This week, Pillar Nonprofit Network is launching a series of occasional micro-surveys, beginning with a 2-minute questionnaire asking members about their experiences with funders and funding meant to help better inform the action promised in our strategic plan. We're calling it Information for Action.
Like most membership organizations, Pillar conducts regular surveys so that members are actively shaping our priorities and our programs. We’ve been grateful for the response and engagement of our members. The information we collected in 2020 and 2021 continues to shape our programs and services in 2022.
But we also know that things are changing quickly and, to make sure that our actions are truly evidence-informed, we need to refresh the information we use, particularly in a sector that has long suffered from a general data deficit. In hopes of maintaining high participation, putting information into action quickly and effectively, and continuing to report back to members and the community in a timely way, we've made the decision this year to ask for smaller chunks of data when we're ready to act on it.
Membership Engagement Manager, Paul Seale says, “At the onset of the pandemic, we received 200 survey responses in two days and shared that data with our members and the media a week later. That really helped to shape the way that we and the community worked together to support the sector. We recognize that, after two years, many members continue to be stretched thin and there may be some survey fatigue. So we want to make it easy to keep the high participation rate we’ve seen in the past and easy to see the results in action.”
In the first edition of these micro-surveys – Information for Action #1– Pillar is asking members about their experiences with funders and funding over the course of the pandemic. We know from media reports that local funders are being swamped with funding requests. We’re seeking to learn how this is being felt by the full membership.
And how will we put the responses into action?
- We'll share it back with our members, quickly;
- We'll use it to shape our programming and services;
- We’ll share it with local and national media contacts so they can better understand the sector and the challenges its facing;
- We'll share it with our sector network partners across Ontario and Canada (anchored by the Ontario Nonprofit Network, Imagine Canada, and the Equitable Recovery Collective);
- We'll use the data to shape our advocacy to governments at the local, provincial, and national level; and
- We'll use it to shape our advocacy to funders and grant-makers, locally and nationally.
Pillar members can take the 2-minute survey here.
Other interested parties can preview the survey here.
For questions about the survey, please email Paul Seale at policy@pillarnonprofit.ca.