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Why SurveyMonkey Isn't Always Enough

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Using online surveys is an excellent way to connect with members of your organization. One of the biggest applications is SurveyMonkey. But biggest doesn't automatically mean best. Now that you've mastered the online survey, find out why SurveyMokey isn't always enough to meet your needs.

Last time, this blog walked you through using an online survey application, like SurveyMonkey, to connect with the members of your organization. SurveyMonkey may be an easy way to throw together a quick membership survey, but it can't do it all.

Avoid Manual Entry of SurveyMonkey Results

If you are only polling a couple dozen community members, SurveyMonkey may be good enough for you. But as membership numbers add up into the hundreds, you and your volunteers or staff will have to spend a lot of time plugging community members' responses into your membership database.

Avoid double entry by using custom polling software by Provisio Technology Solutions. Provisio's survey solutions integrate with your back-end databases, so all the answers get imported automatically into the same tables, reports, and spreadsheets you already use to run your organization.

Restricted Access Survey Responses

Not every survey should go to every member of the community. SurveyMonkey can send your survey to demographic subsets within your contact list. But if you have a large database you'll spend a lot of time checking and double-checking that the wrong people aren't invited to vote.

Provisio's custom online polling solution integrates with Mail Chimp or your proprietary contact management system. That will let you take advantage of all your contact lists, groups, and subsets, without any manual entry.

Restricted access online surveys also allow your board of directors to vote online without worrying about email security or the possibility that the wrong person gets access to the poll. By requiring each board member to log in before casting their vote, your organization will be able to ensure confidentiality, while at the same time making voting accessible and convenient for your board members.

Weighted Voting

SurveyMonkey has a simple survey structure: one answer, one vote. But if your organization uses weighted voting, you will be the one doing the math to make sure each member receives the proper voice.

If you don't want to be on the hook for every math error, you could let your computer do it instead. An integrated community polling solution can apply whatever weight you assign to each member's response. By entering the weighted value once, you ensure your members votes are counted properly every time.

SurveyMonkey may be good enough for small communities or informal organizations. But if your organization is growing, complicated, or hoping to step up its professionalism, you may need more than free has to offer. Provisio Technology Solutions can create a custom survey application for you that will make your surveys more efficient, accurate, and polished. If you need a custom online survey application for your business or organization, contact Provisio Technology Solutions today to schedule a meeting.