How to Modernize Your Community Surveys and Spend Less

by Julia Steege-Reimann on November 18, 2020

-By Julia Steege-Reimann-

This year local government leaders have had to move their communities forward in challenging, yet creative ways. But, there is much more to be done. Modernizing your community surveys is a great place to start.

With National Research Center (NRC) at Polco, you’re not alone. We are with you each step of the way, developing new innovative tools and resources to help you meet challenges and take your community engagement to the next level.

Polco’s Damema Mann, Michelle Kobayashi, and Lisa Dowling discuss exciting new developments and innovations at NRC. In this webinar, they share ideas for how to engage your community more affordably than ever before.

One-Stop-Shop for Civic Engagement and Community Surveys

As a leader, you make many important decisions in today’s dynamic environment. To quiet the noise and make the right decisions, you need better data. You need input on public concerns and need to be able to monitor the effectiveness of those decisions. The process needs to be fast and accurate.

In 2019, civic communication and analytics platform Polco merged with the advanced survey science firm NRC to meet these needs. Our goal: to bring together the best of both worlds to create a one stop shop when it comes to civic engagement and survey needs.

We offer accurate and reliable feedback through a suite of surveys as well as an online engagement platform. Residents will have an easy way to consistently provide feedback.

And, the merger has allowed us to automate some online reporting processes. This results in cost savings for you.

As a result, you can truly access many more community surveys and engagement features for less money than in the past. Data-informed decision-making has never been more meaningful, easy, or affordable.

A Subscription Service For Surveys and Much Much More

The Polco Performance Subscription Plan is now what we offer to all clients who want to conduct benchmark surveys. Benchmark surveys, such as The National Community Survey (The NCS),are the gold-standard in scientific resident surveys. Our researchers use scientific survey methods and best practices of the modern day to guarantee valid findings and put results into meaningful context.

As part of this Performance Plan Subscription, you will be able to administer a benchmark survey every 12 months. Same as prior to the merger with Polco, you will receive a results report and a dedicated Program Manager. However, the reports will be delivered as interactive online dashboards in Polco.

We recently updated our tried-and-true benchmark community surveys to include more of a focus on COVID-19 recovery, as well as equity and inclusion. Even with these updates, the surveys have most of the same questions so communities can still understand their trendlines over time.

We recently developed a new benchmark survey as well. The Economic Development Workforce Survey (The EDWS) analyzes how the economy is working from the perspective of residents.

In addition to the yearly benchmark surveys, clients who have the Polco Performance Subscription Plan will also have access to all of Polco’s Premium Features. This includes accounts for 10 different administrators, real-time results breakdowns, the opportunity to build a panel of resident respondents over time, a library of surveys vetted by NRC’s survey scientists, and more. You can also choose to access a menu of a-la-carte options.

The Polco Performance plan costs $8,300/year.

An Expert Team Ready to Help You

Once you sign up for the Polco Performance Plan, you will be surrounded by a great team ready to partner with you on your community surveys and engagement needs.

A Program Manager will be your advocate and advisor during the administration of your benchmark survey.

The Account Executive will check in throughout your subscription and reach out during your renewal process.

Last, the Client Development team will make sure you are successful with the Polco platform. This community engagement platform is largely self-service in nature, due to its user-friendliness, library of ready-to-use survey content, and Knowledge Base support articles. Even so, the Client Development Team is also always just a chat or email away. They offer frequent live demos of the platform so you can easily get the resident feedback you need, when you need it. We are excited and proud to say that these innovations mean you can engage your community more, all while spending less. And you’ll enjoy the same high-quality survey research services you’ve come to know and trust.

We look forward to answering your questions! REQUEST INFORMATION

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