Page 6 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 3 Spring 2013

ACTION
In March, Alumni Horae asked readers to
provide some of their thoughts about the
magazine. Two surveys were distributed,
each to 1,600 alumni chosen at random
from the SPS database of e-mail addresses.
One survey, developed in-house by the
Alumni and Communications Offices,
drew 428 responses. The second survey,
conducted through the Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) and which asked a longer series
of questions, received 197 responses.
The CASE instrument compared the
responses to those from surveys of 14
other independent school alumni maga-
zines. Both surveys indicate that the
Horae is the most significant source of
information about St. Paul’s for alumni
and that, for a strong majority (95 percent
in the CASE survey), it strengthens their
connection to the School.
The CASE survey asked about readers’
broad interest in the magazine. About
three-fourths of SPS alumni indicate they
“typically read” every issue, compared to
about two-thirds of other schools’ alumni
who read their magazine. Ninety-five
percent read every issue or most issues.
Some 19 percent report reading all of the
magazine, with 46 percent reading most
of it, 35 percent reading some, and, not
surprisingly because they were interested
enough to take the lengthy survey, no one
reported reading none of it (although three
percent say they “discard it immediately”).
Almost half of readers keep the magazine
more than a month.
As with virtually every other alumni
magazine, formnotes and obituaries are
the sections most readers turn to first.
Other news, profiles, and features about
alumni are particularly well read, espe-
cially, according to CASE, alumni in their
professions (70 percent were interested
or very interested) and in their personal
lives (54 percent).
News and features related to school life
gathered even more interest. Most read-
ers like stories about SPS history and
traditions (83 percent are “interested” or
“very interested”), current academic trends,
campus controversies, and the status of
admissions. Stories about fundraising
and individual donors generate the least
interest, as for other schools’ magazines.
Alumni Horae asked . . .
and you answered.
smart-phone version (24 percent) and
for a tablet Horae (35 percent). Enriching
the magazine’s content with additional
material on the web draws only 15 percent
of the CASE respondents, who would “very
likely” read it.
In general, readers express satisfaction
with the magazine. The CASE survey re-
veals that 88 percent of readers find the
magazine’s content “good” (56 percent)
or “excellent” (32 percent) with the same
percentage liking the layout and design.
The photography generates a 94-percent
approval rating.
In addition to their multiple-choice
questions, both surveys provided a num-
ber of opportunities for written responses,
including a question in the SPS-developed
survey about favorite recent articles: the
three most cited were about the decline
of three-sport athletes (Fall 2012), Sam
von Trapp ’90 and preserving the Sound
of Music legacy (Fall 2012), and the alumni
involved in the Titanic disaster (Winter
2012). About 100 readers addressed the
question “Is there anything else you wish
to tell us about Alumni Horae ?” Some
responses were short (“no” and “more
people should contribute to formnotes”)
but many were more complete, such as
the one that included the comment “Often
‘the privilege’ that emanates from Alumni
Horae is off-putting in a world filled with
compounded disadvantages.”
And some addressed the Horae staff
directly: “God Bless you all! Thank you for
your excellent work!”
From the editor: We are very grateful
to those of you who took the time to
evaluate our work. We look forward
to continuing to bring you the stories of
SPS and its alumni.
– Jana Brown
The CASE survey asked respondents
to rate the ways in which Alumni Horae
strengthens their connection to St. Paul’s,
with 92 percent saying it reminds them of
their own experiences at the School and
82 percent answering that is connects
them to their formmates. Fifty-one per-
cent of respondents have contacted a
friend as a result of reading Alumni Horae,
while the magazine has prompted 48 per-
cent to make a donation to St. Paul’s.
In an age when institutions continually
deliberate about print vs. online publica-
tions, some 90 percent of CASE responders
and 81 percent of those who answered
the SPS-developed survey want to con-
tinue reading the print version of Alumni
Horae . There is limited interest for a
Fifty-one percent
of respondents
have contacted
a friend as a
result of reading
Alumni Horae . . .
4