUES-RESTRICTED M/L 582.50 8,077.50 37.29% 21,662.002234 · DUES TO CHAPTERS (1,920.00) (6,730.00) 44.02% (15,289.00)

Total 2230 · MEMBERSHIP INCOME 7,390.00 45,940.00 36.56% 125,663.00

2238 · PROGRAM RECEIPTS 37.00 5,596.00 22.38% 25,000.002243 · NON DUES REVENUE 0.00 86,487.00 176.68% 48,950.002244 · GIFTS/GRANTS 100.00 300.00 25.0% 1,200.002248 · SPONSORSHIP 0.00 12,660.00 37.24% 34,000.002255 · INTEREST INCOME 43.28 517.93 21.58% 2,400.002268 · UNREALIZED GAIN/LOSS INVESTMENT (60.25) (256.66) (51.33%) 500.00

Total Income 7,510.03 151,244.27 63.63% 237,713.00

Gross Profit 7,510.03 151,244.27 63.63% 237,713.00

Expense4100 · GENERAL OPERATIONS

4105 · Credit Card/Bank Fees 427.77 1,308.27 30.43% 4,300.004107 · Insurance 0.00 3,520.65 97.8% 3,600.004112 · Supplies 353.32 1,416.94 27.25% 5,200.004114 · Telephone 210.52 1,281.52 45.77% 2,800.004125 · Salaries 1,090.00 6,405.06 39.78% 16,100.004126 · Benefits 0.00 0.00 0.004128 · Equipment Expense 0.00 0.00 0.0% 3,350.004130 · Repairs & Maint. 0.00 0.00 0.0% 250.004131 · Miscellaneous Ops (700.00) (700.00) (233.33%) 300.004132 · Committee Meetings 12.68 36.68 18.34% 200.00

Total 4100 · GENERAL OPERATIONS 1,394.29 13,269.12 36.76% 36,100.00

4160 · PROGRAM EXPENSES4162 · Facilities Fee 0.00 326.40 56.28% 580.004163 · Floral/Decorations 438.75 726.22 24.74% 2,935.004164 · Food Service 738.16 3,605.76 14.69% 24,550.004165 · Professional Services 426.94 1,528.94 23.7% 6,450.004166 · Signage 300.29 968.85 23.63% 4,100.004167 · Reimburseable Purchases 0.00 900.00 50.0% 1,800.00

Total 4160 · PROGRAM EXPENSES 1,904.14 8,056.17 19.93% 40,415.00

4170 · MARKETING PROMOTIONS4171 · Membership Premium Items 0.00 6,496.30 70.61% 9,200.004172 · Merchandise/Promo/Giveaways 0.00 50.23 1.03% 4,900.00

6


November 2011

Nov 11 Jul - Nov 11 % of Budget Annual Budget

Total 4170 · MARKETING PROMOTIONS 0.00 6,546.53 46.43% 14,100.00

4180 · PROFESSIONAL CONF./AFFILIATIONS4183 · Professional Development 0.00 125.00 25.0% 500.00

Total 4180 · PROFESSIONAL CONF./AFFILIATI 0.00 125.00 25.0% 500.00

4190 · EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS4191 · Mail House Services 0.00 0.00 0.0% 5,000.004192 · Printing 766.64 7,102.12 25.05% 28,350.004193 · Postage 89.91 3,225.51 13.15% 24,525.004194 · Interactive Website 0.00 119.70 3.19% 3,750.004198 · Advertising 0.00 0.00 0.0% 1,000.004199 · Photcopier 208.65 633.30 42.22% 1,500.00

Total 4190 · EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS 1,065.20 11,080.63 17.28% 64,125.00

4200 · TRAVEL4201 · Travel - Meetings & Events 0.00 2,221.56 28.12% 7,900.004203 · Travel - Professional Develop 0.00 550.00 84.62% 650.004204 · Travel - Business Meals 0.00 127.50 9.11% 1,400.00

Total 4200 · TRAVEL 0.00 2,899.06 29.14% 9,950.00

4230 · HONORS/STEWARDSHIP4231 · Awards 0.00 225.00 18.75% 1,200.004232 · Stewardship 300.00 300.00 30.0% 1,000.004233 · Sponsorships/Grants 0.00 0.00 0.0% 3,500.00

Total 4230 · HONORS/STEWARDSHIP 300.00 525.00 9.21% 5,700.00

4250 · OTHER EXPENSES4252 · Investment Fee 150.00 150.00 300.0% 50.004254 · Tax/Audit Fees 1,775.00 1,860.00 103.33% 1,800.004255 · Miscellaneous (discretionary) 0.00 0.00 0.0% 450.00

Total 4250 · OTHER EXPENSES 1,925.00 2,010.00 87.39% 2,300.00

Total Expense 6,588.63 44,511.51 25.7% 173,190.00

Net Ordinary Income 921.40 106,732.76 165.42% 64,523.00

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SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Balance Sheet

As of November 30, 2011

ASSETSCurrent Assets

Checking/Savings1000 · GEN.CHKG. (RIVER CITY) 191,078.63

Total Checking/Savings 191,078.63

Other Current Assets1100 · Investments 245,125.571103 · Chapter Account 117,934.731250 · A/R Alumni Center 17,285.541310 · Prepaid Postage 3,284.201510 · Inventory of Kondos Prints 2,478.33

Total Other Current Assets 386,108.37

Total Current Assets 577,187.00

TOTAL ASSETS 577,187.00

LIABILITIES & EQUITYLiabilities

Current LiabilitiesOther Current Liabilities

2101 · A/P Scholarship Acct/Fnd 110.002102 · A/P Investment Account 582.502103 · A/P Chapter Savings 2,955.002303 · A/P CSUS 11-12 2,813.432900 · Chapter Funds 117,934.73

Total Other Current Liabilities 124,395.66

Total Current Liabilities 124,395.66

Total Liabilities 124,395.66

Equity3000 · Opening Bal Equity 193,893.353900 · Retained Earnings 152,165.23Net Income 106,732.76

Total Equity 452,791.34

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 577,187.00

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BALANCE SHEET

Cash in the Bank 45,639$

Merrill Lynch Investment Acct 74,570$

Accounts Receivable 34,474$ Receivables are -44% down from October 2011

Loan Balance $452,992 Paid ($17,105.84.) Oct 2011. Next Payment due in Jan 2012


P&L YTD % of


11/30/2011

REVENUE $8,499 $56,831 36.61% $155,250

EXPENSES $20,174 $98,349 38.52% $255,333

Net Income/Loss -$11,675 -$41,519 41.48% -$100,083

Record of Changes:

Notes:

1. Rental Income is down -7.48% from YTD Budgeted Income of $56,2502. Expenses are down 7.56% from YTD Budgeted Income of $106,3893. $40,000 was transferred from Investments to Checking for cash flow purposes. The $40,000 was received last year's Affinity money.

ALUMNI CENTER - FINANCIAL STATEMENTS November 30, 2011

SUMMARY OF

9

SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI CENTER Profit & Loss Budget Performance

November 2011

Nov 11 Jul - Nov 11 % of Budget Annual Budget

Ordinary Income/Expense

Income

Catering Income 0.00 0.00 0.0% 7,500.00

Dance Floor/Equipment Rental 1,152.00 4,453.00 37.11% 12,000.00

Interest-Investments 13.92 134.49 22.42% 600.00

Miscellaneous Income 0.00 0.00 0.0% 150.00

Rental Income 7,332.65 52,043.25 38.55% 135,000.00

Security Deposit Forfeited 0.00 200.00 40.0% 500.00

Unrealized Gains/Losses 0.00 0.00 0.0% -500.00

Total Income 8,498.57 56,830.74 36.61% 155,250.00

Gross Profit 8,498.57 56,830.74 36.61% 155,250.00

Expense

Advertising/Promo Materials 100.00 1,038.65 13.85% 7,500.00

Bank (Credit Card) Fees 21.60 437.64 43.76% 1,000.00

Contract Services 568.65 3,363.69 36.56% 9,200.00

Decorations 0.00 0.00 0.0% 250.00

Depreciation 6,846.68 34,233.40 41.65% 82,203.00

Equipment 0.00 0.00 0.0% 250.00

Equipment/Linen Rental-Client 202.57 836.14 23.89% 3,500.00

Insurance 157.99 791.29 41.65% 1,900.00

Interest Expenses 0.00 14,044.66 51.11% 27,480.00

Investment Fee 50.00 50.00 100.0% 50.00

Janitorial 2,316.00 6,204.00 41.36% 15,000.00

Landscaping 730.00 3,650.00 41.48% 8,800.00

Miscellaneous 0.00 175.00 35.0% 500.00

Postage 0.00 5.48 1.37% 400.00

Repair & Maintenance 0.00 348.30 2.79% 12,500.00

Salaries 5,891.50 24,931.15 42.62% 58,500.00

Benefits 533.78 2,135.12 19.41% 11,000.00

Supplies 9.86 51.02 3.4% 1,500.00

Tax Preparation 1,775.00 1,775.00 110.94% 1,600.00

Travel 0.00 0.00 0.0% 200.00

Utilities 970.41 4,278.90 35.66% 12,000.00

Total Expense 20,174.04 98,349.44 38.52% 255,333.00

Net Ordinary Income -11,675.47 -41,518.70 41.48% -100,083.00

Net Income -11,675.47 -41,518.70 41.48% -100,083.00

10

SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI CENTER Balance Sheet

As of November 30, 2011


Checking/SavingsChecking 45,639.49


Accounts Receivable*Accounts Receivable 34,474.30

Total Accounts Receivable 34,474.30

Other Current AssetsInvestment 74,569.93



Fixed AssetsBuilding 3,167,840.01

Accumulated Deprec-Building -912,348.16

Furniture/Fixtures/Equipment 145,695.37Accum Depreciation - FFE -143,089.48

Total Fixed Assets 2,258,097.74

Other AssetsPrepaid Expenses 3,151.43

Total Other Assets 3,151.43

TOTAL ASSETS 2,415,932.89



A/P CSUS 11-12 4,097.33

Accrued Vacation 162.44

Deferred Revenue 3,253.60

A/P Association 17,385.54

Security Deposit 6,250.00Unearned Revenue 22,827.90



Long Term LiabilitiesLoan 452,992.47

Total Long Term Liabilities 452,992.47


EquityOpening Bal Equity -280.24

Retained Earnings 1,950,762.55Net Income -41,518.70

Total Equity 1,908,963.61

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 2,415,932.89

11

BALANCE SHEET

Cash in the Bank $146,785

Investment (Merrill Lynch) $297,280

Scholarships $44,998 Foundation Account

A/P - Scholarship Account $35

A/P - Investment Account $2,148

Chapter Savings $1,485


P&L YTD % of Annual


12/31/2011TOTAL REVENUE $12,133 $163,378 68.73% $237,713

TOTAL EXPENSES $3,233 $47,744 27.57% $173,190

NET PROFIT/LOSS $8,900 $115,633 179.21% $64,523

Notes:

1. Membership Dues/Income are down -6.94% from Budgeted YTD Avg $59,645.002. Actual expenses are down 44.86% from Budgeted YTD Exp $86,595.003. Finance committee has approved a $75,000 transfer from surplus cash in checking account to the Investment account in Merrill Lynch.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION - FINANCIAL STATEMENTSSUMMARY OF

December 31, 2011

12


December 2011

Dec 11 Jul - Dec 11 % of Budget Annual BudgetOrdinary Income/Expense

Income2230 · MEMBERSHIP INCOME

2231 · MEMBERSHIP DUES 10,912.50 55,505.00 46.53% 119,290.002233 · LIFE DUES-RESTRICTED M/L 2,147.50 10,225.00 47.2% 21,662.002234 · DUES TO CHAPTERS (1,485.00) (8,215.00) 53.73% (15,289.00)

Total 2230 · MEMBERSHIP INCOME 11,575.00 57,515.00 45.77% 125,663.00

2238 · PROGRAM RECEIPTS 535.00 6,131.00 24.52% 25,000.002243 · NON DUES REVENUE 0.00 86,487.00 176.68% 48,950.002244 · GIFTS/GRANTS 0.00 300.00 25.0% 1,200.002248 · SPONSORSHIP 0.00 12,660.00 37.24% 34,000.002255 · INTEREST INCOME 43.73 561.66 23.4% 2,400.002268 · UNREALIZED GAIN/LOSS INVESTM (20.45) (277.11) (55.42%) 500.00

Total Income 12,133.28 163,377.55 68.73% 237,713.00

Gross Profit 12,133.28 163,377.55 68.73% 237,713.00

Expense4100 · GENERAL OPERATIONS

4105 · Credit Card/Bank Fees 391.79 1,700.06 39.54% 4,300.004107 · Insurance 0.00 3,520.65 97.8% 3,600.004112 · Supplies 112.48 1,529.42 29.41% 5,200.004114 · Telephone 191.16 1,472.68 52.6% 2,800.004125 · Salaries 1,030.00 7,435.06 46.18% 16,100.004126 · Benefits 0.00 0.00 0.004128 · Equipment Expense 0.00 0.00 0.0% 3,350.004130 · Repairs & Maint. 0.00 0.00 0.0% 250.004131 · Miscellaneous Ops 0.00 (700.00) (233.33%) 300.004132 · Committee Meetings 10.95 47.63 23.82% 200.00

Total 4100 · GENERAL OPERATIONS 1,736.38 15,005.50 41.57% 36,100.00

4160 · PROGRAM EXPENSES4162 · Facilities Fee 190.00 516.40 89.03% 580.004163 · Floral/Decorations 110.98 837.20 28.53% 2,935.004164 · Food Service 319.06 3,924.82 15.99% 24,550.004165 · Professional Services 0.00 1,528.94 23.7% 6,450.004166 · Signage 0.00 968.85 23.63% 4,100.004167 · Reimburseable Purchases 0.00 900.00 50.0% 1,800.00

Total 4160 · PROGRAM EXPENSES 620.04 8,676.21 21.47% 40,415.00

4170 · MARKETING PROMOTIONS4171 · Membership Premium Items 0.00 6,496.30 70.61% 9,200.004172 · Merchandise/Promo/Giveaways 283.90 334.13 6.82% 4,900.00

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December 2011

Dec 11 Jul - Dec 11 % of Budget Annual Budget

Total 4170 · MARKETING PROMOTIONS 283.90 6,830.43 48.44% 14,100.00

4180 · PROFESSIONAL CONF./AFFILIATIONS4183 · Professional Development 40.00 165.00 33.0% 500.00

Total 4180 · PROFESSIONAL CONF./AFFILI 40.00 165.00 33.0% 500.00

4190 · EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS4191 · Mail House Services 0.00 0.00 0.0% 5,000.004192 · Printing 0.00 7,102.12 25.05% 28,350.004193 · Postage 438.33 3,663.84 14.94% 24,525.004194 · Interactive Website 0.00 119.70 3.19% 3,750.004198 · Advertising 0.00 0.00 0.0% 1,000.004199 · Photcopier 94.50 727.80 48.52% 1,500.00

Total 4190 · EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION 532.83 11,613.46 18.11% 64,125.00

4200 · TRAVEL4201 · Travel - Meetings & Events 0.00 2,221.56 28.12% 7,900.004203 · Travel - Professional Develop 0.00 550.00 84.62% 650.004204 · Travel - Business Meals 0.00 127.50 9.11% 1,400.00

Total 4200 · TRAVEL 0.00 2,899.06 29.14% 9,950.00

4230 · HONORS/STEWARDSHIP4231 · Awards 0.00 225.00 18.75% 1,200.004232 · Stewardship 0.00 300.00 30.0% 1,000.004233 · Sponsorships/Grants 0.00 0.00 0.0% 3,500.00

Total 4230 · HONORS/STEWARDSHIP 0.00 525.00 9.21% 5,700.00

4250 · OTHER EXPENSES4252 · Investment Fee 0.00 150.00 300.0% 50.004254 · Tax/Audit Fees 0.00 1,860.00 103.33% 1,800.004255 · Miscellaneous (discretionary) 20.00 20.00 4.44% 450.00

Total 4250 · OTHER EXPENSES 20.00 2,030.00 88.26% 2,300.00

Total Expense 3,233.15 47,744.66 27.57% 173,190.00

Net Ordinary Income 8,900.13 115,632.89 179.21% 64,523.00

14

SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2011


Checking/Savings1000 · GEN.CHKG. (RIVER CITY) 146,785.14


Other Current Assets1100 · Investments 297,279.751103 · Chapter Account 117,582.061250 · A/R Alumni Center 17,285.541310 · Prepaid Postage 3,284.201510 · Inventory of Kondos Prints 2,478.33



TOTAL ASSETS 584,695.02



2101 · A/P Scholarship Acct/Fnd 35.002102 · A/P Investment Account 2,147.502103 · A/P Chapter Savings 1,485.002303 · A/P CSUS 11-12 1,753.992900 · Chapter Funds 117,582.06




Equity3000 · Opening Bal Equity 193,893.353900 · Retained Earnings 152,165.23Net Income 115,632.89

Total Equity 461,691.47

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 584,695.02

15

BALANCE SHEET

Cash in the Bank 38,397$

Merrill Lynch Investment Acct 74,582$

Accounts Receivable 53,169$ Receivables are 54% up from November 2011

Loan Balance $452,992 Paid ($17,105.84.) Oct 2011. Next Payment due in Jan 2012


P&L YTD % of


12/31/2011

REVENUE $13,442 $70,273 45.26% $155,250

EXPENSES $19,222 $117,571 46.05% $255,333

Net Income/Loss -$5,780 -$47,298 47.26% -$100,083

Record of Changes:

Notes:

1. Rental Income is down -14.71% from YTD Budgeted Income of $67,5002. Expenses are down 7.91% from YTD Budgeted Income of $127,6673. $40,000 was transferred from Investments to Checking for cash flow purposes. The $40,000 was received last year's Affinity money.

ALUMNI CENTER - FINANCIAL STATEMENTS December 31, 2011

SUMMARY OF

16

SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI CENTER Profit & Loss Budget Performance

December 2011

Dec 11 Jul - Dec 11 % of Budget Annual Budget

Ordinary Income/Expense

Income

Catering Income 0.00 0.00 0.0% 7,500.00

Dance Floor/Equipment Rental 458.00 4,911.00 40.93% 12,000.00

Interest-Investments 13.02 147.51 24.59% 600.00

Miscellaneous Income 120.00 120.00 80.0% 150.00

Rental Income 12,851.15 64,894.40 48.07% 135,000.00

Security Deposit Forfeited 0.00 200.00 40.0% 500.00

Unrealized Gains/Losses 0.00 0.00 0.0% -500.00

Total Income 13,442.17 70,272.91 45.26% 155,250.00

Gross Profit 13,442.17 70,272.91 45.26% 155,250.00

Expense

Advertising/Promo Materials 100.00 1,138.65 15.18% 7,500.00

Bank (Credit Card) Fees 73.77 511.41 51.14% 1,000.00

Contract Services 626.16 3,989.85 43.37% 9,200.00

Decorations 0.00 0.00 0.0% 250.00

Depreciation 6,846.68 41,080.08 49.97% 82,203.00

Equipment 0.00 0.00 0.0% 250.00

Equipment/Linen Rental-Client 224.12 1,060.26 30.29% 3,500.00

Insurance 157.99 949.28 49.96% 1,900.00

Interest Expenses 0.00 14,044.66 51.11% 27,480.00

Investment Fee 0.00 50.00 100.0% 50.00

Janitorial 882.29 7,086.29 47.24% 15,000.00

Landscaping 730.00 4,380.00 49.77% 8,800.00

Miscellaneous 0.00 175.00 35.0% 500.00

Postage 0.44 5.92 1.48% 400.00

Repair & Maintenance 19.57 367.87 2.94% 12,500.00

Salaries 8,289.57 33,220.72 56.79% 58,500.00

Benefits 533.78 2,668.90 24.26% 11,000.00

Supplies 0.00 51.02 3.4% 1,500.00

Tax Preparation 0.00 1,775.00 110.94% 1,600.00

Travel 0.00 0.00 0.0% 200.00

Utilities 737.48 5,016.38 41.8% 12,000.00

Total Expense 19,221.85 117,571.29 46.05% 255,333.00

Net Ordinary Income -5,779.68 -47,298.38 47.26% -100,083.00

Net Income -5,779.68 -47,298.38 47.26% -100,083.00

17

SACRAMENTO STATE ALUMNI CENTER Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2011

ASSETS

Current Assets

Checking/SavingsChecking 38,397.32


Accounts Receivable*Accounts Receivable 53,169.05

Total Accounts Receivable 53,169.05

Other Current AssetsInvestment 74,582.12



Fixed Assets

Building 3,167,840.01

Accumulated Deprec-Building -919,117.04

Furniture/Fixtures/Equipment 145,695.37

Accum Depreciation - FFE -143,167.28

Total Fixed Assets 2,251,251.06

Other AssetsPrepaid Expenses 2,521.90

Total Other Assets 2,521.90

TOTAL ASSETS 2,419,921.45

LIABILITIES & EQUITY

Liabilities

Current Liabilities

Other Current Liabilities

A/P CSUS 11-12 1,286.17

Accrued Vacation 257.94

Deferred Revenue 4,286.60

A/P Association 17,385.54

Security Deposit 6,500.00

Unearned Revenue 41,352.30



Long Term LiabilitiesLoan 452,992.47

Total Long Term Liabilities 452,992.47


Equity

Opening Bal Equity -280.24

Retained Earnings 1,950,762.55

Net Income -54,621.88

Total Equity 1,895,860.43

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 2,419,921.45

18

CURRENT 2010-11 CURRENT 2010-11New Recent Grad 223 91 Recent Grad 1693 1366New Members - Annual 12 10 Annual 841 969New Members - Annual Joint 2 2 Annual Joint 204 240New Student 1 5 Student 241 162New Staff Members 0 0 Staff 31 45Renewals - Annual 14 75 5-year Individual 21 25Renewals - Annual Joint 2 22 Complimentary 1 1Renewals - Students 0 0 Total Annual 3032 2808Renew Staff Member 0 2 Life 1938 1861Reinstates after 60 days** 7 19 Life Joint 640 625New Life Member 11 9 Honorary Life 8 8New Life Member/Joint 4 10 Total Life 2586 2494Monthly Total 276 245 TOTAL MEMBERS 5618 5302

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP TOTAL

NOVEMBER 2011: Month to Month Comparison

CUMULATIVE MEMBERSHIP TOTALS

NOVEMBER 2011: Month to Month Comparison

JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNMembers 2010-2011 5173 5156 5093 5220 5302 5303 5328 5308 5408 5549 5627 5526Members 2011-2012 5591 5575 5550 5528 5618

4800

5000

5200

5400

5600

5800

Members 2010-2011

Members 2011-2012

19

CURRENT 2010-11 CURRENT 2010-11

New Recent Grad 64 25 Recent Grad 1647 1379

New Members - Annual 9 4 Annual 829 961

New Members - Annual Joint 2 0 Annual Joint 200 232

New Student 0 0 Student 241 162

New Staff Members 0 1 Staff 31 43

Renewals - Annual 65 19 5-year Individual 19 25

Renewals - Annual Joint 26 8 Complimentary 1 1

Renewals - Students 0 0 Total Annual 2968 2803

Renew Staff Member 1 0 Life 1949 1866

Reinstates after 60 days** 11 8 Life Joint 643 626

New Life Member 11 6 Honorary Life 8 8

New Life Member/Joint 0 2 Total Life 2600 2500

Monthly Total 189 73 TOTAL MEMBERS 5568 5303

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP TOTAL

DECEMBER 2011: Month to Month Comparison

CUMULATIVE MEMBERSHIP TOTALS

DECEMBER 2011: Month to Month Comparison

JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN

Members 2010-2011 5173 5156 5093 5220 5302 5303 5328 5308 5408 5549 5627 5526

Members 2011-2012 5591 5575 5550 5528 5618 5568

4800

5000

5200

5400

5600

5800

Members 2010-2011

Members 2011-2012

20

Strategic Audit:

Sacramento State Alumni Association

By

Cary Schroeder Carlos Romero Derick Brickner

Patty Leung Sean Harris

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1

Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3

I. Current Situation ........................................................................................................................................ 4

A. Current Performance ............................................................................................................................ 4

B. Strategic Posture ................................................................................................................................... 5

Mission Statement ................................................................................................................................ 5

Current Strategies ................................................................................................................................. 5

II. Corporate Governance .............................................................................................................................. 6

A. Board of Directors ................................................................................................................................. 6

Executive Officers.................................................................................................................................. 7

Board Members .................................................................................................................................... 7

B. Top Management .................................................................................................................................. 8

III. External Environment: Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) .................................................................... 8

A. Natural Physical Environment: Sustainability Issues ............................................................................ 8

B. Societal Environment ............................................................................................................................ 8

Economic ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Technological ........................................................................................................................................ 9

Political – Legal .................................................................................................................................... 10

Sociocultural........................................................................................................................................ 11

C. Task Environment ............................................................................................................................... 11

D. Summary of External Factors (EFAS Table) ......................................................................................... 13

IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses (SWOT) .................................................................. 13

A. Corporate Structure ............................................................................................................................ 13

B. Corporate Culture ............................................................................................................................... 14

C. Corporate Resources ........................................................................................................................... 14

Marketing ............................................................................................................................................ 14

Finance ................................................................................................................................................ 15

Research and Development (R&D) ..................................................................................................... 16

Operations, Human Resources, and Information Technology (IT) ..................................................... 16

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D. Internal Factors Analysis Summary (See IFAS Table Below) ............................................................... 17

V. Analysis of Strategic Factors (SWOT) ...................................................................................................... 18

A. Strategic Factor Analysis Summary (See SFAS Table Below) .............................................................. 18

B. Review of Mission and Objectives ...................................................................................................... 20

VI. Recommendations and Implementation ............................................................................................... 20

A. Recommendations and Strategies ...................................................................................................... 20

Priority 1: Product Improvement ........................................................................................................ 21

Priority 2: Improved Internal Efficiency .............................................................................................. 23

Priority 3: Increased Marketing and Communication ......................................................................... 24

VII. Evaluation and Control ......................................................................................................................... 28

Analysis Tables ............................................................................................................................................ 29

Appendices .................................................................................................................................................. 32

Appendix 1: Financial Statements Ending June 30, 2008 ................................................................... 32




Appendix 5: Bylaws June 2009 ............................................................................................................ 78

Appendix 6: 2010 and 2011 Calendar of Events from the SSA Website ............................................. 97

Appendix 7: Board of Directors ......................................................................................................... 104

Appendix 8: US, CA, and Sacramento Region Unemployment Graphs Slide .................................... 108

Appendix 9: Employment of Recent College Grads Slide ................................................................. 109

Appendix 10: Organization Chart ...................................................................................................... 110

Appendix 11: Alumni Attitudes Presentation of Results 2008 (Slides 33 & 34) ............................... 111

Appendix 12: Tech Soup Programs Eligible Program List and Qualification Form ........................... 112

Appendix 13: EFT Information .......................................................................................................... 114

Appendix 14: About Metro Edge ...................................................................................................... 118

Appendix 15: Active 20/30 Overview ............................................................................................... 118

Works Cited ............................................................................................................................................... 121

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Executive Summary The Sacramento State Alumni Association (SSAA) is a non-profit organization that works to keep graduates of Sacramento State connected to the school. The organization has earned surplus revenues for three consecutive years (2009, 2010 and 2011). However, the SSAA is currently seeing a net loss as the organization is no longer participating in the Affinity credit card program, which was a large source of income for the organization. Now, the SSAA hopes to generate additional revenues through increased membership. The following is a strategic audit of the SSAA in regards to its internal strength/weaknesses and external environmental factors. The strategic audit will conclude with recommendations and steps the organization can take to increase membership.

Through research, we found the internal strengths of the SSAA come from its small size, good relationship with Sacramento State, leadership, and strong brand equity of being the Alumni Association for Sacramento State. The small size allows the SSAA to be flexible and to allow fast implementation of new strategies, while its strong relationship with Sacramento State helps garner support and funding. The organization boasts an active Board of Directors and an Executive Director that combines experience and a network of connections. In addition, the brand equity associated with Sacramento State in the Sacramento area is a strong point for the association in promoting itself and developing partnerships with local organizations. Internal weaknesses come from the SSAA’s small number of staff, outdated or lack of formal objectives, and weak marketing of the value proposition in becoming an alumni association member.

With regards to the external environment, we identified socioeconomic factors that the SSAA can take advantage of, as well as some factors that could pose a threat to the organization’s operations. A major external factor the SSAA can take advantage of is the bleak job outlook for college graduates. A recent study from Rutgers University indicated that only 56% of the class of 2010 graduates were employed by spring 2011. The SSAA can use its strong Alumni network in the region to help recent graduates and association members garner job opportunities—creating an excellent value proposition to SSAA membership. An external environmental threat to the SSAA is high unemployment. This translates to more people without an ability to earn income, resulting in less money to spend on non-essential goods. This poses a threat, particularly to existing members because they potentially have less money to spend on a membership.

Taking into account the internal strengths and weaknesses and external environmental factors, we formulated recommendations and steps the SSAA can take to improve its product and marketing, with the end goal of increasing membership and improving membership retention. The first recommendation is for SSAA to improve its products and benefits by offering a better deal on the Career Center Package to provide better career services access to alumni association members. In tandem, the SSAA should also develop a mentoring program between experienced alumni and new members who are recent graduates, where the former can give career advice or even act as a job reference.

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The second recommendation would be for the SSAA to adopt Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT)as the method of collecting membership fees. This eliminates the need for SSAA staff to send reminders to members to renew their membership. In addition, EFT options are simple and inexpensive. The third recommendation highlights specific groups the SSAA should target in their marketing. A large number of current alumni association members were part of an on-campus club or fraternity and sorority. The alumni association should target their marketing towards these clubs by setting up a booth at the clubs fair, or by offering a kickback program on every club member that joins the alumni association. In addition, marketing the SSAA to parents as a graduation gift and engaging in cross marketing with local networking associations are other ways to generate interest in SSAA membership.

Once the recommendations and strategies have been implemented by the SSAA, establishing evaluations and controls will be important. Performing evaluations on marketing is a top priority, since this is the SSAA’s core method of attracting members. The SSAA can include a brief survey when new members sign up, asking them where they heard about the SSAA, or what prompted them to join. On the survey, the SSAA can provide a list of current marketing efforts and have the alumni choose one. Therefore, the SSAA can measure which marketing channels are effective and which are not. In addition to marketing evaluation, the alumni association should set up controls to track member retention rate and member demographics.

The United States and in particular the Sacramento Region is going through tough economic times with high unemployment and difficult job markets for new college graduates. The SSAA will need to strengthen its marketing and strongly communicate benefits to potential members. In addition, the SSAA can capitalize on its strong regional connections and difficult job market to add career assistance programs to boost its value proposition to Sacramento State students and alumni.

I. Current Situation

A. Current Performance The Sacramento State Alumni Association (SSAA) has had profitable operations for three consecutive operating periods. The SSAA has reported net profits of $46,539, $99,870 and $131,387 for the fiscal years ending 6/30/2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. The SSAA reported a loss of ($36,775) during the fiscal year ending 6/30/2008. Despite the strong historical earnings of the SSAA, the organization currently lost revenues going forward as they are participating in an Affinity credit card programs that is not as lucrative. The Affinity programs are a major contributor to net income. During the fiscal year ending 6/30/2011, the Affinity program income represented $90,000 of the $262,231 in revenues, or 34%.

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To make up for this loss of income, the SSAA is seeking to increase membership in order to generate additional revenues. An annual membership for the SSAA is $50 or an alumni can purchase a lifetime membership for a one-time payment of $500, or ten monthly payments of $50. There are currently 213,000 alumni of Sacramento State. Only 6,000 of those alumni are members of the SSAA. Revenues from memberships have steadily increased over the past three years. Revenues from memberships were $69,340, $99,680 and $ $116,749 for the fiscal years ending 6/30/2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

In addition, the SSAA also owns and operates the Alumni Center. The Alumni Center reported net income losses for three of the last four years; however, these losses are after depreciation on the Alumni Center building of $82,671, annually. The Alumni Center has reported net income of ($43,955), ($72,929), ($49,809) and $21,284. When depreciation is added back, the Alumni Center has actually been profitable over these fiscal years. The Alumni Center will also be impacted by the reduction of Affinity program income.

Despite the reduction of income from the Affinity program, the combined operations of the Alumni Association and Alumni Center should remain profitable if other revenue streams remain constant. The real dilemma for the SSAA is low membership. Having an estimated 6,000 members out of roughly 213,000 alumni, results in a 2.8% membership rate. This rate is low for an organization whose primary goal is to connect with alumni. The full set of the last four years of financial statements can be found in Appendices 1-4.

B. Strategic Posture The objective of the SSAA is to connect alumni with various groups within Sacramento State. This is evident by reading the SSAA mission statement.

Mission Statement “The mission of the Sacramento State Alumni Association is to enhance interaction among alumni, students, the community and the University. The Association is organized and operated solely for the benefit of the University and its alumni.” (Appendix 5)

Current Strategies The SSAA has many strategies for marketing the organization to students and alumni. They have speakers at every freshman orientation, commencement ceremony and other events throughout campus. The SSAA hosts an annual Homecoming Festival to celebrate homecoming for the Sac State football team each year. This festival features live music, booths and other activities, including a Kids Zone, going on around the Alumni Center on game day. The SSAA also hosts or is a part of many campus wide events through the year as shown in the list of events in Appendix 6. They also are creating a mentoring program which aims to connect alumni with current students.

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In addition to speaking at commencement, they have a booth set up at the ceremony to offer lifetime memberships to graduates. In advance, the SSAA offers graduating students a Grad Pack for $30 which gives current graduating students a two-year membership to the SSAA, an alumni T-shirt, license plate frame and $5 off a cap and gown. If the student is looking for a longer commitment, you can upgrade to a lifetime membership for $400, which includes a free cap and gown, alumni t-shirt and metal license plate frame.

The SSAA also offers a variety of benefits for members, including discounts on travel and vacations, insurance services, food and wine, as well as discounts that can be used at various locations on and around campus. They also put on a Golden Grad luncheon for graduates who graduated 50 or more years ago. The SSAA also puts on numerous professional talks, social events, and community service initiatives. For example, the association recently organized talk regarding professions in art, and a number of charity drives to gather donations for people in need.

According to the SSAA website (Sacramento State - Alumni Association), the top 5 reasons to join are:

1. Connects you to a powerful network of 200,000 alumni. Membership will provide you opportunities at events and online to make connections with other alumni, build a stronger personal network and experience the loyalty and pride shared among alumni of Sacramento State.

2. Advances your career. Members have access to discounted alumni career services at Sacramento State’s Career Center, utilize job boards accessible only to alumni and students, participate at job fairs, and make use of alumni connections

3. Appreciates the value of your degree. As the percentage of active alumni increases so does Sacramento State’s ranking and reputation. As we continue to move up, the perception and value of a Sac State degree improves, making our grads more respected and attractive to employers.

4. Saves you money. Members receive discounts on auto, home and renters and health insurance; cellular service, travel, and much more. Special member only rates for products, services and campus events.

5. Shows your Hornet Pride!

II. Corporate Governance

A. Board of Directors The Sacramento State Alumni Association (SSAA) Board of Directors is currently made up of alumni and university volunteers who serve Sacramento State and its alumni. The current bylaws (Appendix 5) allow

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for up to 27 members. The Board of Directors meets every other month to establish policy, develop goals and objectives, assist with long-range planning, and monitor Alumni Association finances. The full biographies from the SSAA website of each board member can be found in Appendix 7, a summary is below.

Executive Officers Rebecca A. Gardner, JD – President – Graduated in 1999 with a degree in Government-Journalism and

Humanities. Margot Shinnamon Bach - President-elect & VP of Chapters & Alumni Development – Graduated in

1972 with a degree in English. John Abbott, JD- VP of Scholarship – Graduated in 2004 with an MA in History.

Matt Cologna - VP of Membership & Fund Development – Graduated in 1994 with a degree in Business Administration.

Dan Schauer, CPA - VP of Finance – Graduated in 1995 with a degree in Finance and Accountancy.

Eric Guerra - VP of Administration – Graduated in 2003 with a degree in Engineering Computers Science and a in 2008 with an MA in Public Policy Administration.

Jeanie Esajian - Sacramento State Alumni Council Representative – Graduated in 1990 with an MA in Communication Studies.

Chris Higdon - Immediate Past President – Graduated in 1985 with a degree in Business Administration.

Board Members Robert Allen graduated in 1991, with a degree in Business and Marketing.

John Barney graduated in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration. Joan Carnago graduated in 1997 with a degree in Business Association. Eva Gabbe is the Staff Representative for the SSAA. Daniel P. Hahn graduated in 1995 with a degree in Business Administration.Carole Hayshino is the Vice President of University Advancement at Sacramento State. Janet Hecsh is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Sacramento State. Bruce Hohenhaus graduated in 1976 with a degree in Business Administration.Penny Kastanis obtained three degrees: In 1957, a degree in Music, in 1959, a MA in Music and in 1961,

an MA in Librarianship.Bob Moreno graduated in 1976 with a degree in Business and Marketing. Dr. Lionel Von Frederick Rawlins graduated in 1992 with a degree in Criminal Justice and in 1994 with

an MS in Criminal Justice.Michael Rizzo graduated in 1989 with a degree in Business Administration and Finance.Marco Rodriguez graduated in 1991 in Business Administration and Finance. Jason Saslow graduated in 1989 in Criminal Justice.Sharon Sanders Krause graduated in 1989 in Communications and in 2009 with an MS in Counseling. Samuel Starks graduated in 1986 with a degree in English and Sociology.

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B. Top Management Jennifer Barber serves as Director of Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the SSAA. She oversees

the day-to-day operations of the SSAA and the Alumni Center. She has served the SSAA in this capacity since September of 2008. She came to the SSAA after serving the Cal Aggie Alumni Association for 14 years.

III. External Environment: Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

A. Natural Physical Environment: Sustainability Issues The physical environment is not relevant to this organization or industry.

B. Societal Environment

Economic

High unemployment rate: The economic crisis in the United States and around the world, known as “The Great Recession”, has affected most industries in both public and private sectors. The controversial debate of what caused this economic downturn continues. However, its effects are clear; high deficit spending at all levels of government, a housing market in ruins, tightening of credit standards by lending institutions, and high unemployment rates are all evidence of this recession.

As of September 2011, the US unemployment rate was at 9.1%. The country has not seen these levels of unemployment since November 1982, when the unemployment rate reached a high of 10.8%. At the state level, California’s unemployment rate was at 11.9%, the second highest in the nation, second only to Nevada at 13.4%. As for the Sacramento region, the unemployment rate was 11.5% (US Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics). A graphical representation of the historical unemployment rates for each region can be found in Appendix 8.

The high unemployment rates are a threat to the SSAA’s ability to recruit and retain members. It could potentially have a greater impact on existing members who may have lost their jobs. When that happens, it is natural for people to cut back to the minimum required expenses. Unfortunately, for many people the SSAA dues would not remain a priority when determining required expenses.

Bleak Job Outlook for College Graduates: For many generations, the American Dream was the belief that personal freedoms enjoyed in this country, coupled with hard work and determination could enable anybody to achieve success and prosperity. Throughout the years, education has increasingly played an important role in achieving the American Dream. However, the difficult economic conditions seen across the country have led to a lower rate of employment among recent graduates.

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According to a recent study from Rutgers University, only 56% of the class of 2010 graduates were employed by Spring 2011. This figure is a stark contrast to the 90% employment the graduates from 2006 and 2007 enjoyed. Of those 2010 graduates who were fortunate to be employed, about half held jobs that required a college degree (Plymouth, 2009)(Appendix 9). With no immediate signs of the US economy recovering soon, the bleak job outlook for college graduates may actually serve as an opportunity for the SSAA to exploit in its marketing. In such difficult times, WHO you know is sometimes more valuable than WHAT you know. The networking events put on by the SSAA can serve as a great opportunity for recent graduates to establish contacts that may eventually lead to job opportunities in their field of study.

Technological

Electronic Payment Methods: The growing popularity and affordability of smart phones has brought about new ways for consumers to pay for goods and services. From Near Field Communication technology to direct electronic bill payment systems for recurring expenses, consumers have a wide range of options for paying their obligations. A study by FirstData on consumer payment method preferences revealed a couple trends. One of the trends discussed in the study is mail-in payments are declining rapidly. The Federal Reserve estimates that the volume of checks paid in the United States peaked around 1995 at 49.5 billion and steadily declined to 30.6 billion in 2006. In comparison, there were 62.7 billion electronic payments in 2006, a 13% increase from 2003. Another trend discussed is that “biller direct” is becoming the preferred payment method. With this type of payment method, the electronic payment goes directly to the biller through a website, smart phone app, or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. It is estimated that by 2012, 31% of electronic payments will be Biller Direct (See Figure A below).

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Figure A: Growth in Biller Direct Payments

Source: (Plymouth & Martin, 2009)

There is plenty of research to suggest that consumers have comfortably adopted electronic forms of payments. As the use of checks among consumers continues to decline, it is important for businesses and organizations to abandon or place less emphasis on payment methods customers are no longer using and adopt the new forms. This trend provides a great opportunity for the SSAA to implement some form of electronic payment system that members will be comfortable in using, which could lead to an increase in renewal rate.

Political – Legal

Proposals to Modify Federal Tax Deductions: High deficit spending and an ever-increasing public debt within the US Federal Government have prompted political leaders in Washington to find ways to reduce annual deficits. Various ideas have been proposed and circulated on Capitol Hill, many of them involving ways to simplify the current tax code. As parts of this simplification, tax loopholes and popular deductions have been proposed to be reduced, capped, or eliminated in order to reduce current tax rates. One such deduction is for charitable contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations.

In December 2010, a bipartisan commission known as “The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform,” issued their final report with recommendations on how to reduce current deficits. The

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Commission’s recommendation 2.1 calls for the capping of charitable giving deductions at 12% for tax payers at all income levels. (The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, 2010)

More recently, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on October 18, 2011 to discuss the impact of possible modifications to this popular tax deduction. The Committee did not agree to anything solid, but did indicate its intention to revisit the topic in the future as part of an overall tax reform (McKinnon, Cerny, & Hellmuth, 2011).

Modifying the tax deduction for contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations poses a notable threat to the SSAA, particularly for sizeable donations. Without this incentive for companies and individuals alike to donate, the SSAA could very likely see a drop in monetary gifts.

Sociocultural

Growth in Social Media: Over the past decade, various social media sites have grown exponentially. The biggest three (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) have grown so much that they have either gone public or have considered doing so. This astounding growth is significant because it provides a valuable platform for different interest groups, such as advertisers, to reach out to their target markets. Much like television programs, social media sites provide a wide customer base to which they can market goods and services. However, unlike television programs, social media sites are not passive. Consumers are spending more and more time on these sites, and they do not have the ability to “fast-forward” through advertisements like they can with TV shows. Instead, advertising is cleverly integrated in the sites so they do not appear to be blatantly obvious.

Another valuable aspect of social media sites is that advertising can be better targeted according to the user’s demographics. Social media sites, such as Facebook, present a great opportunity for the SSAA to advertise to users who have indicated they have attended Sacramento State. Although cost may not make this a viable option at this point in time, it is something to definitely consider in the long run.

C. Task Environment The task environment (industry) for this organization will be defined as all of the student groups, clubs, and organizations affiliated with the University.

Threat of New Entrants: LOW While the criteria for starting a student organization is quite simple, the threat of a new entrant is low. The reason for a low rating is that it would take a considerable amount of time for the new student group to become well-established in the campus community. It would need to be established enough and have a significant impact on student’s lives to make them want to continue to support the group beyond graduation.

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Bargaining Power of Buyers: HIGH As is the case with any other philanthropic organization, its members are driven by their passion to support the cause championed by the organization and not so much by any tangible benefit they may receive as part of their membership. Therefore, individuals are at liberty to support whichever organization they feel best fulfills their interest. Threat of Substitute Products: MEDIUM Although there are many organizations outside of the defined task environment related to education, none are specific to Sacramento State. Even within the campus community, there are a few organizations, such as fraternities and sororities, but they tend to satisfy a niche market. They do not have such a large target market as the SSAA. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: LOW As previously stated, supporters of philanthropic organizations are driven more by their passion for a cause over any tangible benefit they may receive. Therefore, the rating is low for power of suppliers. Rivalry Among Competing Firms: MEDIUM The rivalry among competing organizations on campus is mostly indirect, with the exception of the first couple weeks of a semester when the various organizations have booths set up in proximity to each other with the intent of recruiting new members. This rivalry only poses a threat to on-campus students and potential members of the SSAA. For alumni who have already graduated, local networking associations pose as competitors to the SSAA. These organizations provide networking and community leadership, just like the alumni association. Similar to the SSAA, the target groups for these local organizations are professionals between the ages of 20-40.

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D. Summary of External Factors (EFAS Table) Figure B: EFAS Table

Weighted External Factors Weight Rating Score Comments

1 2 3 4 5OpportunitiesBleak Job Outlook for Recent Grads 0.20 2.00 0.40 Promote networking opportunities to

soon to be grads

Electronic Payment Methods 0.30 1.00 0.30 Convenience could increase renewalsGrowth in Social Media 0.10 2.00 0.20 Targeted marketing for potential new

members

ThreatsHigh Unemployment 0.25 2.00 0.50 Existing members may cancel

membership if they become unemployed

Elimination of Tax Deductions 0.15 3.00 0.45 No tax incentive for big donations

Total Scores 1.00 1.85

IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses (SWOT)

A. Corporate Structure The SSAA operates with a small staff of six people that head the main functions of Leadership, Marketing, Finance, Administration, Chapters Coordination, and Alumni Center Event Coordination. Help is offered by the twenty-seven member Board of Directors in the form of decision making and leadership, as well as man power for special projects, as shown in (Appendix 10).

Decision making is determined via the Executive Director with feedback encouraged by employees and the Board of Directors. The small number of staff means easier and faster communication between the Executive Director and Board of Directors and staff. This allows for initiatives to be discussed, planned and implemented efficiently. This also means all employees are intimately familiar with every aspect of the organization to a greater extent than larger organizations.

The SSAA operates under an interdependent funding model where Sacramento State supports four key positions (Executive Director, Marketing, Chapters, and Administration). Based on memberships, donations, and other funding sources, other personnel are hired as needed. Currently, a finance related position and an Alumni Center and Event Coordinator position are funded by revenues other than from Sacramento State. Most California State Universities operate under this interdependent model. Other models include a dependent model where an alumni association is funded solely by the university or an independent model where an alumni association operates on its own, solely self-funded. The interdependent model provides the best of both worlds, a direct link and support to the university, but

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with the autonomy to spend funds gathered from outside sources. This creates a relationship between the SSAA and Sacramento State that is complex at times, as the two influence each other greatly, but generally in a symbiotic way. Please see Appendix 10 to view the organization chart for the SSAA.

B. Corporate Culture Describing the SSAA's culture as corporate is a bit of a misnomer. Corporate culture is more symbolic of large companies that can create and manage corporate culture over the long run with strategies, policies and procedures. At the SSAA, there exists a well-defined yet informal culture that attempts to act as an agile and adaptable small business. There is a top-down approach but with responsibility delegated among a small number of specialized staff; ideas are shared and decision making is distributed. One of the voiced goals of the executive leadership is to run the SSAA like a for-profit company where they can deliver valuable benefits and services to customers at a price high enough to maximize their profits but low enough that prospects are willing to become members. By striving to run the SSAA in this manner, we see a culture that lends itself to fulfilling its broad stated mission and informal operating missions and objectives.

The small working group and close-knit working environment enables strong personal ties that establish trust and commitment. This allows everyone to understand the big picture, which includes the organization's structure and purpose, its decision-making, and implementation processes. This small size provides the organization with a "we're all in it together" attitude that encourages teamwork. Furthermore, there is high dependence on that person to perform tasks associated with their functional area because of the specialized nature of each position.

C. Corporate Resources

Marketing The SSAA's core business is marketing and network building in order to improve relations between its constituents and to build a brand that attracts and perpetuates membership and donations. They offer services and benefits to membership holders. The SSAA’s marketing efforts are the face of the organization and are deeply important to building their brand. In the sense of the stated goal of enhancing interaction between alumni, students, the University, and the community, the SSAA does fulfill and exceed those objectives. Although, it is also recommended more specific and meaningful goals and objectives be created and tracked along with initiatives or projects designed to accomplish them.

The SSAA needs to keep better track of flow through rates from their marketing initiatives in order to sort out what works and what does not. By establishing metrics for success or failure, they can establish a systematic, meaningful approach to marketing and get the most out of their marketing budget. An organization can only make better decisions on how they are going to proceed if they have quality data to infer whether the activities they are committing resources to are accomplishing their goals and

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objectives; heuristics and intuition can only get you so far. Currently, the staff marketing position is vacant. Since marketing underpins the core of their business, it is essential to rehire this position immediately.

The SSAA communicates to alumni and solicits for memberships and donations via email, newsletters, a magazine, and in certain cases, through telephone calls and individual mailings. If members donate via a newsletter or magazine, there are marketing codes associated with them to help track donation flow through rates. They have a website and a social media presence on Facebook and other sites which is a medium that will only become more important to their online presence. Their marketing mix is broad and encompasses all relevant mediums. They service a niche market and have a very specific target market of Sacrament State alumni; therefore, developing targeted marketing campaigns should be straight forward.

The branding initiatives of Sacramento State have gone a long way to standardize the University’s message and solidify itself as the leading higher education institution in the region. The SSAA has done well to align itself with the momentum built under that initiative. Now that Destination 2010, Sacramento State’s most recent strategic plan, is coming to its end, the SSAA will need to work with Sacramento State to align their goals and objectives, especially in terms of marketing and the message they want to convey. The marketing message they have to communicate is a strong brand image of value and prestige. This should provide a competitive advantage over other non-profit organizations soliciting for money. The SSAA does have the advantage of serving a very specific target market of Sacramento State alumni, allowing them to focus marketing efforts.

Finance As discussed earlier in the introduction, the SSAA has performed relatively well over the past three years despite the worst recession since the great depression, the loss of a lucrative Affinity Credit Card program, and the required layoff of one of their employees. Finances in the last three years, since the new Executive Director took over, have improved with higher membership fees, donations collected and lower costs. Improvements made to financial record keeping by the new Executive Director helps to improve organization of finances and allow for better understanding of the financial position of the SSAA and for decision-making.

Endowment funds and idle cash flows are invested in a Merrill Lynch money market account earning very little returns. Currently, plans are in place to invest endowment funds and retained earnings in more aggressive investment funds with the goal of providing some kind of perpetual scholarship once the principal amount grows to large enough level.

One of the main issues plaguing the SSAA is the mortgage debt burden from the Alumni Center. Although the Alumni Center covers its mortgage payments, full-time staff annually, and other expenses, once the mortgage is paid off, cash flows could help supplement the SSAA budget. One initiative being adopted is a donation fund drive sponsored by the SSAA and Sacramento State President, Alex Gonzalez,

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to raise enough funds to pay off the mortgage. Having another significant source of income would broaden the income pool and help soften the blow of sudden drops in other funding sources.

The goals and objectives with respect to the financial operations of the SSAA support the overall mission. A solid and secure financial footing goes a long way to supporting initiatives that will build membership and further perpetuate the growth. Even though the goals are being met, there are a lack of specific goals and objectives. With more specific numbers assigned to goals and objectives for the SSAA, more pressure would exist to perform at a higher level.

Research and Development (R&D) Since marketing is their core business and their benefits, such as events, networking, and discounts on services are the products they offer, R&D is necessary to keep pace with the desires of members and potential new members. Currently, R&D takes the form of idea creation from all members of the SSAA’s leadership and staff. Idea creation has brought about successful marketing efforts and additional services in the past. In order to improve on the informal R&D processes, it is advised they engage in meaningful research by gathering significant marketing data in order to track success and failures of marketing efforts. By gathering data on how successful marketing initiatives are and using surveys to understand the desires of alumni, the SSAA can provide better services and attract more alumni as members. This will have the double effect of building the SSAA’s brand and prestige.

Operations, Human Resources, and Information Technology (IT) The small size of the SSAA determines limited operations, human resources and IT output. Traditional operations activities are dispersed among all other functional areas. Human resources and IT are generally the responsibility of Sacramento State. Covered under the SSAA’s interdependent relationship with Sacramento State, many standard human resource functions, such as employee's payroll, benefits, and record keeping are handled by Sacramento State. The administrative assistant position handles a variety of other day-to-day human resources related tasks. Because neither of these areas represents a significant area of their core business, the SSAA gains by not having to commit already scarce resources.

The SSAA pays approximately 50% of their IT support cost with the other 50% being paid for by Sacramento State. The small IT infrastructure of the SSAA has to be well-maintained because it allows the organization to handle tasks essential for day-to-day operations. Currently, computers are upgraded or swapped out only when machines break down, at which point the SSAA dips into their financial resources to buy new equipment. A longer range goal of the Executive Director is to set aside funds and setup a schedule for upgrades of computer systems.

A key position that would help improve functionality and round out the disciplines of the organization would be the addition of an IT staff that could handle IT related issues. Duties might include, updating the website and other social media sites, as well as update, maintain, and safeguard important databases, such as the alumni directory. They may help spearhead future initiatives that will incorporate other forms of technology, such as coordination with a Sacramento State smart phone app

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that has event information, maps, campus directories, and other information. This position could alternatively be filled by an outsourced IT firm that could help maintain a plan for scheduled computer system upgrades, and to coordinate implementation of programs, such as Tech Soup, greatly discounting the technology acquisition costs (see strategy recommendation and implementation section for greater detail).

As IT becomes increasingly pervasive in everyone's life, not only young tech friendly college graduates, having personnel capable of implementing new technology that can enhance interactions between the SSAA and its constituents would improve growth.

D. Internal Factors Analysis Summary (See IFAS Table Below) The summary of internal factors touches on the important internal factors that have been identified as key internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization. The overall weighted score of 3.15 out of 5 with 3.00 being that of an average company, points to relatively strong organization. There are definitely weaknesses that can be addressed and strengths improved. Recommendations later will allude to these strengths and weakness and attempt to remedy them.

Figure C: IFAS Table

Understanding this table:

� Internal Factors Column - The most important strengths and weaknesses facing the company.

Internal Factors Weight Rating Weighted Score Weighted CommentsStrengthsSmall Size

0.15 5.00 0.75Association can change/update/implement new strategies fast

Service a niche market 0.10 3.00 0.30

Niche market allows very targeted marketing and limits direct competition

Interdependent Model 0.10 4.00 0.40

University support and funding for essential positions; allows for financial automony

Leadership 0.15 3.00 0.45 Active board and executive director and staffRelationship with University 0.05 3.00 0.15

Interdependent model; Updated alumni information

Alumni Center

0.05 3.00 0.15 Revenue stream, and physical locationStrong Branding of Sacramento State

0.05 4.00 0.20Consistent branding improves Sac State's prestige, recognition, and brand equity

WeaknessesNumber of Staff

0.05 2.00 0.10Small staff limits breadth and depth of events and programs

Outdated/Lack of Formal Objectives

0.05 3.00 0.15Limited formal strategic plan minimizes potential

Financial Resources/ Small Endowment 0.15 2.00 0.30

Small budget focuses on recruitment other than true benefits; Chicken or the egg dilemma

Poor marketing of the value proposition of membership 0.10 2.00 0.20

Need to better define value of benefits to attract new members

Totals 1.00 3.15

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� Weight Column - Weights assigned to each factor from 1.0 (Most Important) to 0.0 (Not Important) based on that factor’s probable impact on a particular company’s current strategic position. The higher the weight, the more important this factor is to the current and future success of the company. (All weights must sum to 1.0 regardless of the number of strategic factors.)

� Rating Column - A rating to each factor from 5 (Outstanding) to 1 (Poor) based on management’s current response to that particular factor.

� Weighted Score Column - Weight assigned to each factor multiplied by its rating in to obtain that factor’s weighted score.

� Weighted Comments Column - Note why a particular factor was selected and/or how its weight and rating were estimated.

� Finally, the weighted scores for all the internal factors in the Weighted Score Column are added to determine the total weighted score for that particular company. The total weighted score indicates how well a particular company is managing current and expected factors in its internal environment. The score can be used to compare that firm to other firms in its industry. The total weighted score for an average firm in an industry is always 3.0 (Hunger & Wheelen, 2011).

V. Analysis of Strategic Factors (SWOT)

A. Strategic Factor Analysis Summary (See SFAS Table Below) Among all of the external and internal factors discussed, there are some that stand out as the most impacting to the SSAA. These factors have been weighted and rated as shown in the SFAS table. Below is a brief explanation of why these factors are important:

Small Size (S) – The SSAA’s small size allows it to change and update current strategies or adopt and implement new strategies quickly. The needs of the alumni can be addressed more efficiently. Due to the short timeline and events that revolve around the semester schedule, it is essential for the SSAA to act quickly.

Leadership (S) – The SSAA’s leadership is strong with a large and active Board of Directors as well as a responsive Executive Director and staff. They are willing to take upon new strategies. Knowledgeable and capable leadership is necessary to execute strategies effectively to achieve desired result. Leadership is also important in developing the organization’s culture and promoting a well-functioning team.

Poor Marketing of the Value Proposition of Membership (W) – The marketing efforts fail to connect with potential members and provide them with a perceived value. To attract new, recently graduated members, the benefits must outweigh the costs, so the SSAA must deliver the message of value. For older established alumni, who can attribute their success to holding a degree from Sacramento State, the SSAA can market a membership as “it’s just the right thing to do.” But in the end, developing a

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marketing message that convinces potential members of the value proposition of membership will be most effective at attracting new members.

Lack of Financial Resources (W) – The biggest challenge facing the SSAA is its limited financial resources. This small budget situation forces them to focus their resources on recruitment and limits their focus on providing high value benefits. If they had financial resources available to implement higher quality programs and initiatives, these activities would increase the value proposition to potential members. Instead they must focus their efforts to maintain or increase membership to keep up with their current level of benefits. Unfortunately, this presents a catch-22, but by proceeding to build a solid base of members, they can increase money spent on high impact events, programs, and benefits that appeal most to their current and potential members, which will perpetuate the organization’s growth.

Electronic Payment Methods (O) – A lack of any form of electronic funds transfer (EFT) method is causing the SSAA to not have as much retention as possible. As consumers write fewer checks, it will be critical for the SSAA to follow suit and implement a payment method which will be widely adopted by its members.

Bleak Job Outlook for Recent Grads (O) – Dismal employment numbers among recent grads can be used to market the SSAA’s networking events and access to other Sacramento State resources that could help grads land their first job.

High Unemployment Rate (T) – High rates of unemployment in any region translates to more people without an ability to earn income. This ultimately results in less money to spend on non-essential goods and services. It is particularly a threat for existing members.

Elimination of Tax Deductions (T) – Although currently there are no bills at the federal level to modify tax deductions for charitable contributions, such ideas have been proposed by both political parties as a way to simplify the tax code. This poses a potential threat because it could likely turn away big donors.

Figure D: SFAS 1 2 3 4 6

Stategic Factors Weight RatingWeighted

Score

Short

Intermediate

Long CommentsSmall Size (S) 0.10 5.00 0.50 X SSAA can change/update/implement new strategies fastLeadership (S) 0.15 3.00 0.45 X Active board and executive director and staffPoor marketing of the value proposition of membership (W)

0.20 2.00 0.40X


Financial Resources/ Small Endowment (W) 0.15 2.00 0.30X


Electronic Payment Methods (O) 0.15 1.00 0.15 X Convenience could increase renewalsBleak Job Outlook for Recent Grads (O) 0.05 2.00 0.10 X Promote networking opportunities to soon to be gradsHigh Unemployment (T) 0.15 2.00 0.30

XExisting members may cancel membership if they become unemployed

Elimination of Tax Deductions (T) 0.05 3.00 0.15 X No tax incentive for big donationsTotal Scores 1.00 2.35

Duration 5

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B. Review of Mission and Objectives In light of the key strategic factors and problems faced by the SSAA and taking into the account the ambitions of the current Executive Director and Board of Directors, a better defined and symbolic mission would more appropriately serve the SSAA. Broadly speaking, the main goal of the current Executive Director is to increase alumni membership for the purpose of increasing the annual budget. With a larger annual budget, the SSAA can hire more staff and increase spending on events and activities that provide benefits and value to members as well as help attract new members. The SSAA should develop a set of detailed objectives in the form a yearly strategic plan. It states the objectives and the timeframe to accomplish the tasks. Initiatives, policies, and/or projects can be put into place that are a means of accomplishing these objectives.

The SSAA's mission statement narrowly defines its target market as alumni, students, the community and the University and broadly defines the purpose as enhancing interactions among those parties. The target market is defined well but "enhancing interactions" is too vague. In order to make the mission more purposeful as a guiding principle worth following, it is recommended the purpose be revised. A well-conceived mission statement defines the fundamental, unique purpose that sets the SSAA apart from other nonprofit organizations soliciting for memberships and donations, and defines the scope of the SSAA's operations in terms of services offered and markets served. It also paints a picture of the vision of what the SSAA wants to become in the future. It is a statement that promotes a sense of shared potential and communicates a public image.

The SSAA and its leadership are already, to a great extent, acting independent of the current mission and objectives, leading the SSAA effectively. In the past four years, the SSAA has seen its revenues consistently increase despite losing a significant an Affinity credit card program funding source, eliminating one staff position, and dealing with the prolonged effects of a severe recession.

VI. Recommendations and Implementation

A. Recommendations and Strategies Sacramento State has graduated more than 200,000 students to date. However, the SSAA currently only has 6,000 members—meaning only 3% of graduated students are part of the SSAA. In comparison, UC Davis, another University in the region, has a similar number of graduates and has approximately 20,000 members in their alumni association. One benefit that Sacramento State possesses is that a large number of its graduates remain in the Sacramento region. The SSAA should be able to capitalize on the strong regional presence of Sacramento State graduates to form a strong, well-connected association. The following are a set of recommended steps that the SSAA should take to increase membership, improve membership retention, and develop a strong organization to connect Sacramento State alumni. Given the limited resources of the SSAA, the steps are categorized by priority.

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Priority 1: Product Improvement Based on the 2008 Alumni Surveys, respondents rated identifying job opportunities and mentoring students as “Very Important”. However, Sacramento State’s current efforts in supporting alumni in such activities are rated a little above “Fair”. The responses of the survey demonstrate that career development and job opportunities are a top priority for alumni. Particularly during these tough economic times where many new graduates come out of a school with a great deal of uncertainty on when they are going to find employment, Sacramento State and SSAA should definitely work on strengthening their career and job placement programs. Appendix 11 includes a visual representation of the Alumni Surveys results.

Provide Better Access to the Sacramento State Career Center/Services Currently, Sacramento State offers alumni who have received their degree from the University within the last two years for $65 per year. Members of the SSAA can purchase the same package for $50, which is a $15 savings. In addition, students who have graduated from Sacramento State more than 2 years ago can access the Career Centers online job postings for $25 a year. The annual membership to the SSAA is already $50; the $15 dollar discount does not seem like a good enough discount in the larger scheme. If career opportunities and job placement is a top priority for alumni, we recommend that the SSAA work with the Career Center to give members a larger discount on the Career Center package. In addition, the SSAA and Career Center should try to provide members with the Career Connection option for free, or at a lower cost. When new graduates see that the SSAA is able to provide them with good access to the school’s career resources, they will see it as a value proposition to become a member.

Implementation The SSAA should work with the Career Center to examine the possibilities of providing alumni members a larger discount on the Career package. Both parties should also examine the costs and logistical issues of opening up the Career Connection website to members of the SSAA for a lower cost, or even for free. Two examples of possible “win-win” scenarios include:

� The SSAA guarantees x amount of dollars to the Career Center each year in exchange for free or lower cost career center services.

o The x amount of dollars could be accounted for by offering an SSAA career starter package for those graduating that do not have job prospects, AKA a “Career Starter Grad Pack”. This package should be especially marketed to graduating senior’s parents and should include a two-year membership to the SSAA with the “Member of Alumni Association Package” advertised on the Career Centers website (see more on this in section below: “Advertise to Parents”)

o Alternatively a free “Member of Alumni Association Package” to the career center could only be offered as a lifetime SSAA membership perk. This type of package would be ideally advertised to parents of graduating seniors.

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� The Career Center opens certain services up to the SSAA members that would not otherwise be available to graduates after the 6 months post-graduation free-use time expires.

o In exchange for this, the SSAA could help to market the Career Center more to recent graduates since this is the Career Centers target market.

Develop a Strong Mentoring Program Mentoring students was something that was rated as “Very Important” on the survey. This shows that current SSAA members are willing to contribute their efforts in mentoring students. Our second recommendation under product improvement is for the SSAA to develop a strong and prevalent mentoring program. The mentoring should go beyond a current alumni providing career and academic guidance to a current student. The mentoring relationship can be extended to having an experienced member mentor a new member who recently graduated from college. The program will include giving the new member the opportunity to job shadow for one day, or conduct informational interviews with professionals working in a field they are interested. In addition, the experienced alumni member can act as a reference or job referral for the new graduate.

If the SSAA can generate some successful examples from the mentorship program, it will act as a great tool for marketing. When new graduates see that people were able to utilize the mentorship program to obtain jobs, there will be a great incentive to join.

Implementation The SSAA should send out an email to current alumni in the area about the mentoring program asking them to sign up if they are interested. Recipients can choose to reply to the email, or fill out the volunteer inquiry form on the SSAA website specifying whether they want to be a mentor or the person being mentored. Staff of the SSAA can match up individuals with mentors who are working in the field the mentees are interested in exploring. When the participants of the mentoring program have been established, the SSAA can hold a mixer for both parties to meet and exchange contact information.

To make the mentoring program more solid, the SSAA can provide the parties with a guideline of the activities they should touch upon during the mentorship. Here are list of suggestions:

� Resume review, cover letter review, interview tips

� Job shadow mentor at his/her work place for one day

� Conduct an informational interview with mentor or another professional recommended by mentor

� Act as a job referral

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The mentorship relationship will last for about 3-4 months. At the end, the SSAA can hold another mixer/event where mentors and participants can celebrate and share their experiences throughout the program.

Priority 2: Improved Internal Efficiency

Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs) Currently, the SSAA spends a large amount of resources on getting membership renewals. Paper reminders are sent out to members through mail to remind them that their memberships need to be renewed. Members can elect to mail a check to pay for their membership or pay by credit card. This process occupies a lot of staff resources, and is not extremely effective in getting members to renew. To address this, we recommend the SSAA to adopt an EFT service. Alumni can have the fees automatically deducted from their checking account when it’s time to renew their membership. This will make the process a lot more efficient, and free up valuable staffing resources to focus on developing events and programs.

Implementation Currently the SSAA accepts credit cards and reoccurring payments through the campus wide agreement with Harris Connect. One service not provided by the company Harris Connect is the ability for a new member to donate or pay for membership via Bank Account also known as Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs). Those that sign up for reoccurring payments via EFT being drafted from their bank account would cost less to the SSAA (lower fees) and are more likely to fulfill their obligation. Bank accounts often will be held for many years to decades while each credit card has an average expiration date 18 months from the date of issue. This means that those paying membership fees or donating over several years would have to, in a perfect world, call in to change their credit card information. People do not call in and credit card payments do not go through. Following up on these credit card hiccups is an unneeded drain on the SSAA resources.

Appendix 13 includes a local bank’s EFT fee and a local recommended EFT provider’s fee schedule for comparison. EFTs are processed in batches so it is important to look at the batch processing fees in addition to the per transaction cost and to consider the additional support available from the company. EFT Management is the recommended vendor of choice due to their extensive support services free of charge, the integrated website capabilities, their client list of other non-profit organizations and the fact that they have been in the EFT business since 1993. We recommend the SSAA receive a quote from their current business bank and compare the bank’s EFT offerings with EFT Management’s offerings to see which provides the most competitively priced overall service.

Better Management of Internal Technology As discussed in the Internal analysis IT section of this strategic analysis, the SSAA pays for roughly 50% of its IT costs with the other 50% being provided by Sacramento State. For the internal 50% of IT

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expenditure, there is currently neither a replacement schedule nor general plan of acquisition. There are non-profit organization specific programs that are not being taken advantage of.

Implementation Ideally, a staff position would be created to manage technology and technology-enabled marketing but given the limited resources of the SSAA, an internship position opened to IT students (IT support intern) and marketing students (social media intern) could be created allowing for inexpensive to free labor for the SSAA and much needed experience for the interns. Given that these two positions involve fast moving technology that should be re-evaluated on a regular basis, a semester intern program targeted at seniors could be a perfect fit that would also raise SSAA awareness for the interns applying. To offer continuity between semesters, an outsourced IT company or an agreement with the Sacramento State IT Department would be ideal. Whichever outsourced option is chosen, a service level agreement (SLA) needs to be clearly outlined allowing the SSAA the needed legal ramifications in case of the external organizations failure to perform.

Take advantage of non-profit specific technology programs. Tech Soup is a non-profit company with a clear focus: providing other nonprofits and libraries with technology that empowers them to fulfill their missions and serve their communities. TechSoup can help reduce internal IT costs for both software and hardware acquisitions. Companies donate both hardware and software to TechSoup, which in turn sells the donated products to non-profits for a small administrative fee, which on average is less than 10% of the products retail price. A sign-up form and sheet of actual administration product fees are located in Appendix 12.

Priority 3: Increased Marketing and Communication

Social Media Advertising Currently accessing past alumni of the SSAA in a receptive manner can be tricky but through the use of a focused advertising campaign on Facebook, the SSAA can target a specific subset of past alumni otherwise prone to ignore traditional advertising methods. The SSAA has more than 3,300 members connect to their Facebook group and more than 2,200 “likes” for their official Facebook Fan Page. A Facebook group is a way for the Sacramento State alumni to communicate with each other with specific moderators while a Facebook Fan Page communicates one way, allowing the SSAA to deliver a message to those that have “liked” the page.

Implementation The following steps should be taken if not already being conducted toward the SSAA Facebook presence:

� Consider adding a Facebook Fan Box Widget to the SSAA web page in addition to the link. This allows you to show your fan base on your webpage and this allows visitors of your website to become a Facebook fan instantly without leaving your website page.

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� Someone on staff should actively search for Sacramento State graduates through the find friends feature and inviting them to the SSAA Facebook group.

� Advertise the Facebook Fan Page often to the SSAA group members. Currently the difference of the two is 1,100.

� Create a contest with a decent giveaway prize for those that write a recommendation when “liking” the fan page. This contest concept could also be used in conjunction with targeted paid advertisements in order to obtain “likes” from the targeted market.

� Advertise the Facebook Fan Page to non-SSAA group members through a targeted marketing campaign. There are many targeting options available and this would be a great way to reach alumni no longer connected with Sacramento State. Initial figures set a click price range at bid of 60 cents to one dollar. The suggested bid price was 83 cents which means you would be likely to show up often on that targeted markets sidebar while they are on Facebook. You can set a limit on the daily budget to be sure not to go over your advertising budget.

Some other social media ideas include creating a Twitter account and then linking the Twitter @ handle to the Facebook page with the Facebook Fan Page Twitter application. When new status updates, links or photos on the Facebook Fan Page are posted there will be an update to Twitter with a shortened bit.ly link back to the fan page. There are several other Facebook and Twitter integration applications but this is the only application that leads Twitter followers directly back to your Facebook Fan Page giving them the option to become a fan.

An organization could easily get lost in all the different social media possibilities spending countless hours on developing a presence on a website that very likely may not be a viable means of connection within just a few years. Ultimately the creation of a social media intern position, as mentioned in the Priority 2 section, would allow for the constant updates needed and would bring a fresh perspective with all the latest Internet trends.

Advertise to On-Campus Clubs/Fraternities and Sororities Past membership data shows that 70% of members in the SSAA belonged to a club or fraternity/sorority. The SSAA should target its advertising efforts towards those groups. Doing so can make potential members (current students) aware of the association even before they graduate, and possibly convert graduating seniors into members.

Implementation Every year, student organizations display their booths at a Clubs Fair. The SSAA can set a booth at the Clubs Fair in order to reach out to the student population that is interested in organizations and clubs.

In addition, the SSAA can hold a mixer, inviting juniors and seniors of clubs and fraternities/sororities to attend. The event will allow students to meet existing alumni members. The occasion will provide the SSAA with an opportunity to explain the benefits and offerings of the SSAA.

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In addition to holding a networking event for clubs and fraternities/sororities, the SSAA can attract people from these groups to join upon graduation with a “kick back” program. The fraternity or club will receive a small commission (aka kick back) whenever a member from that club joins the SSAA. The SSAA can also hold an annual competition where the club with the most members joined will receive a donation, recognition, an event at the Alumni Facilities or any combination of these possibilities. This will motivate officers and leaders of these clubs to promote the SSAA to their club members.

A starting place for this might include asking SSAA board members Marco Rodriguez and Robert Allen to approach their past fraternities (Epsilon Sigma Rho and Lambda Chi Alpha respectively) to start brainstorming what might work best with what the fraternities are currently doing for fundraisers.

Advertise to Parents Alumni memberships can be advertised as graduation gifts. The SSAA should advertise to parents of graduating seniors. A contact list of these parents exists, but is not managed by the SSAA. When advertising to parents of the new graduates, it will be important for the SSAA to push lifetime membership to parents. The SSAA fee is an item that currently counts as a tax write off. Mention of this should also be part of the promotional efforts.

Implementation Work with the Registrar's office to obtain the contact information of parents who will have sons or daughters graduating. Begin sending emails two months prior to the end of the semester. List out the benefits of joining the SSAA, emphasizing the career center perks of becoming a member. If an alumni was able to find employment through a career center package or the mentoring program, illustrate the success story on the email. Send a reminder one month prior to graduation, and one week prior for those in need of a last minute graduation gift.

A “Career Starter Grad Pack” could capitalize on what a parent wants most for their children upon graduation… a job. This could be a lifetime membership that includes a free “Member of Alumni Association Package” to the career center.

Cross Promotional Networking Events with Young Professional Organizations The SSAA should be working actively with local young professional and networking associations who naturally attract active community minded young professionals. The SSAA could work as a new membership feeder channel to these organizations in exchange for networking events and advertisement to their members creating greater awareness community awareness of the SSAA along with a stronger network for all organizations involved.

Implementation These programs can be utilized in several ways:

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� The simplest program would be a partnership to directly contact members of the other organizations who might be interested in joining the SSAA (past Sacramento State graduates who are members of the other organizations) in exchange for allowing these organizations to contact current alumni members to feed membership to their organizations. If preferential pricing is negotiated, this could be another benefit for joining the SSAA.

� A “kick back” program, similar to that detailed above in the “Advertise to On-Campus Clubs and Fraternities and Sororities” section, which guarantees a certain contribution to the external organization upon each new SSAA member created through the external organizations efforts.

� Marketing events on campus sponsored by these organizations utilizing SSAA facilities either in trade for volunteer manpower for future SSAA donation drives, rental fees, cross promotional marketing exchanges or any combination of the above.

There are many local young professional and networking associations in the Sacramento Area; some of the more well-known include the Sacramento Chamber’s Metro Edge Association (Appendix 14) and the Active 20/30 Men’s and Woman’s clubs of Sacramento (active 20/30 is a pre-cursor to Rotary)(Appendix 15). The Appendix contains contact information for all three organizations. Patrick Robrecht, the current President of the Men’s Active 20/30 club of Sacramento, is Sacramento State alumni graduating with the MBA Spring 1998 class. When contacted about the possibility of suggesting ways to have his club and the SSAA work together, Mr. Robrecht was very open to an alliance of sorts.

Silver 25 Dinner and 10 Year Cocktail Reception Currently the SSAA holds a Golden Grad luncheon, inviting alumni who graduated fifty years ago. The SSAA is hoping to capture members who are in their 30-40’s that have established careers. In order to achieve that goal, the SSAA should hold a Silver 25 Dinner for alumni that graduated 25 years ago. People in that group would be in the in their 40’s, and will likely have established careers. In addition, the association can host a 10 Year Cocktail Reception to attract alumni in their 30’s. The SSAA can take advantage of these events by gathering contact information of attendees who are not members and follow up with a targeted advertising campaign. At event registration tables, guests can fill out a short survey, providing their contact information, and answers to other useful questions like what membership benefits they like the most. The SSAA can use this information and send out targeted marketing emails to these people to solicit memberships.

Reach Out to Famous and Well-Known Alumni The SSAA should reach out to famous alumni and get them involved with the association. According to Sacramento State’s Wikipedia webpage (California State University, Sacramento - Wikipedia, 2011) and the website Ranker (Ranker) there are a number of notable alumni. Among them are politicians and prevalent business people located in the region. Inviting these people as a speaker at events or talks can help promote the prestige of Sacramento State and the SSAA, possibly attracting more members to join.

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VII. Evaluation and Control Mentioned throughout this analysis, we have recommended the adaptation of evaluation and control systems in order to better understand performance of current initiatives and to have a baseline to evaluate the results of future initiatives or policy changes. Based on discussions with the SSAA, we came to understand some data is tracked and monitored, such as name, contact information including address, telephone number and email address, and other data such as, graduation year and major. This data is very useful and can be used for targeting certain groups of people. Other data that could be useful are affiliations with student groups and organizations, or feedback on why they signed up to become a member, or where they first heard about the SSAA. Feedback on why a person signed up to be a member could determine where the SSAA spends their money on benefits and advertising. When people sign up for a membership, a few extra questions that better explain a person's relation with the school and the reasons they joined could go a long way to marketing to them better and offering better services.

New or different policy and program changes or new marketing initiatives will require different data to be collected in order to evaluate the effectiveness of them. A few examples of how evaluation and controls can help determine success or failure of a program can be seen with Grad Pack retention rates and EFT implementation results. Retention rates for the two-year membership for recent grads, the Grad Pack, can help determine the effectiveness of that campaign. We understand based on conversations with the SSAA that retention rates for the Grad Pack will be tracked. Also, if EFT payments are implemented, how much longer do people stay members? How much manpower and money is saved by not having to follow up with members to renew memberships? How much more money is saved by not paying for more expensive merchant service fees associated with credit card transactions?

Tracking this information must be financially economical and efficient with regards to time. Much of this data can be collected automatically when alumni sign up for memberships. Aside from modifying the membership sign up form on the website or of printed materials, surveys can be created through SurveyMonkey.com for free or for more advanced surveys at a reasonably low cost. Custom surveys can be designed with links emailed to alumni in order gain general or specific information. Incentives for participation in the surveys can be a random drawing for a prize or discounts on memberships or something similar. Besides the initial setup time and costs, using these tools are very economical and provide great insight.

Management must use their judgment to balance the meaningfulness of data being collected and when too much or too little data is being collected. Since data has an inherent shelf life, managers must collect and act on information in a timely manner. Finally, managers need to use their judgment on whether the data being collected makes sense. Just because the data supports one conclusion does not mean it is accurate.

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This organization is so small, the real evaluation of its success is whether or not it is achieving its goals, which at the time are to increase membership and retention in order to improve revenues and provide better benefits. Management can setup evaluations and controls to determine the success of the five positions the Executive Director oversees. These controls should evaluate how the performance in their jobs contributes to the success of the organization's overall mission and objectives. Managers in small companies often communicate with each other and their employees daily and do not need extensive evaluative reporting systems.

Analysis Tables Figure A: Growth in Biller Direct Payments

Source: (Plymouth & Martin, 2009)

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Figure B: EFAS TableWeighted

External Factors Weight Rating Score Comments1 2 3 4 5

OpportunitiesBleak Job Outlook for Recent Grads 0.20 2.00 0.40 Promote networking opportunities to

soon to be grads

Electronic Payment Methods 0.30 1.00 0.30 Convenience could increase renewalsGrowth in Social Media 0.10 2.00 0.20 Targeted marketing for potential new

members

ThreatsHigh Unemployment 0.25 2.00 0.50 Existing members may cancel

membership if they become unemployed

Elimination of Tax Deductions 0.15 3.00 0.45 No tax incentive for big donations

Total Scores 1.00 1.85

Figure C: IFAS Table

Internal Factors Weight Rating Weighted Score Weighted CommentsStrengthsSmall Size

0.15 5.00 0.75Association can change/update/implement new strategies fast

Service a niche market 0.10 3.00 0.30

Niche market allows very targeted marketing and limits direct competition

Interdependent Model 0.10 4.00 0.40

University support and funding for essential positions; allows for financial automony

Leadership 0.15 3.00 0.45 Active board and executive director and staffRelationship with University 0.05 3.00 0.15

Interdependent model; Updated alumni information

Alumni Center

0.05 3.00 0.15 Revenue stream, and physical locationStrong Branding of Sacramento State

0.05 4.00 0.20Consistent branding improves Sac State's prestige, recognition, and brand equity

WeaknessesNumber of Staff

0.05 2.00 0.10Small staff limits breadth and depth of events and programs

Outdated/Lack of Formal Objectives

0.05 3.00 0.15Limited formal strategic plan minimizes potential

Financial Resources/ Small Endowment 0.15 2.00 0.30


Poor marketing of the value proposition of membership 0.10 2.00 0.20


Totals 1.00 3.15

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Figure D: SFAS1 2 3 4 6

Stategic Factors Weight RatingWeighted

Score

Short

Intermediate

Long CommentsSmall Size (S) 0.10 5.00 0.50 X Association can change/update/implement new strategies fastLeadership (S) 0.15 3.00 0.45 X Active board and executive director and staffPoor marketing of the value proposition of membership (W)

0.20 2.00 0.40X


Financial Resources/ Small Endowment (W) 0.15 2.00 0.30X


Electronic Payment Methods (O) 0.15 1.00 0.15 X Convenience could increase renewalsBleak Job Outlook for Recent Grads (O) 0.05 2.00 0.10 X Promote networking opportunities to soon to be gradsHigh Unemployment (T) 0.15 2.00 0.30

XExisting members may cancel membership if they become unemployed

Elimination of Tax Deductions (T) 0.05 3.00 0.15 X No tax incentive for big donationsTotal Scores 1.00 2.35

Duration 5

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD RETREAT

Strategic Audit Discussion Group Topics

We will gather into assigned groups to ensure that each group features Directors representing the various Alumni Association committees. Following are the set of questions to ponder. There will be a facilitator assigned to each group to aid in note-taking and discussion as necessary. Please budget your time to allow your group to cover your assigned questions and identify a reporter to share back.

1. ALL GROUPS cover these questions:

a. What did you think of the Strategic Audit and its analysis?

b. What are the concepts or recommendations that stood out?

c. What is missing from the report that should have been included?

2. ASSIGNED topic questions. This Strategic Audit is our first step in moving towards an Organizational Marketing Plan (to be completed by the end of this Board year). The purpose of the Strategic Audit is to make sure we understand our organization and the opportunities we have to make improvements. As we work to expand the knowledge of our organization by developing an Organizational Marketing Plan, it is essential that we address any barriers to participation. Each group’s discussion topic represents one of the desired outcomes of any plan that is developed.

a. Group 1: Visibility—we want the community to literally see alumni and the Alumni Association wherever they turn and be reminded of our presence in the region. Brainstorm ways to truly get our logo and brand more visible.

b. Group 2: Awareness of the Alumni Association—we want to move forward in developing a broader awareness of the Alumni Association and the benefit we provide to the campus and its alumni. Going beyond visual recognition, brainstorm ways to get our message and content more widely received.

c. Group 3: Presence in the Sacramento Region and Beyond—we want to stretch beyond the Sacramento Region. Brainstorm mechanisms to expand our geographic reach and build pride with alumni and prestige for the University.

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Documents

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD RETREAT THE WELL February 10, …sacstatealumni.com/Attachments/Board Retreat Feb 2012.pdf · BALANCE SHEET Cash in the Bank $191,079 Investment (Merrill