Member survey, ideas needed - questions, length, and such ....

Started by JohhnyD, November 10, 2019, 03:03:53 PM

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JohhnyD

My unit CC has asked that I prep a survey to better get to know our members and cadet parents. Part of this is driven by the NHQ "matching funds"  challenge so that we can identify the companies we have a relationship with through our members.

Any model questions, wording, ideas etc welcome. My plan, unless a better idea comes up, is to use the MailChimp / SurveyMonkey integration.

(And any ideas on a CRM to use the answers better than MailChimp welcome as well!)

etodd

Simply send all the Matching Funds Challenge info out to your members and ask them to consider if their company might be a candidate. 

Making a survey so leadership can start badgering members about their employers isn't the way to go.  Keep it simple, and let those members who are interested do what they can.
"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

arajca

Instead of a survey, meet with each. It's more personal, shows the members you value them, and makes them feel better. Have a few standard questions, likely different for seniors and cadets, but definitely be open to their responses. Try hard to avoid getting defensive if the provide criticism, but make note of what they say. If you have a chaplain, get them to sit in with you when meeting with cadets.

baronet68

People like to take surveys quickly and will be more frank if given the opportunity
to remain anonymous, so avoid the temptation to ask for name, rank, and serial number.

Keep it short, the survey should comprise of no more than 10 total questions and,
except for the last question, they should ALL be succinct multiple-choice questions with
no more than 5 options. 

The last question should be optional and open-ended to allow an opportunity for those
interested to share their deepest, darkest desires.

Recommend you avoid asking open-ended questions about the future.  For example,
asking cadets, "What kinds of activities should be do next year?" will either get no
response (people don't know what they don't know) or a rehash of existing activities
(because people at least know what they've done before.  Instead, offer some examples
to choose from and allow other ideas to be included in the last question.

Here's a sample of the survey we did with participants of a recent activity:
http://mcchord.org/survey/survey_example.html


Regarding matching funds, I'd probably ask questions like:
- Did you know CAP is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization? (yes/no)
- Does your employer (insert link here to list of 19,000 companies) offer donation
  matching or provide grants for your personnel volunteer service?
- Which program at Podunk Squadron would derive the greatest benefit from by
  receiving a financial donation? (list up to five tangible unit program needs such
  as model rocketry, ES equipment, aircrew vests, color guard flags, etc.)
- Do you think your company/employer would be interested in partnering with
  Podunk Squadron to support a future activity or event? (yes/no)
Michael Moore, Lt Col, CAP
National Recruiting & Retention Manager