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alyssaCommunity Manager

The National Community Survey (The NCS)

NCS Email to Polco Subscribers TemplateTemplate

Dear resident,Help us build a stronger community! Share your input about [ABC]’s quality of life and governance by taking The [XYZ] of [ABC] [year] Community Survey (click here [hyperlink]). This survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete and will identify our community’s strengths and challenges regarding the local economy, safety, mobility, and more. Your feedback will help us ensure that [XYZ] policies and programs align with our residents’ highest priorities. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact [name] at [phone] or [email]. You’re receiving this email because you’ve subscribed to follow the [XYZ] of [ABC] on Polco, the [XYZ]’s civic engagement platform that helps bring residents’ voices into local government decision-making processes. Your responses are always confidential, and personal data or identifying information are never shared. If you have already responded to this year’s community survey, please don’t respond again, but help us spread the word!

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1 month ago

Denise TelckNew Participant

FAQ's

Is it possible to create multiple url's for one survey?

I am wanting to track where people are seeing the link for the survey. Is it possible to have a different url for each location that survey is posted but the url for each goes to the same survey?

2 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

Understand Your Data

Display Options for Budget and Housing Simulations

SummaryWhen viewing your budget or housing simulation results on Polco, you’ll see multiple display options for data visualization (mean, median, and mode) and response categories (submitted responses versus partial responses). These options allow you to analyze and interpret your results from different perspectives. In short: Mean provides the average value, median focuses on the middle value, and mode highlights the most common value. Below are some additional details about each, including benefits, drawbacks, and possible use cases. Display optionsMeanThe mean is the average value of a dataset. It's calculated by adding up all the values and then dividing that sum by the total number of responses. The mean offers insight into the central tendency of your data. The mean is most suitable for balanced datasets without significant outliers. This measure excels when the data follows a symmetrical distribution, such as a normal or bell curve. In balanced datasets, the mean provides an un

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5 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

Understand Your Data

Weighting: Technical FAQF.A.Q.

For a more general explanation of the weighting process, take a look at this article. Below are some more technical FAQs about Polco’s weighting practices. Q: Why should data be weighted?A: The purpose of weighting is to make results more representative of the entire community. Those who respond to a specific survey effort are not always representative of the total population; there are some groups that are often underrepresented (such as young adults and renters). Weighting looks at the demographics of respondents and adjusts the results to bring them more in line with demographic proportions for the entire community. For this reason, weighting is a best practice in the survey research industry and is recommended for the most accurate, representative data.Q: How exactly does weighting work?A: We compare certain demographic variables (age, race, gender, ethnicity, housing type, and housing tenure) between the survey respondents and the entire community. We then use an iterative statis

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6 months ago

Development DepartmentNew Participant

FAQ's

COVID-19 Impact Survey

The pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing public health concerns and created new health crises to address. Even people who have not become sick with COVID-19 are managing stress, uncertainty, and isolation during this challenging time. The Crater Health District (CHD) and its partners need real time data to prioritize resources and inform policy actions. CHD in Collaboration with OneHopewell created a survey to understand the specific needs of populations that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including its social and economic impacts. CHD and OneHopewell will use and share this data (i.e. your responses) to prioritize our pandemic response and to create new, collaborative solutions with community partners. Would you be willing to complete this COVID-19 Impact Survey?

7 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

Understand Your Data

Respondent RepresentivityTutorial

While nonprobability-based surveys are a great way to engage a lot of residents, it can be hard to know whether you’re reaching a representative sample of your community. The demographics of those who respond to a survey are not always aligned with the total population: some demographic groups (such as young adults and renters) often respond at lower rates, which may cause them to be underrepresented in survey results. For this reason, Polco’s Engage module automatically provides representivity visualizations for all nonprobability-based surveys. Why use these representivity visualizations?These graphs can help you:identify which groups are responding at lower levels (proportionate to your community) see where additional outreach may be needed adjust your communication and outreach efforts accordingly understand how representative your results areHow to use representivity graphsBecause representivity graphs rely on participants’ demographic data, you’ll need to include Polco’s pre-buil

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8 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

Basics

Administrator Roles and PermissionsTutorial

About RolesPolco makes it easy for profile administrators to create and manage user accounts, assign roles and permissions, and control access to various features and functionalities. Roles allow you to assign the appropriate level of access for each administrative user, ensuring that your organization can confidently and efficiently work together within Polco. To view Polco’s roles and permissions, navigate to the Account Settings menu using the left sidebar. This will open the Administrators account management page. At the top, you’ll see an overview of the different permission levels available: Manager, Publisher, Collaborator, and Viewer. Below this, you’ll see all the existing administrators for your profile, along with the roles assigned to each. Check out this article for more information about managing administrator accounts and roles. In the Roles Overview section, click on Details within a specific role to show the functionality available for that role. In the dialogue box th

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8 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

Basics

Managing Administrator AccountsTutorial

To access all admin account management functions, navigate to the Account Settings menu using the left sidebar. This will open the Administrators account management page. At the top, you can see a quick overview of the different permission levels available for administrators, followed by a list of your organization’s existing administrators. Learn more about each role here.Note that the functions listed below are only available to existing profile administrators with the Manager role designation. If you would like to add, remove, or update roles for yourself or other admins in your organization, contact your profile’s Manager. Adding New Administrators To add a new administrator, click the Add Admin button. Fill in the user’s name and email address, and then select an appropriate role. Confirm by clicking the green Add New Admin button. You’ll see a note indicating that the addition was successful, and the new admin will appear in your list of administrative accounts.Note: Polco profi

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8 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

The Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (The CASOA)

CASOA Email Template - Open Participation SurveyTemplate

Dear community members age [55 and up -- adjust to minimum age of sample], We need your input! The [City / County / State / Area Agency on Aging / State Agency on Aging] is conducting the Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults to better understand the contributions that adults [55+] make to their communities, as well as the needs they have and challenges they experience. Your feedback will help us be sure that our policies and programs align with our residents’ values. You can find the survey here: polco.us/[shorturl]. We encourage all residents age [55] and up to participate! The survey will only take 10-15 minutes to complete, and your feedback will directly influence the decisions and plans of local government, foundations, AAAs, nonprofits serving the aging population, and other organizations serving our community. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact [name] at [phone] or [email]. This survey is conducted in partnership with Polco, an online civic engag

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10 months ago

alyssaCommunity Manager

The Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (The CASOA)

CASOA Social Media Templates - Random Sample SurveyTemplate

Let your community know that you’re launching The Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (CASOA)! We’ve created the templates below to help you spread the word about the initial survey launch and prepare residents who may be randomly selected to participate. Sharing the news on social media can help boost participation rates by assuring residents that those mailings are part of a legitimate survey effort from their local leaders, and that you value their input. We recommend posting a different message for the first few weeks that the survey is open, to reach residents as survey invitations are landing in their mailboxes. These suggested posts are optimized for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor. Simply replace the bracketed text with the right information for your community or organization, then copy and paste into your social media platform. To help increase your reach, encourage staff, councilmembers, community partners, and local news outlets to “like” and “sha

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10 months ago

Denise TelckNew Participant

FAQ's

Anonymous

FAQ's

Next steps after Community Equity and Inclusion survey

Many municipalities used our Community Equity and Inclusion (CEI) survey to gather feedback from their residents. What steps are you planning to take after your initial CEI survey?

2 years ago

JenCommunity Manager

FAQ's

Order of poll questions

Can I determine the order that respondents will see polls in a poll set? For example, say that I created five polls (questions) in a poll set. Will respondents see them in a random order (different for every respondent) or can I set the order so respondents see the questions in a certain order?

2 years ago

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Tonya Forbrookhas earned the badge Quick Start
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Denise Telckhas earned the badge Quick Start
cedwardshas earned the badge NCS Pro
Elizabeth Goltryhas earned the badge NCS Pro

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