Public Relations Commentary

Increasingly, public relations pracititioners have to know not only how to write for the Web, but also how to manage and respond to blog postings. This blog was created to use in my public relations courses to help my students prepare to blog and learn how to respond to others in a virtual yet professional manner.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Survey research for NPOs

As a consumer, I have had the most experience with online surveys. Usually, I do them when there is an incentive involved. I signed up with a survey research company because they have a monthly drawing for prizes. Also, after I fill out a certain number of surveys (that number is unbeknownst to me), I get a $10 American Express card. Now that I think about it, that's a pretty lame incentive...but nonetheless I do it anyway. I keep hoping I'll win one of the other, bigger prizes I suppose.
It was for this reason that I was surprised at the survey research results in the "Response Rates" article. First of all, I found it pretty weird that they included a $5 bill in the mailing. I wouldn't think this is a good idea for any type of research - philanthropic or otherwise. But I thought for sure they would get a better response rate when they promised a $50 donation to the NPO upon completion of the survey. That seems like 'easy money' for the NPO to earn without having to put out much effort to get that donation.
But I think that because I work in and study higher education, I have gained an appreciation for the value of research. I don't mind participating in surveys. In fact, one of my Alternative Spring Break teammates put up a post on Facebook asking her friends to fill out a survey for her class, and even though she didn't specifically ask me to participate, I volunteered to help her out. My friends often come to me when they need to do surveys for their classes because I'm happy to help. I enjoy conducting research, but that is not really a part of my curriculum.
I really liked that the "Challenges and Their Implications" article broke down the costs to conduct each type of survey research. I would be interested to know what percentage of surveys are done via the web. I also found it interesting that it takes so long for the research results to be incorporated back into the design, format, and presentation of surveys. I feel like we have a much faster turn around in the higher ed world, but we may also produce more research than that of philanthropic studies research.

1 Comments:

  • At 1:15 AM, March 18, 2008, Blogger Jon Pharr said…

    For some reason I also do the online surveys. Back when I was in high school I signed up to do market research surveys and even though the prize that I received were never very large, I kept on doing them. If Non-Profit agencies were able to find something that would attract more views to complete surveys, which would all more incentive for viewers to participate.

     

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