4 Steps to Create a Parent Survey
At the time of this writing, it’s the end of the year. While we’re busy with all the Christmas prep, we also are keeping an eye on the new year. There are new initiatives, ministries, and programs we want to do. It’s all part of setting ministry goals for the next year.
But before we set off on those adventures, it’s important to look back and evaluate what we’ve done in the past. One of the things we must consider when looking back is the opinions of the people we’re serving.
I’ve written about this before in my evaluating events post. But you can’t just go by feeling on the effectiveness of what you’re doing. You also need actionable feedback from the people who participated.
That why on top of doing a survey at the end of each of my events, I also like to do a generalized parent survey around this time of year.
I have all the survey questions available for free download at the end of this post. But before you jump to the bottom, let’s talk about survey best practices.
1. Keep the survey short
Think about the surveys you’ve taken in the past. Did you like the ones that had 50 questions and asked for paragraph long responses on each page? Or are you more likely to complete one that is shorter with multiple choice options.
Personally, I’m in the second camp. That’s why I try to keep my survey questions to 10 questions or less. In addition, most of them are asking the participant to rate their opinion rather than an open-ended question. You can and should have open-ended questions. These are where you get the best information, but I wouldn’t do more than 3 in a 10 question survey.
I’m far more likely to abandon a survey if they want me to answer why I picked a response after every question. Your parents will too.
2. Make it easy to access
When asking someone’s opinion, you want to remove as much friction as possible. If your survey is on paper, hard to find, or asks for login information, your response rate is going to be lower.
I used to advocate for SurveyMonkey because they allowed you to have a 10 question survey for free. However, even that is behind a paywall now. As of this writing, you can use Google Forms or another free online form creator to create your survey.
Make sure to keep it anonymous. People will share their opinions more freely if they know there won’t be repercussions. Especially if it’s a negative opinion. I do ask for participant’s name and email address at the end, but that is completely optional. I’ll talk about why in my next point.
After you’ve created your survey, share it via email, post in in your social media page, and/or print a QR code. Put it in as many places as possible. Not everyone reads your email, checks social or even looks at the QR code. But they might look at one of those.
Keep reminding your parents until you’re sick of it. I usually like to run my survey for a few weeks if not for a whole month to make sure I get the most participation possible.
3. Provide an incentive
You need to pay people for their time. Even if it’s 5 minutes. I’m far more likely to take a survey that offers me a $30 or $50 gift card at the end.
But we’re in church world and our budgets are tight. We can’t afford that.
So, instead of giving something to everyone, provide a chance to win. Tell your respondents that if they take your survey, they’ll have a chance to win a $25 or $50 gift card to somewhere. It can be a Visa, Amazon, or something else. It doesn’t really matter.
Be specific about how much the card and what it’s too. I recently was asked to complete a yearly task. They offered to put me in a drawing for a gift card if I do it by the end of the week. I know I’m already going to do it before the end of the year. But a generic gift card is not a big enough incentive. I want to know how much and where to determine if it’s worth my time to do it now. Call it selfish, but your parents are thinking the same thing.
At the end of the survey, ask for their name and email address to be entered into the drawing. In my experience, most people will share this information just so they can win.
At the end of the survey period, pick the name out of a hat and send them the card. Also, notify everyone who shared their info who won in a separate email. Otherwise, they may think you didn’t follow through on your promise.
I like to use Amazon gift cards because I can send them via email. Then I don’t have to fool with physical mail.
4. Don’t require answers
When setting up any survey, you have the option of making the questions optional or required. Use that required button sparingly. People may not want to share that information with, but if you force it, they may answer negatively.
In addition, some of the questions you’re asking may not pertain to that parent. If you require an answer and don’t give them a “no opinion” option, it’s going to skew your data.
If you must require some answers, don’t require an open-ended question. Remember you want to keep the survey as frictionless as possible. If you’re forcing the respondents to give you a paragraph, they’ll likely abandon the survey. Your incentive is not worth the work.
The Survey Questions
A few years back, I wrote a post called 5 Things I Learned from a Parent Survey. It’s worth the read if you’re doing a parent survey in your ministry.
Many have asked for the questions via comments and email, so I’m sharing them with you today. Click here and I’ll share a word document with all the questions I used for my own parent survey. It also has a link to the survey laid out in a Google form that you can copy and use for your own ministry.
If you want to get a pulse on your ministry and determine where to put your focus, I strongly recommend a parent survey. It’ll set you up for a far more productive and effective year.
