The views of donors, supporters, beneficiaries and stakeholders are vital for charities. Gathering opinion helps the sector to improve, pinpoint any weaknesses in organisations and develop new and innovative strategies and services.

To help there are a range of digital survey tools that charities can use to collect this valuable insight into their work.

Survey tools can also be used by charities to carry out fundraising quizzes, with donation functions available. Analysis of public giving by nfpSynergy this month recommended charities pivot fundraising online amid the Covid-19 pandemic, including “running more online quizzes”.

From a quick snapshot survey of views to in depth analysis of specific projects, there are survey resources for all needs.

According to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO): “An online survey is a great way to collect feedback from your organisation’s service-users or other stakeholders.”

The NCVO has also produced a guide for charities on how to design and use free online surveys. This includes outlining the benefits of surveys to the charity sector and how to get started.

Here we look at some of the best survey tools and resources to help charities canvas views and improve the support they can offer.

Smart Survey

Charities including Anthony Nolan and The Education Development Trust are among those to use the range of plans offered by Smart Survey. This includes a free package with unlimited surveys but with a limit of 15 questions and 100 responses.

There are paid for versions too, that start at £30 and offer a range of additional features, including unlimited responses and customizable themes.



Another charity to use Smart Survey is Parkinson’s which found its plans useful for surveying a large number of people on issues ranging from services, fundraising and training.

Survey Monkey

This is one of the most used tools by a range of organisations, including charities. Smart Monkey’s free plan allows organisations to ask up to 10 questions, which makes it ideal for small charities looking to quickly gauge views.

Extra features in its plaid for plans include greater analysis of results as well as unlimited questions, surveys and offering feedback to those taking part. Another added feature is including a payment page within the survey so that those taking part can donate.



Another use is to stage quizzes for staff, volunteers and beneficiaries. Among charities to use Survey Monkey in this way is London’s Air Ambulance Charity. This has been developed by the charity to help children that are learning from home due to school closures and isolation amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cognito Forms

Surveys as well as sign up and registration forms are included in Cognito Form's range of options for charities. This includes offering templates aimed at the voluntary sector, including a template to survey volunteers.

There is a free plan as well as paid for plans from around £8 offering greater options around storage, entries and users taking part.



Its customisable features mean charities can effectively build their own form, organising the information to fit specific needs.

Survey Gizmo

Paid for plans offered by Survey Gizmo start at around £20, and include features such as unlimited surveys and questions.

It also offers quiz options as well as links to websites and analysis of the survey results. The survey can also be used within social media platforms.

Among charities to use Survey Gizmo is the MS Society, which surveyed beneficiaries around Covid-19.

Another option includes gathering views via video. This is being promoted as an alternative to face-to-face focus groups, which are difficult to organise due to social distancing restrictions amid Covid-19.



Typeform

A range of templates are available for those using Typeform’s survey and form building products. This includes a trivia quiz template and employee engagement survey, which is ideal for remote working workforces.

There are also templates to survey for views on supporters and product development.

Pricing for plans starts at £21 a month for surveys with 100 responses and unlimited questions, through to a £41 a month package for larger surveys and more users. The £66 a month package can gather up to 2,500 responses.



Typeform is offering three months free for any charity working on a Covid-19 related project.

Crowd signal

Formerly called PollDaddy, Crowd signal is ideal for charities looking to create quick survey’s or polls that can be embedded into their website. There are 14 question and form types among its quick surveys. Charities can use their own websites to share the survey and it also features customizable colours and fonts.



There is a free option with unlimited questions, polls, surveys and ratings. Paid for options offer further features from collaborative editing of surveys and multiple users to analysis and email survey options.

Moodle

This open source platform offers a range of uses for trainers and educators including a questionnaire module. Creating and editing questionnaires is through two phases. The first allows charities to set the parameters of the survey and the second is to manage and edit the survey.

Zoho Survey

Zoho Survey’s features include more than 200 templates, multi-lingual options as well as ‘drag and drop’ functionality. It also offers 25 different question types to choose from including multiple choice and star ratings.

The free option offers unlimited surveys as well as email surveys and the ability to embed a survey into a website. More expensive options offer greater analytics and integration, for example with customer relationship (CRM) software.



Its resources section includes webinar support and how to access surveys via mobile phones.

SoGo Survey

Among products offered by So Go Survey is a poll maker, survey templates, a quiz tool and specific employee satisfaction survey templates. There are also templates available for customer surveys, with pricing starting at $25 a month. So Go Survey also features market research panels on top of its online survey options.

Qualtrics

For sophisticated surveying Qualtrics is an option to consider. Its advanced surveys allow charities to choose from more than 100 question types with a range of add-ons including integration with CRM software and email triggers.



The system uses intuitive drag and drop techniques to create surveys as well as analysis of the data received from surveys. Qualtrics' surveying also features more than 20 different targeting variables within surveys from location to behavior. This platform claims to power more than one billion surveys globally every year.

Share Story: