Advice
I am working on and online survey and am having a bit of a problem that I would appreciate some feedback on. The audience for this survey is curriculum supervisors and administrators who hire art teachers. The National Art Education Association will not give me (or sell me) their email addresses because they do not have them. They did sell me their addresses (snail mail) on mailing labels. So, now I am basically stuck using some type of paper solicitation to get the curriculum supervisors to participate in this survey.
I have a small grant to cover the cost of mailing postcards to the supervisors, but that is all. I am wondering if you have any ideas about how I could get a higher response rate. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Comments
I know that the supervisors for Hanrico, Richmond, Chesterfield, and Hanover all communicate together. It would be time consuming but you could try looking up a few supervisors from each state online via the county websites, and asking them to spread the word from there. Also, you could try to snag people at the NAEA conference. Maybe you could have a notice put in the program or have an announcement made.
Posted by: Laura | February 13, 2008 5:04 PM
I run into these challenges frequently...
1. You would be surprised at how easily you can uncover the appropriate email addresses with the list that you have. Google is often overlooked when used in conjunction with offline contact info.
2. Can you do at least two mailings? They can be simple, but your response rate will definitely increase.
Also-don't be afraid to ask for 2.5 minutes (or whatever time the survey requires) on the postcard. Keep it from feeling like a burden.
Posted by: Mike | February 26, 2008 11:20 PM