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Survey Tools
Surveys are one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get information from a lot of people. Survey platforms are widely available, and many are free or cheap (to a point). The world of survey platforms can also quickly get confusing. If you need support, we can help you create and analyze a survey, or we have emPower Tools to guide you.
Ways to Use Surveys
Client Feedback
See if your clients are getting the services they need to improve your programs.
Community Needs Assessment
Understand the needs and priorities of your community.
Program Evaluation
Measure your program impacts, including measuring change over time.
Event Feedback
Get feedback on training, workshops, forums, etc. What went well, and what could have gone better?
Strategic Planning
Gather needs and goals from stakeholders to inform your goals, mission and vision.
Employee Feedback
Gather feedback, and accomplishments, to celebrate staff and support growth.
What to Look For in a Survey Platform
Branding
To include logo, colors and/or custom text to look more professional and cohesive.
Use Limits
Find the right size based on how many surveys you will send in a month/year, and question allowances.
Question Types
Be sure you can ask the questions you want (choose one, multiple select, open text, etc.).
Piping or Skip Logic
You may want the ability to have respondents to skip questions that do not apply to them, or to pipe different people into different parts of a survey.
Export Options
Consider what you will do with the responses, and your analysis plan; make sure you can export to Excel, .csv, or the format you need.
Security
Be sure the platform meets the level of security you will need, based on the data you are collecting (e.g., identifiable information)
Free and Low-Cost Survey Platforms
Note: Prices are current as of May 2020. Prices may change! Please explore each platform’s website, and contact the company with any specific questions you have. This is not an endorsement of any of these products, just suggestions for further exploration.
Google Forms
Free, with unlimited questions, responses and surveys.
Compatible with other Google Products like Google Sheets.
Customizable with photos, colors and logo.
Themes and templates to help style your survey.
Many question types.
Page branching and skip logic.
Easy to create, edit and collaborate with a team.
Sogolytics
Has a free Non-Profit License (equivalent to $25/month package).
Free version has limits on surveys, questions and responses.
Paid version (free for non-profits) has more question types, piping of questions, lets you add a logo and allows for multilingual surveys.
10-day free trial of paid package to see if it is a good fit for your org.
Survey Monkey
Basic plan is free but very limited (10 questions per survey).
Paid packages: Can pay monthly (Standard package, $99/month) or save by paying annually (Advantage package, $32/month).
Can customize logo, colors and survey URL.
Can export to use with Excel or PowerPoint.
Some skip logic and piping, based on package.
SurveyGizmo
Has non-profit pricing (must contact them for quote).
40+ question types, branding including colors, fonts and logos, templates to get you started.
Data visualization and export tools, for use with various databases, including Google Sheets.
Free trial available: up to 3 surveys at a time, 100 responses per survey, and unlimited questions.
JotForm
Free plan available for 5 forms with up to 500 total submission storage.
Monthly subscription plans range from $29/month, $39/month or $99/month.
Yearly subscription plans drop to $24/month, $29/month or $79/month.
Discount for nonprofits up to 50%, which never expires.
TypeForm
Free version has unlimited questions and answers with data export.
Custom design themes or choose from templates.
Supports basic reporting.
Pro version: $25/month, includes fields, calculator feature for scoring/pricing, options to send follow-up emails to respondents.
Non-profit discount: monthly 25%, annually 40%.