Nonprofit organizations are more likely to emerge stronger from tough economic times when they are communicating consistently and operating effectively, reports a new study by Fiscal Management Associates and ERE LLP its affiliated public accounting firm.

The report puts forth three principles to maximize fiscal resources — efficiency, reliability, and collaborative decision making — to serve as guides to address the challenges that organizations face at various growth stages.

The report gathers responses from 290 nonprofit organizations representing the full range of mission areas, budget sizes, and stages of development, from small start-up arts organizations to multi-million dollar city-wide social service agencies.

The questions cover a broad range of fiscal management areas and dig deeper into how financial information is generated and communicated within organizations, with questions about, staffing patterns, day-to-day accounting and fiscal management, budgeting and reporting, accounting software systems, communications with the external auditor, and communications with the board of directors.

The survey responses, organized by budget size, serve as a snapshot of nonprofit organizations poised on the brink of an economic recession. It is from this perspective that the results are presented as a guide to help nonprofits understand critical decisions around fiscal infrastructure and governance, and for their stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of practices and needs within the sector.

Download the report for free here: http://www.fmaonline.net/custom/survey.html

1. What is the survey about? It may seem obvious, but the email sent out did not indicate what area the survey covered (Strategic, fundraising, technology, marketing, HR, etc.). Also, the company’s name does not indicate what they do, so that didn’t provide any hints to what the survey was about). Offering more information would give the respondent more of an incentive to click through.
2. What’s in it for me? The “me” being the person you want to take the survey. Is there a benefit for them? Make it clear how and when will they get to see the results of the survey, and how will the information be practical to them.
3. Where’s the link? There was a nicely-designed JPG soliciting me to take the survey, but as a JPG, it didn’t contain a link. The link was on the bottom, crammed against the jpg, without a lead in, such as “Click here for the survey.” Make sure the link is very apparent.
4. How do I find the survey? When I clicked on that link, I had difficulty finding the survey (it’s the smallest type on the page). Why make me click to another page? Direct people to the survey page itself.
5. Are you wasting my time? Once clicking on the survey link, I was presented with 5 paragraphs of very small type in gray – this is a huge turnoff which led me to not participate in the survey. Write a very brief intro to get people motivated to take the survey.
6. What is this about? Reading the copy still did not give me a sense of how the survey would help a nonprofit. Rather than being an incentive to take the survey, this turned me off. Use every opportunity to sell the respondent on taking the next step in completing the survey.
7. How long will this take? It did indicate that it would take 15 – 20 minutes, which I consider a pretty high barrier in and of itself. But I would also want to know how many questions of screens. Indicating the number of questions, or page 1 of 5, gives me an idea of where I am in the process.

WAKE UP CALL: It’s tough to get responses to surveys, so you need to do everything you can to make it easy for people to take. It’s always a good idea to test your survey by asking a few people from different disciplines to take it.

Also, often people make assumptions about your audience that structures the questions in such a way as to provide not correct response. For example, as a consultant to the nonprofit sector, if I take a survey from a nonprofit association that I belong to, there is no provision for my designation, so they ask me questions as if I was a nonprofit.

Proper foresight as well as testing can help yield the best results. If you need help, please contact me at: howard@redroostergroup.com / 212.6739.9353.