Delivering A Survey

A practical guide to timing, outreach, incentives, and follow-up for program teams

The final instalment of our survey series: Should You Create a Survey? · Designing a Survey Part 1 · Part 2 · Delivering a Survey

Last updated: October 2026

You invested your time and energy in crafting the perfect survey. Every question is clear. The logic flows beautifully. You're confident that this will provide the insights your program desperately needs. You hit publish, send it to your mailing list, and wait for responses to roll in.

Three days later: a handful of responses. Mostly incomplete.

If this sounds familiar, don’t panic. You’re not alone. Even the most thoughtfully designed surveys fall flat when delivery goes wrong. When the questions are solid, a better survey response rate comes down to timing, who you ask, how you ask, and whether people trust you’ll do something with their answers.

Here are 7 steps we use to help ensure our surveys reach the right people and result in engagement.

1. Create a calendar of asks to avoid survey fatigue

2. Choose the right communication channels to reach the right people

3. Time your survey so it doesn’t feel opportunistic or cringe

4. Decide on incentives (and delivery) that make people feel appreciated and safe

5. Clarify who does what so nothing falls through the cracks

6. Track participation so you can pivot before it's too late

7. Share results back to build trust before your next ask

Step 1: Create a calendar of asks to avoid survey fatigue

Nothing is worse than overwhelming your participant pool with multiple or competing requests for survey participation. If you have multiple surveys running simultaneously, are cross-promoting surveys for external partners, or have back-to-back surveys stacked on top of each other, people may get confused.

Didn’t I already fill that out? Wait, which one is this? You’re asking me for more?

How do I schedule multiple surveys?

1. First, put all of your deadlines when data are due (e.g., funder reports, AGMs, community feedback sessions).

2. Then, block out low-engagement “no go” periods, like holidays. Your community might have additional context-specific times that are rough for gathering feedback (e.g., exam time for students, school holidays for parents).

3. Factor in the lead time you need to clean, analyze, and compile your data before it needs to be reported (this may take a few weeks, so be generous).

4. Finally, add your survey(s). If you have more than one you plan to publish corresponding to different projects or grant requirements, make sure the timing does not overlap. Depending on the length of the sampling period, you may need 1 or 2 reminders to keep the request top-of-mind. Even a short routine survey at the end of a program or event may still need a next-day or next-week reminder to ensure people get around to it.

   1. And, if you have automatic triggers for services (e.g., immediately after someone receives a service or attends an event) map your triggers to see how frequently one person may be bombarded with requests.

Pro tip:

The more time you have between surveys, the better. Spacing out requests for participation helps mitigate the risk of fatiguing your community and contributing to confusion or distrust. You may need to delay or pause one survey to ensure another one succeeds. Be prepared to ask your funder or Board for wiggle room on deadlines to promote a more thoughtful approach and yield higher-quality data.

Already over-surveyed your network? Participation can take time to bounce back, so be patient. Pause new surveys for a while, try other ways of gathering feedback, and take stock of the data you already collect. Our Data Health Assessment can help you see what’s working, what’s missing, and what to stop asking. You may find you can ask less and learn more.

Step 2: Choose the right communication channels to reach the right people

A survey only works if the right people respond. Getting your survey in front of the right people requires careful consideration around (a) who you want to reach and (b) how best to reach them. 

How do I get my survey to reach the right people?

If your ideal sample is your own network, you can probably just send a direct email using mail merge. But, you may need to work with partners in your network or gatekeeping organizations (e.g., unions, colleges, collectives, or associations) to help broker introductions and send requests on your behalf. This will require a time investment to research organizations or groups that can help you reach the desired audience, craft a compelling request, and follow up to maintain that relationship over time. 

The communication channel(s) you choose to use also matter. For example, your target population may engage with emails, newsletters, social media, word of mouth, or old-school posters with QR codes differently. Asking around to see how different groups prefer to be reached will pay off. Be prepared with a few different strategies across multiple channels (e.g., sending an email and including a call-to-action in your newsletter).

Pro tip: If you are working with partners or gatekeeping organizations, give clear instructions and communication materials to support participation over their multiple platforms (e.g., an initial email, a blurb for their newsletter, and a final reminder a week before the survey closes). Make it easy for them to help you (remember they are doing you the favour).

Warning: 

Social media requires extra strategy. If you serve the general public or have an anonymous clientele, social platforms might be your best bet. Plan ahead. How will you include survey links on platforms like Instagram? How will you filter out bots and participants who are out of scope? And most importantly, how will you cut through the noise on platforms designed for quick, single-use engagement? Consider your audience's preferred platforms and establish a clear filtering strategy before posting.

Step 3: Time your survey so it doesn’t feel opportunistic or cringe

When is a good time to send a survey?

Choose your moment wisely to avoid tokenism, empty gestures, or out-of-touch decision-making. 

For example, as queer consultants, we find it to be in poor taste when organizations launch a survey about 2SLGBTQ+ clients’ experiences during Pride Month. There is already enough rainbow-washing with organizations jumping into the Pride hashtag. If you really cared about the experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ clients, you'd pay attention to their insights and experiences year-round. So, any time is a good time to ask. However, asking only during Pride means that during a time when your organization could be engaging in professional development, self-reflection, and learning, you are instead asking the 2SLGBTQ+ community to volunteer their time and energy to educate you. Not a great message.

And, as much as we love a set it and forget it approach to meal prep, automatic triggers for survey dissemination need careful decision-making and planning. For instance, I (Maya) have received automatic surveys immediately after leaving crisis support services and health care appointments where I received bad news. How do you think it made me feel to receive a request for feedback while still in tears from the experience? What do you think my feedback was? Do you think I ever returned for help at these services...even when I needed it?

Step 4: Decide on incentives (and delivery) that make people feel appreciated and safe

What not to do, a shady incentive example

Participating in a survey is work. That labour should be reciprocated and acknowledged. Match your incentive to the ask. The sweet spot is meaningful but not coercive: something that says 'we value your time' without making people feel like they're on the hook to participate if they don’t really want to. For example, a coffee shop gift card works for a 5-minute feedback survey about your workshop. But if you're asking people to share vulnerable experiences or invest 20 minutes of their time, your incentive should reflect that effort.

Warning: 

If you are offering a gift, you will need to contact people to coordinate. If you promised anonymity in your survey, the request for contact information must be optional and separate from your survey. Automatically collecting and linking data to emails or names without the option to opt in or out is unethical. In our practice, we use a separate sign-up link for gifts, ensuring that we cannot connect survey responses to individuals' contact information. When I see the thank-you message pop-up at the end of a survey that indicates I have already been entered into a raffle or the organization already has my name and contact information (shown above), the organization responsible for the survey loses my trust, respect, and engagement.

Step 5: Clarify who does what so nothing falls through the cracks

If you have a communications team, program staff, or anyone else who can help, loop them in as soon as possible! Crafting compelling email invitations, attention-grabbing newsletter blurbs, and social media posts that cut through the chaos of competing content takes time. Ensure your team has sufficient lead time and information to do their job well. Be prepared to let them know:

• What the survey is about

• Who it is for

• Why people should bother

• What people can expect

• When the survey is closing

If you’re unsure of these answers, don’t send your survey out.  

Pro tip:

Be clear and specific about expectations when forwarding the survey to different team members. What else are they expected to do prior to launching the survey? For example, are you expecting them to proofread or beta-test the survey (e.g., check for and correct typos). Are they expected to do anything while the survey is live, like monitor completion and engagement, flag issues, or respond to emerging questions? What about after the survey closes? Should they communicate back with the community to close the loop (see Step 7)? Your team is already working hard. Don't make them guess or stress over implicit instructions.

Step 6: Track participation so you can pivot before it's too late

Don’t wait until the survey closes to learn that only a handful of people completed your survey, and the answers are mostly incomplete. Set key milestones to check in on your survey’s performance. And, decide who is responsible for checking.

When do people participate in surveys?

Participation rates are typically highest on the day the communication is sent or the day after. If you aren’t seeing a steady increase during your sampling period with healthy spikes in your numbers right after communication, be ready to pivot. Could you try an alternative communication strategy or channel? Or do you need to pause and try again at another time of year? Sometimes investing time and energy into changing directions is the most cost-effective strategy; the most expensive survey is the one that fails.

Step 7: Share results back to build trust before your next ask

Once your survey is complete and you have your data, how will you communicate findings back to your participant pool? Often, people are motivated to participate because they are curious about or invested in the topic, want to feel understood and that their insights contributed to something, and see how their experiences compare to those of others. To promote reciprocity, demonstrate that you are listening to your community, and build trust for further engagement, it is a good idea to share something back. 

For example, I (Maya) participated in a survey about my experience as a queer business owner. I answered many vulnerable questions about my experience, hoping to help inform better advocacy, support, and understanding for my community. Months later, I discovered that the results had been published in a paid subscription-only newspaper. This broke my trust and left a bad impression. What would we have done instead? Simple. Survey recruitment happened over email. I would have sent an update on the survey with an open-access link or copy of the article to the same list. This likely would have cost me 10 minutes, not my relationships with the community.

Should you share survey findings back with respondents?

We know that many organizations are hesitant to share findings back for three reasons:

1. Leadership may worry about reputation if findings are critical (e.g., a recent program flopped).

2. Teams can be nervous or embarrassed if the survey itself fails and there are no reliable findings to share back.

3. It takes more time to circle back. 

What do we tell our clients who are nervous? Honesty and regular communication are the best ways to build trust and honour important relationships. Even if you had glowing reviews, people are more likely to trust your findings if there is at least one area for improvement. Otherwise, you may be perceived as cherry-picking positive reviews. If your survey didn’t work and you wasted people’s time, or your program isn’t up to par, your community will likely respect you more if you own up to the shortcomings and demonstrate a genuine intention to use the insights they provided to improve. Without closing the loop and sharing the findings, people might stop participating because they don’t see the value. Not only will this make future surveys more challenging to sample for, but you will also jeopardize your relationships and standing in the community, as extracting data without giving anything back is disrespectful and unsustainable. 

Worried about the added time and labour involved with sharing results? Factor it into the survey plan from the start. Accounting for this step will help clarify expectations for your team and participants. Plus, it's never a bad idea to work backwards from intended use when collecting data (literally a principle we built our entire business on).

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The Bottom Line 

Your survey is only as strong as the community trust behind it. When you plan thoughtfully, communicate clearly, and follow through on your promises, you're not just collecting data - you're building relationships that make future surveys more successful.

Survey delivery isn't just about data collection; it's about demonstrating that your organization listens, learns, and acts on the feedback from your community. Get it right, and you'll have engaged participants for years to come.

Ready to launch your survey?

Whether you want it done for you, done with you, or just need a quick sounding board, we’ve got options that fit.

If you're a community-serving organization we can:

• Build your survey for you with Light Touch Consulting and hand it back ready to go.

• Build your survey and show you how to do it next time with Capacity-Building.

• Help you get unstuck or problem-solve in real-time with Data Strategy Office Hours.

If you're a fellow researcher or evaluator, we can:

• Beta test or offer guidance on survey design with Evaluation & Research Advising hours

• Work Together to deliver a project with a survey component that needs more hands-on support.

Not sure what makes sense? Start here with our 3 question anonymous service quiz.

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