What do your constituents think about your programs and services? What kinds of activities are your donors likely to fund? Should your organization initiate a new program?

Rather than resort to using telepathic powers or mind reading, an online survey is a powerful research tool that can deliver the feedback you need. Paper-based surveys are often too costly and time-consuming to administer, but online surveys make it easy for any organization to get feedback on the cheap.

Application service providers (ASP) supply the software for most online survey tools, so you won't need to install anything on your computer. Simply use your Web browser to access the tool's control panel where you can easily create a survey and customize your layout.

Once you've created your survey, send e-mail invitations to respondents asking them to take your survey. Or, you can post a link to the survey on your Web site. To get the most responses, both methods can be used in tandem.

Survey tools automatically collect and tally responses in "real-time," which means you can watch the results come in as they're being submitted. Results are often organized and presented graphically using various charts and tables (some tools can even produce reports based on the survey results). Share the results with members of your staff, and even with survey respondents.

Consider These Features When Choosing A Survey Tool

Price:

Unless you opt for a free tool, pricing will vary. Expect to pay weekly, monthly, quarterly, or on an annual basis; per-survey; or per-response.

Number of Surveys:

Refers to the maximum number of surveys you can create.

Number of Questions:

Refers to the maximum number of questions you can ask in each survey you create.

Number of Responses:

Refers to the maximum number of people who can respond to each survey you create.

Storage:

Refers to how long -- in days, weeks, or months -- the survey data will be kept available for access.

Support:

Most survey tools are easy to use, but it's good to know that support is available if you need it.

Ten Steps to Conducting an Effective Online Survey

Step 1

Clearly define the purpose of the survey. The first essential step to conducting an effective survey is to clearly define your objectives. What do you want to learn? For example, you might be interested in:

• Evaluating your Web site's features and content (a Web site feedback survey).
• Measuring the effectiveness of your programs or services (program satisfaction survey).
• Finding out whether subscribers find your newsletter informative (newsletter satisfaction survey).

Remember to be clear and specific when defining your objectives. If your goals aren't clear from the very beginning, your results won't be either.

Step 2

Determine your participants and what information you need. Once you've defined your goals, consider whom your survey will target (members, Web site visitors, employees, etc.) and what kind of information to collect from your participants.

Step 3

Develop a questionnaire. Relate each of your survey questions back to your primary objective and resist the urge to ask questions that don't contribute to your goal. Be sure to keep the survey short: It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to complete. Keep in mind that the fewer questions you ask, the more people will participate.

There are several kinds of question types that you can use in your survey, including: single-choice, multiple-choice, drop-down menu questions, rating scales, and open-ended. Consider the following tips when preparing your questions:

• Keep questions clear, concise and to the point. Make your questions easy to understand by using simple language and avoiding jargon and acronyms.
• Place important questions at the beginning of the survey and demographic questions (such as age, gender, location, etc.) at the end.
• Avoid asking leading questions that suggest an answer.
• Provide some space to tell more. Allow participants to add their own comments by including one or two open-ended questions ("Please explain…" or "Please tell us why…").
• Start the questionnaire with a brief introduction that explains the purpose of your research, how to complete the survey, an estimate of how much time it will take, and what will happen with the results.
• At the end of your questionnaire, be sure to thank respondents for their participation.

Step 4

Format your survey. Pay close attention to the way you design and order your survey questions, as this will play a key role in determining how they're interpreted by respondents.

Be sure to put questions in a logical order with related questions grouped together. Make sure all response options are covered. Put your organization's logo on the survey, but limit the use of graphics as they can cause delays in downloading Web pages. Choose an appropriate font and background. Using a common font such as Verdana or Arial on a standard white background will make the survey easy to read.

Step 5

Motivate people to participate. Consider offering participants an incentive to complete the survey in order to generate the most responses. Material goods, such as free gifts, special prize drawings, or cash are good enticements. Simply telling respondents that you'll share the results with them is another type of incentive that can be effective.

Maximize survey responses by tailoring the incentive to your target group. Inform participants about the incentive in your e-mail invitations, and mention it also in the introduction of the survey. At the end of the survey, let respondents know when they can expect to receive their reward and make sure you deliver on this promise.

Step 6

Decide how to distribute the survey. Your method of distribution will depend on the type of survey you're conducting and who participates. As discussed earlier, there are two ways to deploy your survey using a survey tool.

One way is to send an e-mail greeting respondents and invite them to take your survey. Be sure to use a subject line that's relevant and compelling, include a URL to the survey in your message, address messages using your e-mail's BCC (blind carbon copy) field, and make sure the "From" field contains a valid e-mail address, otherwise the message may be regarded as spam. You can also use a tool to create a link to your survey and post it on your site. Your visitors can then click the link to access your survey.

Step 7

Pre-test the survey. Before sending out the survey, pre-test it on a small group of respondents to obtain their feedback. While you can pre-test the survey on a sample of your actual respondents, your test group should ideally consist of colleagues and friends who can help you to identify such things as flawed questions and points of confusion within the survey. Use the feedback received from your test group to make the necessary revisions to the questionnaire.

Step 8

Launch the survey. Once you've completed all of the steps above, you're ready to conduct the survey, so go ahead and send it.

Step 9

Analyze the responses. Always keep in mind your objective (see Step 1) when analyzing survey responses. The conclusions you reach from your analysis should always relate back to your initial objective.

Step 10

Recommend a course of action. Finally, you'll need to identify a specific course of action -- the next step to take -- based on the conclusions you draw from the survey results. At this point, you should have a good idea of your next course of action.

Online Survey Tool Providers

With a wide variety of survey tools available, you're bound to find one that meets your needs and budget. In fact, some tools don't cost anything.

Infopoll Designer

Plans and pricing: You can download free survey software from the company's site page.

SuperSurvey

Plans and pricing: Basic (free plan), Silver (US$149 per active week), Gold (US$199 per active week) and Platinum (US$249 per active week). Quarterly pricing plans also available. Discount pricing offered to nonprofits, governmental, and educational institutions. Visit this link to view a feature comparison chart chart.

SurveyMonkey

Plans and pricing: Basic Subscription (free plan), Monthly Pro (US$19.95/month), and Annual Pro Subscription (US$200/year).

SurveyGold

Plans and pricing: Individual License (US$129 per copy), Free 30-day trial. Discount pricing and volume discounts for multi-user licenses offered to nonprofits, governmental, and educational institutions.

Zoomerang

Plans and pricing: Basic (free plan), zNonProfit (US$350/year), zEducation (US$350/year), zPro (US$599/year). Monthly pricing also available. View a product comparison .

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