Online surveys as a feedback tool for non-profits
Involving members, employees and other relevant internal and external stakeholders is one of the fundamental tasks of many charitable associations, federations, foundations and other non-profit organisations. After all, the successful implementation of projects and achievement of objectives depend on the commitment and motivation of those involved. A member-focused approach with a strong public profile therefore requires regular feedback from within the organisation and from other key target groups, such as donors, partners and funders. In this context, online surveys have proved to be a cost-effective and time-efficient tool. With the LamaPoll survey tool, NPOs and NGOs can easily conduct employee and member surveys, collect data for academic studies, run online votes and elections, or evaluate their own services and projects.
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Benefits of online surveys
Alongside general meetings and information events where issues can be discussed and opinions assessed, feedback is increasingly collected independently of a particular location or event. Online surveys have proved to be a cost-effective and time-efficient tool in this context. Compared with paper-and-pencil surveys, online surveys offer high data quality, appealing questionnaires with multimedia elements and straightforward analysis. They make it possible to capture the opinions, expectations and needs of a large number of stakeholders within a short period of time.
The widespread acceptance of online surveys and their ease of access can also encourage strong participation. Clearly presented real-time results support rapid analysis and, where required, can also be used during an ongoing event.
Benefits of online surveys at a glance:
- cost-effective and time-efficient
- easy access
- broad acceptance and strong participation
- appealing, individually customisable questionnaires
- high data quality
- straightforward analysis
- real-time results
Objectives of online surveys
Online surveys support evidence-based decision-making. The specific objectives can vary considerably, but they generally begin with gathering information and collecting data. The topic or issue to be investigated depends on the situation and the underlying motivation. A survey objective usually arises from a specific need. Common aims include gathering opinions on a particular project, identifying strengths and weaknesses, capturing current sentiment, identifying areas for improvement, wishes and needs, or using employee and member surveys to assess satisfaction.
Online surveys can also be used to find out whether, for example, a new strategic direction reflects the wishes of members or donors, whether a website is user-friendly, whether services are well received, or whether new event formats are wanted.
You can use our questionnaire template for member surveys as a starting point. It focuses in particular on member satisfaction. You can copy the template to your LamaPoll account with one click and adapt it there.
Non-profits: applications and survey examples
Online surveys are generally used to actively collect feedback and opinions on specific topics, evaluate services and offerings, or identify patterns, trends and developments. Applications range from regular short surveys, such as pulse surveys, to comprehensive feedback surveys as part of quality management. Different survey formats can be used depending on the objective, such as gathering information, retaining, activating or recruiting members, planning events or projects, optimising processes or assuring quality.
Non-profits frequently use online surveys for projects and activities such as:
- evaluating their own educational and other services (quality assurance)
- assessing member satisfaction (member retention)
- collecting data for academic studies (research)
- planning events and developing future projects (participation)
- monitoring the implementation of change initiatives (change management)
- surveying the work and time commitment of volunteers (motivation)
- monitoring and reporting on their own work (transparency)
You can use our questionnaire templates as a starting point, copy them to your account and adapt them as required:
Online surveys with LamaPoll
The LamaPoll survey tool can be used as a feedback tool for all of the applications described above. LamaPoll is easy to use, offers maximum security and 100% data protection. Questionnaires can be individually customised and are optimised for mobile devices. This makes it easy to collect feedback in a way that is tailored to the relevant audience.
LamaPoll stands for maximum security and the highest level of data protection:
- Full data sovereignty: You retain full control at all times; we never disclose data to third parties
- Certified data servers: Certified to DIN ISO 27001 and located exclusively in Germany
- Verified security: LamaPoll has undergone separate backend and frontend security checks involving the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the Alliance for Cyber Security, a penetration testing centre and an information security audit (IS Webcheck)
- Comprehensive encryption: All data, hard drives and related systems are encrypted. Security-critical data is encrypted at database-table level.
- Maximum data security: Multiple daily backups and redundant mirrored hard drives provide maximum security for your data
By the way: non-profit organisations can obtain the LamaPoll Basic annual plan as an IT donation via Stifter-helfen.de.
LamaPoll supports associations, federations, foundations and other non-profit organisations in their work for civil society. Since 2018, in cooperation with Stifter-helfen.de, the IT portal operated by Haus des Stiftens gGmbH, we have made our survey software available to charitable organisations as an IT donation. Further information about discounted plans is available here: donations for non-profits
