California Boys’ State Delegate Survey & Results Tim Aboudara, Chief Counselor, CGBS Boys’ State Directors’ Conference September 25, 2010

Overview Past Practice Why We Changed What We Chose To Do How We Did It Sampling of What We Asked The Results What We Learned What We’re Going To Do Differently Other Ways We’re Using the Tools Our Investment “Piggyback” Us! Questions

Past Practice 1937-(First Year of Program) Legal Sheet of paper with very simple questions Past 30+ Years-Delegate “Participation Form” Daily Summary of “Highlights” Form Sent to Boys’ State District Chairmen Discovered that 90% of District Chairmen did nothing with the information! Past 30+ Years-Staff Evaluation Fairly Informal Asked 5-6 Basic Questions

Why We Changed Implemented Online Registration This gave us a foundation on which we could build We took a “corporate look” at what we were providing in the program We had an idea of what those delivering the program thought but we had no idea what our “customers” thought about the experience we were trying to deliver Wanted to get a “baseline” measurement from which we could work on improvement Starting to really survey our delegates supported our goal of Continuous Improvement and Pursuit of Excellence Most of the improvements we have been able to achieve have come from discussions that have taken place at this Conference

What We Chose To Do We had to find a “backbone” to support the “mass” needs for Online Registration (The Department of California did not have the ability to do large scale “broadcast” s that we could control within the Boys’ State Program.) After extensive research, we settled on Constant Contact located in Colorado (Had previous experience with them from a prior work position.) As we settled on them we learned that they could also provide us with not only “broadcast” s but Online Surveys with “instant” updated results

Samples of What We Asked Total Number of Questions Asked: 53 Topics Covered: Effectiveness of Counselors (City, County, etc.) Effectiveness of Orientation City “Bonding” General Assembly “Programs” “Optional” Programs Guest Speakers State Capitol Visit and Opportunity to Meet with Legislators Major Candidate Debates “Core Values” Questions

Survey response rate was good, and responses were prompt 926 survey invitations sent to 2010 delegates – no prior notification 562 Opens – 60.7% 334 Responses – 36.1% 290 Completed Surveys – 31.3% More than half of total responses received in first two days 95% Confidence Interval + / - 4.8% Margin of Error 95% Confidence Interval + / - 4.8% Margin of Error

The Results By any “corporate” measure, the response was very good Data is statistically significant Responses were predominantly from delegates who were elected or appointed to an office Identified areas where results were very positive Delegates evaluation of: City Counselors County Counselors Party Counselors Majority of our “outside” speakers 1937 Boys’ State Delegates Members of the Legislature

The Results Opportunities for Improvement Oratorical Contest Legal Advocacy Food (somewhat) Help strengthen District Orientations Core Values: Biggest—99% of the delegates said that they would vote in the first election for which they are eligible Will talk to others to encourage them to request an interview to attend next year Boys’ State was as good or better than any other summer program—95% Very likely they will get more involved in government, politics community service

What We Learned/We’ll Do Differently The “Scoring System” we used needs to be “reversed” to better Interpret results Use more “drop down” choices: Ask them what “County” they were in Use drop down of cities in that county so we can better measure the response rate by city. (This will allow us to recognize those City Counselors who talked to their cities before the program ended to encourage them to respond.) Do a better job of Yes/No questions to see if they participated in a a particular activity. If Yes, then open up questions so we’re getting responses only from participants

What We Learned/We’ll Do Differently Expand Questions about: Food Legal Advocacy Oratorical Contest Public Speaking 101 Facilities Offer “Manual of Government” online so that delegates can prepare for the Bar Exam (this should increase our “participation rate” in the Bar Exam) Re-examine content of “class” for candidates running for Statewide Constitutional Offices to improve quality of speeches

Other Ways to Use the Tools Broadcast Tools Reach Out to Parents Facebook Fan Page Contribute to Foundation Follow-up to Delegates Encourage to join Alumni Association Annual Newsletter to Members (Promised for several years but poorly executed) Survey results: Program Improvements Great information to use in grant requests/Corporate Donations

Our Investment Pricing is included in handout California Program Investment Broadcast for up to 2500 “active” addresses: $ for 12 months (includes 30% non-profit discount with unlimited s) Online Survey for up to 5000 survey responses monthly: $126.00

“Piggyback” Us This is not a sales presentation! Contact information for our representative at Constant Contact is in the handout If you choose to use our username (timaboudara) when you sign up, you will receive a $25.00 credit

Questions

Thank You!!