| Shareholders Respond
to Survey
This past spring, all CIRI shareholders were invited to participate
in a mail-out survey conducted by the Dittman Research Corporation
of Alaska. A “census” research design was featured,
which offered each CIRI shareholder an equal opportunity to respond.
Approximately 6,636 questionnaires were mailed to CIRI shareholders
on March 21, 2003. By the cut-off date, April 10, more than 2,000
questionnaires were returned.
According to the research, overall, shareholders report a highly
favorable opinion of CIRI. Shareholder interest is high (80 percent
“great amount”), CIRI performance is highly rated (87
percent “good/excellent”), CIRI is rated superior to
other regional corporations (85 percent), and personal pride in
CIRI membership is high (85 percent “quite/very proud”).
There is also strong support for CIRI’s investment approach
(81 percent).
CIRI pride is primarily associated with “business success,”
“protecting Native culture” and “dividends.”
And the one main element that ties everyone together is their common
“Native heritage and culture” (55 percent) followed
by “dividends” (25 percent).
Well over half of CIRI shareholders (61 percent) report they have
internet access; and among those who have access, two out of five
(40 percent) indicate they visit CIRI’s website at least once
a month. Other important and useful forms of communication for shareholders
were reported to be the CIRI Newsletter (89 percent), CIRI’s
annual report (81 percent), and shareholder participation committees
(71 percent).
|
