Conducting Concerns Surveys

What is a concerns survey? A survey in which citizens identify the most important issues facing their community. 2

Results can then be used to: help form strategies to deal with community problems maintain things that work rally the community around a cause build consensus 3

Why conduct a concerns survey? You should start off with people's concerns It involves community members in the decision-making process early on It's a useful source of information for initiatives, funders, and participants It's easy to do It helps set the work agenda It builds consensus 4

As many local people as possible! Who should you survey? As many local people as possible! 5

How to prepare a concerns survey: Consider budget & resources Put together a working group to design the survey Invite selected decision makers to submit additional survey items Prepare a 30-item survey with additional demographic info 6

How to prepare a concerns survey (cont.): For every selected issue ask: how important the issue is to citizens? how satisfied citizens are with community efforts on the issue? 7

Distributing a concerns survey Direct mail is most common. Other methods: Drop boxes Media distribution Convenience sampling Group administration Door-to-door canvassing You may also want to consider using multiple methods of distribution 8

Collecting the surveys: Gather incoming surveys collected at participating sites Review returned surveys Secure a larger return, if necessary 9

Analyzing and Compiling the Results: Average the importance & satisfaction for each item Rank items according to the ones that have the highest percentages of importance Strengths: high ratings in both importance and satisfaction Problems: rated high in importance but low satisfaction 10

Analyzing and Compiling the Results: Write up a brief report summarizing strengths, problems, and overall approval rating Identify five to ten strengths and five to ten problems Share the above information with your staff. 11

What next? Conduct a public meeting: Review main strengths & problems Lead separate discussions on each issue Afterwards, write a one-page narrative for each issue discussed 12

Prepare a concerns report Should consist of: Executive memo Brief report Data table Discussion report Demographic data & other displays Suggestions on how to use the report in the planning process 13