Survey Revelations: A Sharp Insight Case Study
What A Member Survey Revealed to A Network of Nonprofit Organizations
A Sharp Insight Case Study
special thanks to Capitol Hill Village and the DC Village Network
“This network of nonprofit organizations collectively engaged Sharp Insight to create a city-wide member survey, allowing them to maximize resources, deepen learning, and elevate results.”
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In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic descended upon Washington, DC, Villages across the city jumped into action to support their members - maximize their existing connections, services, and volunteer base to respond quickly to member needs. Throughout the pandemic, Villages have remained nimble, providing a wide range of programs and services to members, even as the landscape continually changed.
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A year after the first closures happened in Washington, DC, vaccines became more widely available, and the prospect of businesses reopening was on the horizon. At this transitional moment, DC Villages wanted to learn about their members’ experiences during the pandemic and their plans to engage with Village activities as COVID restrictions were being lifted. To achieve this goal, and with funding from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments through the Federal Transit Administration Enhanced Mobility program, the network of DC Villages, spearheaded by Capitol Hill Village, turned to Sharp Insight to assist them with conducting a survey of their members in the summer of 2021.
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Building on our experience conducting a multi-Village survey in 2018, we knew that the experience would be most successful if there was a balance between gathering holistic information about the entire Village network and an opportunity to add value to each participating Village. In support of this ambitious task, we focused on strong connections, a participatory survey design process, and customized approaches to survey implementation and reporting.
We included the full group of Village Executive Directors throughout the process, enabling them to have ownership over components like content, timing, and methods.
We intentionally grounded the survey in research-informed items, incorporating relevant items from a previous DC Village survey and similar research nation-wide.
We created opportunities for DC Villages to add unique items to their survey, allowing them to maximize the tool and gather unique data from their community.
We supported member communication by developing templates that aligned communication across Villages and increased overall response rates.
We shared findings in multiple ways, including a visual summary of key findings, a full technical report, and customized summaries of each Village’s data were created.
We sought feedback from each partner organization through a leadership survey and will use findings to strengthen future multi-Village evaluation efforts.
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In early 2022, the DC Villages 2021 Member Survey Executive Summary was released to the public. Through this work, DC Villages learned that, while the majority of member survey respondents tended to be self-sufficient, many were still in need of support. In fact, Sharp Insight’s analyses revealed that five key member characteristics were significant differentiators of experience among Village members. Villages across the District have used these key findings to strategically focus their engagement efforts on reaching and supporting their community members most in need. Detailed information is included in the Executive Summary linked below.
View The DC Village Member Survey Executive Summary Report
If you are interested in a survey of your own, we’re here to help! Contact us today to discuss partnering with Sharp Insight.